As the number of smart phone users has increased, the number of social media’s users has inclined too. Looking around the blog before buying a product or using twitter as a marketing tool is not that unusual anymore. Especially, the reviews on the blog give confidence because it is not a sort of an advertisement, but a comment of a consumer just like me. In this post, I want to introduce two companies that seem to be succeeded in taking social media in their marketing strategy. The first company is Missha and the other one is Samsung.
To talk about Missha first, it is a cosmetic brand which was started from online ‘Beauty.net’ in the year 2000. Multi-faceted communication with the customers was the driving force behind its improvement. Now Missha has over 1.8 million customers throughout the world and the way they got this much closer to the customers is by reducing the distribution chain and actively exchanging information with the customers through different levels. It tends to be a strict pro-consumer brand which is made through suggestions and criticisms by the consumers. It really is not much to say that customers made the brand, Missha. At the time of the early launching, Missha didn’t hesitate to ask the customers about the products and as a result, they got the most helpful answers and coping strategies. Without an extra cost, it developed a new product referring to the 40~50 ideas (per day) of over a million of online members. 10 new products were launched every month and some of those were boldly stopped to be produced because it was told from the customers that those had no effects. According to the Social Technographics Ladder in the book ‘Groundswell’, the majority of the customers that led Missha to be a beloved brand are critics. They didn’t publish a new website for Missha, but constantly commented and contributed to the products. Also by posting reviews of the products, they supported Missha to make better products. Hence, Missha is a smart company that induced customers to participate in the actual business. This was the right strategy to produce the cosmetics that people really wanted. Nowadays, Missha also has offline shops. However, still over 2.1 million members are actively participating in the website. They even post reviews of the offline shops and their services which are keep stimulating Missha. As it could be seen in this Missha case, I think a quick reaction to the customers could be an excellent strategy in using social media to gain insights. If Missha didn’t react to customers’ evaluations, their social media, Beauty.net, could just have been a useless thing. However, Missha knew that it had to be friends with netizens and after all, they found out that it wasn’t wrong.
Now, let’s talk about Samsung! Actually, the case that I want to share is about Samsung Electronics. Samsung Electronics makes a ceaseless effort in using social media. I remember that few years ago, it ran a blog for a new cell phone. It promoted participation of people by selecting active bloggers and offering prizes. Over 147 contents were made in 5 months and those were clicked over seven hundred thousand times. About two years have passed and now it is using a lot of social networking sites for connecting. They are recognizing the relationships of customers, I think. Facebook is one of the SNSs it is using. On the Facebook widget, there are several icons that directly connect to RSS, Utube, Flickr, and Twitter. Samsung really is making the best use of social media tools. Using the point that Facebook can show several types of contents in one place, Samsung Electronics post all of the events it is holding and even relays from the spot of those. This is really popular among the customers that once it had been stuck with a hundred thousand people at the same time. Not only on the Facebook, but still Samsung tries many new things on the blog too. For example, it introduced the system of Social Media News Release which enables to announce the recent news of the company to the press and the social media at once. The good point here is that it can communicate with customers in an open place with a variety of ways including video clips and images. Of course this system is linked with all of the other online communication channels that Samsung has. Therefore, it’s not just one-sided information transmitting, but rather a fast mutual communication. Having a look on this case, a true communication which tells everything including bad and good things is one of the best strategies for companies to use social media. A positive communication in an open area where everybody can see is not a free advertising tool of a company. It is a tool for a communication.
To make a short conclusion, I think quick reaction and a true communication are the two best ways to use the flooding social media of these days. A lot of things are conducted in online and this means the relationships in online got much important than ever before. Companies have to show that they are listening carefully to the consumers and the social media has appeared to help those out. Making the best use of social media, it will be a win-win situation both for the companies and customers! J
