The author of Socialnomics, Erik Qualman, once again finds a way of captivating the audience with a short video that shows some impressive statistics about the role of social media in the business world. The video has been viewed more than 200 thousand times since its release in November 2009, and of course, I wasn’t one of those viewers until now. I have decided to share it because I believe it will be especially interesting for those newbees like myself, who are still learning the number of possibilities that derive from social media.
What I found most interesting after learning about the number of successful social media campaigns out there, was the way in which many of these companies blend through the virtual world so easily that sometimes, ordinary consumers might not notice it is just another marketing strategy. For example, through the BK Whopper Sacrifice, Burger King managed to receive an estimated return of 400,000 dollars in press/media value (32 million impression). I found out about this campaign through Facebook and I enjoyed seeing my friends being sacrificed by others friends. I didn’t see it as another annoying marketing effort but just something fun to be part of and have a good laugh. The only reason why I didn’t particularly engage in this ritual was because there is no BK near my house, but had there been, I would have definitely jumped in that wagon. I also believe that getting people to go to Burger King wasn’t the only benefit of this campaign. The key benefit was definitely the press received and the number of people who got involved because, at the end of the day, it wasn’t paid advertisements that were all around the Internet, but rather friends (sort of) telling friends.
This goes to the next great point Qualman makes through Ford’s CMO quote “You just can’t say it. You have to get the people to say it to each other.” The great thing about social media marketing is that that the basic principle revolves around getting people to communicate your message to other people. This is extremely beneficial because people tend to trust what other consumers say than what a paid advertisement says and– in the case of BK Whopper Sacrifice– engage in an activity if their friends are also engaging. Most importantly, social media allows these messages to become viral. Just like a cascade, messages move fast across different social networks and groups. What starts of as a blogpost can be tweeted or shared on facebook with friends and followers; and if these find an interest in the post they will do the same. As a result hundreds of thousands of people are reached fast and at a small cost.
The theories behind social media marketing can be found all over the internet and I also believe that any person that has been raised in the Internet age, regardless of their high or low use of social media, can determine the benefits of social media marketing by themselves. However, it was great finding a video that shows surprising facts on the subject. Facts that to some might be nothing new but to others, like myself, can just broaden their interest in the subject.
