Social media are known to be the great equalizer in the sense that even small businesses can thrive and outplay large companies and Facebook is indisputably sitting on top of the pile as the number one social media influencer. Because Facebook is such an important part of the social sphere as a whole, and controls much of the influence online, we will review some of the greatest posts made by companies, influential people and groups who saw significant impact on their social audience on Facebook.
Some of you might be wondering why it is so important to review these companies, their Facebook posts and the impact they had online, but I believe it is crucial to benchmark these success stories so that we can compare, analyse, understand, and finally, extract the reasons why they have been so successful both contextually and content wise.
These series of posts below have been selected for various reasons, and why they bring together the elements of a great Facebook strategy to generate traffic and brand authority through social channels.
So, without further ado, let’s begin!
#1OREO: A Guinness Record for a Facebook post
Oreo does extremely well with regards to social media, especially on Facebook, thanks to all its effort in engaging and connecting with their audience. On February 15th 2011, as some of you may recall, Oreo decided to go after the Guinness World Record for the most Facebook likes in a 24 hour period. They posted the following:
“Like” this post to join Oreo fans around the world in setting a Guinness World Record for the “Likes” to a post in 24 hours. Oreo is the world’s favourite cookie, and with your help, it will be the most “Liked”
They did receive the Guinness Record with a solid 114,619 likes (but it wasn’t long before someone else (our #2 on this list) came along and took the title away). What is interesting about this post is the sentiment of belonging they raised among their followers and customers in wanting you to participate. Using compelling phrases such as Fans around the world, World’s favourite cookie, and With your help, the reader connected with the brand and company message and felt compelled to participate in the challenge.
–Key Take Away—
Articulate your thoughts into a clear and evocative message: The example of the post by Oreo for the Guinness Record speaks by itself. If you are launching a campaign and marketing post that have been well planned, make sure to optimize your text. Use call-to-actions (CTA’s) and words that leverage the feeling of belonging, as they will encourage your customers to interact with your brand, build brand awareness and to perform the desired action.
#2Lil Wayne for not so little of a Guinness Record!
With a 20 million-fan base, Lil Wayne decided that he wanted to leverage the opportunity and build on the Guinness Record. He announced, via his iPhone, the following message:
“Everyone, please “Like” this post. I’m trying to break the Guinness World Record for the most “Likes” on a post in 24 hours. Let’s get it!!!”
Well the least we can say is that his attempt at the record was a little less polished and a little more on the spot. Regardless, this post generated a whopping 588,243 likes (including me!) and gave the Guinness Record to Lil Wayne, from whom only 4 hours prior, belonged to Oreo!
A fun fact about this campaign is that once that the Guinness Book of World Records officialised the event and record, the amount of Facebook likes on the post exploded to reach a massive 1,789,182.
–Key Take Away—
Don’t hesitate to Newsjack: The case of Lil Wayne is a brilliant example of Newsjacking. He took the momentum of the Oreo story via Facebook, and decided to launch something almost directly in competition with it. You had Oreo fully prepared and organized, who raised a lot of attention from the media and on the one side, and then you had Lil Wayne on the other side, who decided that he also wanted to give a shot at the Record and launched his campaign, benefiting from the current news and hype around the Oreo attempt. You all know the outcome now, but it shows the effectiveness of Newsjacking.
#3 Be a Hero on Facebook
We saw previously that trying to set a Guinness Record did work for large company, though only briefly, to get attention from their fans and gain some exposure from the media. However, what works even better is to have a Hero in your company. Meet Maurice Lynch, a UPS driver whose hawk eyes saved a life while driving by one day. As M. Lynch was working his delivery route, he noticed a rider lawnmower with no rider heading towards a house. He stopped to find a man lying in the ditch unconscious. With the help of the man’s wife, M. Lynch revived the man, thus generating a huge impact in current social circles and news online.
This is a great story, but why are we looking at it? Instead of simple congratulations from UPS, they shared a picture on their Facebook page with a picture of the man and acknowledged his accomplishment. How many likes did this manoeuvre generate? It had quite an impact and generated nothing less than 812,976 likes! This campaign still generated likes and is listed at 1,220,884 likes and 41, 613 comments from fans as of 7am today! It is just as valuable for the employee, as it is for the employer, and it also brings an element of human care to the company by showing that UPS employees care and have their customers best interests at heart.
–Key Take Away—
Be human: The case of UPS shows the importance of broadcasting your brand not only has a set of automation and protocol, but to show the people who operate your brand. They are your heart and soul. By showcasing human events like this to the public, you are opening your heart and soul on what matters, them!
#4Taking a political stance on Facebook
Now we jump into some crunchy stuff! While most businesses seek to avoid any association with political views or hot topics for fear of negative press, Oreo (I told you they were active on Facebook!) jump right into the fray with a post that was highly controversial. On June 25th 2012, Oreo posted this image on its Facebook Wall of an Oreo cookie with rainbow color filling with the mention “Proudly Support Love”.
The reactions were well, to say the least mixed. Some dissatisfied clients even threaten to unlike the page and even unlike all of the Kraft products. On the other hand, some users also mentioned liking Oreo cookie even more knowing this. The campaign also helped generate 40,000 shares among Facebook fans and 231,000 likes in only 3 days since the campaign launch. In retrospect, Oreo claimed that much more positive comments were generated than negative ones, and that they felt the campaign was a success.
Here are some stats from pivotcon.com about this publication:
-The engagement score rose from 39 before the post to 59 after the post
-This post was 6 times more popular then the one of their 100 years
-Finally, the positive sentiment on Facebook rose from 23% to 50%.
It was a risky bet, but it seems to have paid off!
–Key Take Away—
Post pictures on Facebook: Most of the post mentioned above used image and visuals to support and harvested much more likes. Also, pictures have more visual impact and generate more comment style opportunities by your customer’s thus increasing their interaction with you, your brand and product. It is very rare today to see a Facebook post that isn`t tied to, or showcase a popular image or video. They are what make social media viral!
#5President Obama
Celebrating upon the achievement of your milestones makes perfect sense. When US President Barack Obama got re-elected on November 7th 2012, he posted the following message to his Facebook account:
“Four more years.”
The reaction from his supporters throughout the US was very strong generating 3,868,253 likes and 415,042 shares. Not only did Obama win the election that day but he also broke three World Records for the most likes on a Facebook item in 24 hours, the most widespread social network message in 24 hours and most likes on a Facebook item. Well done Mr. President, well done!
–Key Take Away—
Timing is key: There is a time for everything and there is a perfect time for any Facebook post! Plan your timing and execute in a tactical manner. It is a bit like when you are with your friends and one of them make a joke about you. You have 3 to 5 seconds to reply with a witty punch line, or else it’s over, you lose! You need to be quick and react just as quickly to take the most advantages of the initiatives. Don’t be the guy who comes back with an answer 1 minute later. Post on time and when it matters most.
Conclusion
I have presented above, different ways in which companies, people, or groups can generate hype and media attention through social engagement. My goal was to present you with a variety of ideas that would help generate creative methods to help you implement social strategies that impact your brand awareness. I hope you liked it (no pun intended!) and that it will serve you well for 2014! Remember to be original, be yourself and to use these 5 key take away points to help craft your strategy! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below, and I will gladly be here to answer them. Maybe next time you will be part of our next 5 Winning Company Facebook Posts !
Latest posts by Gabriel Touchette
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