Several Brands Doing Social Media the Right Way

This one piece of data from the Pew Research Center will tell you a lot about social media: As of January 2014, 74% of online adults use social networking sites. For this reason, it is only natural for brands to put a lot of time, money, and resources into connecting with consumers via social sites.

While there are a number of extremely popular social media services, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat continue to receive a lot of attention from marketing professionals.

Need help figuring out how to do social media for your brand?

There is a big difference between creating accounts on these social media sites and using them to grow your brand. If you want to learn more, if you want to make sure you are on the right track, it makes good sense to “follow the leader.” In other words, follow those who are doing things the right way.

Below, you will find brands that are doing social media right across Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Twitter

Southwest Airlines

With 1.9 million followers, it is safe to say that Southwest Airlines is doing something right.

Try this: Southwest is well known for sharing a variety of information on its Twitter account, ranging from news to employee stories and much more. They don’t bore their audience with meaningless tweets. Instead, they keep each and every follower engaged at all times.

Comcast

For the sake of this article, we aren’t going to discuss the official Comcast Twitter account. Instead, we will focus on its “Comcast Cares” account.

Try this: even though Comcast has a reputation for poor customer service, it successfully uses Twitter to provide customers (among others) with troubleshooting, answers to a variety of questions, and basic advice. This is a good case study of how to use social media for customer service. It doesn’t look too good if there are upset customers tweeting and no responses are coming back. It is best to direct customers to a direct message and fix it there or even over the phone.

Huffington Post

The Huffington Post has 6.14 million Twitter followers, with its account growing by the day.

Try this: if you are going to use Twitter, use Twitter. The Huffington Post tweets often, ensuring that its followers are always up to date with its latest stories and breaking news. You may not be able to tweet as regularly as The Huffington Post, but remember to stay active. Your followers expect it.

Instagram

Airbnb

With 563,000 followers, Airbnb has grown its Instagram following into something special.

Try this: be unique, be creative, and be different. Even though Airbnb primarily shares travel photos, these are unlike anything else you will find on Instagram. If you want your account to stand out in the crowd, don’t do things the same way as everybody else.

Mercedes-Benz

There are 2.9 million people following the Mercedes-Benz Instagram page.

Try this: stick with what you know. When you visit Mercedes page, most of the pictures are of cars, accessories, and other related subjects. Stick with what you know, as this will allow you to add images that generate the best response. Also, this is what your followers want to see.

Disclosure: Mercedes-Benz is a Tweetwall client.

Applebee’s

Applebee’s doesn’t have the largest following (123,000), but it takes full advantage of those who are interested in its brand.

Try this: post the highest quality images, related to your brand, once or twice per day. You don’t want to push low quality images that have nothing to do with your brand. Also, you don’t want to bog down your followers. Stick with what you feel is the best, just like Applebee’s. Things that are relatable, cute, or funny do best.

Snapchat

McDonald’s

For many years, McDonald’s has been one of the most popular fast food restaurants in the world. Despite its history, it has kept up with modern technology.

Try this: do something that your competition isn’t. For McDonald’s, this means using celebrities, such as LeBron James, to boost its profile. This may be too much for your brands spend, but the concept remains the same. Using influencers that relate well to your customers will keep them interested.

Disclosure: McDonald’s is a Tweetwall client.
General Electric

You wouldn’t expect a company like this to be active on Snapchat, but General Electric has taken the social media site by storm.

Try this: post a variety of content. General Electric details its history, adds fun facts, and focuses on its many products and services.

Disclosure: GE is a Tweetwall client.

National Basketball Association (NBA)

The NBA knows a thing or two about harnessing the power of Snapchat.

Try this: play into the hands of your audience. The NBA does this by focusing most its efforts on its hundreds of millions of fans. You know your audience and what they want. Now is the time to give it to them.

Disclosure: The NBA is a Tweetwall client.