Virtual engagement proves to raise follower loyalty

Post by Erica Rodriguez

With the ever-shifting world of social media spinning below the feet of public relations students, it may be intimidating to delve into social media. Because of how new the use of Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare (and the list of sites goes on and on), the application of social media to garner clients page views and customers is on a trial and error basis. However, a few companies have risen above the competition when it comes to engaging customers and followers.

With companies such as Wal-Mart, Goodwill, TripAdvisor and Bank of America topping the list, a few commonalities stood out among the social media strategies stood out.

One point of success for all the companies and organizations mentioned was the use of virtual means to engage consumers across the nation. Goodwill held a virtual fashion show and online auction in September. With promotion done by a trusted blogger (The DC Goodwill Fashionista), both the Goodwill blog and Ebay store took off. After six weeks the blog averaged over 600 readers a week and retained more than 25 percent of its readers.

Another virtual engagement was done by Lion Brand Yarn, who used virtual knitting classes to build a community of knitter from across the world. The YarnCraft podcast was not only just posted to the blog, but also was available on iTunes and given out as a CD in stores for consumers not on the Internet. As a result, a passionate community of knitters was formed, the podcast has seen over 15,000 downloads in a month, the blog has tens of thousands of readers each month, and the customers have proved loyal. In a survey given to 30,000 consumers, those who interacted with the yarn brand through social media were 83 percent more likely to identify as "very brand loyal" than those who didn't interact via social media.

Jeep used video as well to reach out to consumers... through consumers. According to Organic Inc., 87 percent of consumers trust the opinion of friends over the opinion of critics. Jeep harnessed this idea and found 160,000 Flickr photos and 31,000 Youtube videos that were tagged as Jeep and created a community on the Jeep website. Consumers created the content. Results showed that potential buyers who browse the Jeep community have been proven twice as likely to compare specifications, 22 percent more likely to search inventory, twice as likely to schedule a test drive, and 31 percent more likely to request a quote, according to Organic Inc.'s portfolio.

Consumers want to feel like they are a part of the brand that they use everyday. What better way than to include a consumer in these virtual days, than through virtual media?

To read more social media case studies, check out this collection of studies and research papers.