A Few Examples Of Social Media Done Right

By Alan Coleman on 4 Jul 2013

Last week we attended the Irish Internet Association’s third Deep Dive conference of the summer, The Digital Marketing Mix. The event was centred on one main theme: Social Media. We heard some really great case studies from Beatrice Whelan of Sage, David Stone of Burritos and Blues, and Aedan Ryan of PuddleDucks. Each of them spoke on the different ways they use social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to grow and engage with their audience.

What struck me most was how different each of their social media strategies is from each other. It really emphasised the point that there’s no one-size-fits-all method of managing the social media behaviour for your business. Different strategies work for different businesses, and these three really seem to be thriving on social media and reaping the rewards. Afterwards, as I was cycling back to Wolfgang HQ, I started thinking about which businesses I have noticed doing a great job on social media.

I don’t have a personal Twitter account, I’m a Facebooker, but I just thought I’d give a couple of examples of businesses that have captured my attention on Facebook and, more importantly, whose Facebook behaviour has made a lasting impression on me. For example, Yamamori is a Japanese restaurant in Dublin city centre. In the week leading up to my friend Cian’s birthday they posted on his wall to wish him a happy birthday and to offer him a free side of sake as a birthday present. They also included a nice photo in their post. The photo caught the eye of anyone scrolling through their news feed and by posting it a few days before Cian’s birthday they didn’t get lost amongst the inevitable mass of birthday wishes from the rest of his friends and acquaintances. I actually heard about this through a friend and I told other people about it and now I’m even writing a blog post on it. It got people talking about Yamamori in a positive way and is always one of the things that spring to mind when I think of the opportunities Facebook offers to businesses.

Pizza Republic This one is my personal favourite, if only because it is so bizarre. Recently a takeaway pizza place closed down near where I live. It was replaced by another takeaway pizza place, the Pizza Republic. My friend Niall, a loyal customer of the old business, took to Facebook to air his unhappiness about the change. Ok, so he was chancing his arm in the hope of getting a free pizza. It was worth a shot. What happened next was beyond even what he was hoping for. After a bit more toing and froing the gauntlet was thrown down. In spite of myself, I even got involved. And in the end… They even posted this: What I really liked about this whole interaction was the tongue-in-cheek tone of a business that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Not only did they respond to his cheeky request, but they embraced it. For about 2 weeks, it came up in conversation with everyone I spoke to. Even people who don’t know Niall were asking me about it. And it’s still brought up quite often. If I got to Niall’s Facebook page today, it still reads: Obviously this kind of approach won’t work for everyone, but there a few really important things that any business can take from it. They replied on the same day he posted. For anyone who has ever been on our Twitter, you’ll know that Siobhan makes a point of getting back to people within of 5 minutes of reading a tweet. They also recognised the tone of his comment, and replied in a similar tone. They could see that he was joking and knew that he’d appreciate if they continued the joke and ran with it. It was really entertaining and gave them some great exposure only 2 weeks or so after they had opened their new premises.

There are loads of businesses doing a great job on social media. These are just the 2 that always stand out in my mind. What other businesses have you seen thrive on social media? How do you make social media work for you?