Hi everyoneI wanted to highlight different ways that different industries are using social media, like Facebook/ Twitter and Foursquare, to change the way business is done.
Read on it's quite fascinating...and clear that every industry should be getting involved. (the following examples are courtesy of Mashable)
1. How Banks are using Social Media: The below example shows how bank tools can become fun and enjoyable.
First National Bank of Omaha (FNBO), an online only bank, encouraged customers to utilize the ease of transferring balances online to maximize the interest they earn on the money in their bank accounts via an innovative social media marketing campaign called the Pay Yourself First Challenge. The campaign helped customers develop a personalized saving plan, and FNBO utilized a number of different social media outlets, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, iTunes and blogging to get the word out.
The challenge involved five contestants competing to reach a savings goal. The bank recruited contestants by having them submit videos via YouTube describing their saving goals, and during the competition each contestant blogged about his or her progress. FNBO chose the winner based on a combination of reaching their goal and online votes. The contest helped to create awareness for their brand and showed current and potential customers how they can use FNBO’s online banking tools to become more successful savers.
2. How FMCG is Using Social Media: Using fun and entertainment, and combining mobile with social
Gillette uART - making shaving fun: A great example of social media use for the FMCG market via P&G is this campaign. Gillette came up with this cool iPhone app called uART that allows you to put a beard on a friend's picture, and then using your finger as a razor, shave it off. You can save and share the look via social media for fun with your friends.
Old Spice is a great example of a 'boring' brand that has just made one of the most popular viral campaigns in recent history — in which the Old Spice Guy made personalized videos for fans, randoms and prominent bloggers alike — has taken over the social media realm. Brilliant.
3. How Take Away Food & Beverage are using Social Media: You can now start to link your social media with great ideas for product promotion. Just make it fun.
Food & Beverage brands are also starting to find creative ways to tie offline brand experiences with online social media promotion. With the Keep It Coolatta sweepstakes, fans of the brand on Facebook (there’s over 800,000 of them) can post a photo of themselves with any Coolatta beverage to the Fan Page wall, add the caption #CoolattaGiveaway, and subsequently update their profile with the pic, and they’ll be entered to win a daily giveaway through June 24.
Dunkin’ Donuts will randomly select winners, award the prizes, and update their official profile with the winning image.
4. How Airlines Are Using Social Media: For travel, take advantage of real time and travel sharing habits of customers
MySkyStatus is a fine website-app that sends altitude, location, departure and arrival updates to your FB or Twitter account from the different flights you choose (in any airline). Ideal for those people who have to pick other people up at airports. It's travel made social and it's easy to set up.
JetBlue and United Airlines, two major airline carriers in the US, have started using the service to offer discounted seats on flights that weren't filled. These types of discounts have been available from airlines for a while, starting with emails in the 90s, but Twitter fills this particular need perfectly. See JetBlue Cheeps
5. How Telcos Are Using Social Media: Never forget to make an idea that's fun and fascinating, and engage using a cool Facebook connect application that relates to social service
Experience your social360 Reading With madame Tres Sesti and you can analyze your social Karma health, love and life and you’ll fall in-love with Mr Tweet, the sleepy social bird. Not only does this digital Psychic look into your Facebook, but she happily interrogates your Twitter life too. Smart Cute and exceptionally sticky, I found myself wanting to learn more from Madam Tres Sesti!
Cheers, Rob
