In this post you will learn how Starbucks succeeded with their Christmas Social Media Campaign and how you can too.
At this time of year, more than any other the pressure is on to grab consumers. With so much competition out there, more and more brands are making social media a part of their festive marketing strategies. Not only for the wins over the Christmas period, but also to turn new customers into repeat ones. Social media by its very nature brings people together, which is exactly the point of the annual December celebrations.
Starbucks Hong Kong has created a super smart social media campaign for Christmas that is not only inventive and fun, but it is driving consumers into stores. To take part in the Twinkle Surprise campaign, customers must first download the “Starbucks Hong Kong” mobile app. It allows someone to send a video greeting or a festive themed selfie to a friend, colleague or family member. When they do, both the sender and the recipient will receive a buy one get one free voucher, which can be exchanged in store on selected Christmassy beverages.
Once they redeem their treat, each person also receives a kaleidoscope box. This is a cardboard box that creates a hologram of the video message once it is placed inside.
Social Media Campaign Success
Although exact figures haven’t been published, Designercity, the agency behind the campaign say that within the first two days of its launch, the Starbucks app received a record number of downloads and all key performance indicators were met.
The campaign is a huge hit for a number of reasons:
- It offers consumers a freebie
- It taps into the spirit of goodwill by encouraging people to send a greeting and details of the offer. And hey, who doesn’t like a gift?
- The hologram is hugely innovative and attention grabbing
- It can lead to an increase in sales. Many followers will take up the offer, and while they are in the store, will probably spend more money.
So what can you do?
Well, you don’t need to give away gallons of coffee and create holograms to be in with a chance of securing more custom through a festive social media initiative. If you’re a small or medium-sized enterprise without the budget of a multinational corporation you can:
- Hold a social media competition that gives away small value prizes or discount coupons. Buy one get one free vouchers are very effective marketing tools.
- Don’t just give away discounts or freebies. As with Starbucks, make them contingent on followers gifting the offer to someone else. What a great way to massively increase your exposure and reach.
Starbucks’ Twinkle Surprise campaign is an excellent example of how a social media marketing exercise can potentially lead to more sales without going into hard sales mode. And it also demonstrates how great a Christmas Social Media Campaign can be.
From MavSocial | Complete Social Media Visual Content Management & Publishing Software
