Scaramanga: Social Media Study
Instagram is a photo and video sharing service that encourages users to post a lasting record of their experiences and lifestyle, generally posted in the trademark square frame that user’s homepage is styled around.
- Photo editing is a popular way for users to enhance or perfect their photos before posting them
- Stories allow users to document their day as it happens with short videos or photos that are only available for 24 hours.
-Reels provide an opportunity for algorithm-based sharing, where a full-screen video is added to a constant carousel that trails through users feeds.
- Direct Messages give users the ability to share posts and contact followers directly, hence the name
-Shop is a recent feature that creates direct links for companies who advertise on social media to sell their products without taking customers off the app.
Twitter is a short-form blog site where users can write statements that are visible by anyone following or searching for them. Focussed hugely on hashtag trends.
Photo, video and link sharing are all available in order to add to a statement or provide additional information
Retweeting and @mentions allow users to directly connect with each other or to continue a conversation in the public eye.
Social Media Etiquette
There are general rules that all users are supposed to stick to. Of course, there are millions of people who believe themselves to be exceptions to this. Thankfully, many sites now have moderators and blocking and reporting facilities for incidents where this etiquette is pushed aside. When it comes to using social media as a promotional tool these tend to centre around giving your customers a positive experience:
Be genuine
Don’t spam your followers
Be collaborative
Don’t over-promoteUse your position for the greater good
Don’t put down competitors
Viral Marketing Strategies
Apple’s photography-based campaign pushed the opinion that they had the best camera available in a mobile phone, and simlutanesouly encouraged their users to do their advertising for them. By claiming to have the best phone, it would then push the public to put this to the test, so they buy a phone, take the best photo they can, and post it online with the millions of other viral posts. Thus encouraging more people to put this to the test, by buying a phone…
In order encourage audience engagement Apple used and promoted #shotoniPhone to allow users to prove how good their photography skills were. Apple then took the best photos with this hashtag and put them on billboards all around the world, further encouraging customers to take even better photos, that Apple could then put on billboards. As a cross-promotional stunt, Lady Gaga shot a music video for Stupid Love entirely on and iPhone, furthering the idea that this camera is good enough for professionals - so why wouldn’t you want it for your next snap?
Three standout strategies that Apple used were to guide their customers to the creation of “perfect” content, the people engaged with the campaign as buyers then were seeing their work being used to promote the product they were now using. Apple uses a variety of social media to promote their products and services, but their Instagram was used solely as a tool to bring together the works from #shotoniPhone. Being featured on the social media of one of the world’s biggest companies is a level of which many people would kill for. The longevity of this campaign is also outstanding. Launching in 2015 for the iPhone 6, it is brought back with each new phone as the cameras continually improve with each new iteration of the device, meaning people are being given yearly reminders of the best new camera available, driving them to upgrade their device every year.
As far as success go, from 2014-15, directly linked with this launch and the #shotoniPhone campaign, the sales of iPhone jumped by 62 million, one of there biggest growths in the 15 year lifespan of the iPhone.
Uber x South by SouthWest
Uber provided free rides throughout the South by Southwest festival, relying on their customers to post about it online, thus providing free advertising worldwide for a single event. As an app-based taxi company it made sense to target an audience of tech-focussed consumers to give freebies to in order to build awareness.
Alongside the general free advertising they were gathering, there were also promotions for people who were ride-sharing with others to gain access to VIP experiences at the festival. Online happenings like this have effectively replaced the idea of ‘calling a taxi’ with ‘booking an Uber’. New users also gain the opportunity to get a free ride for a friend using shareable codes, this can oftern benefit both parties through vouchers and money-off schemes.
Uber have partnered with multiple companies over the years since SxSW, including links within Facebook to book a car directly from the Messenger app. Hilton’s own app has the ability to plan a journey that will earn the user loyalty points with the hotel chain. The biggest impact for the company, arguably, is the demand for UberEats to come to Britain after its success in the US. As a thank you to healthcare workers durnig the Covid-19 pandemic, the hashtag #GratefulUK was used as a tool to push a promotion enabling frontline workers to be granted free rides and meals through Uber and UberEats.
Following the South by SouthWest event in 2013, Uber’s revenue more than quadrupled over the next two years.
Carter, H. (2020). #ShotoniPhone: A Picture Perfect Campaign. [online] Medium. Available at: https://hayleycarter-39668.medium.com/shotoniphone-a-picture-perfect-campaign-93e54b89bab0
Digital Music News. (2020). Lady Gaga’s Latest Music Video Was Shot Entirely on iPhone 11 Pro. [online] Available at: https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2020/03/05/lady-gaga-iphone-11-pro/ [Accessed 1 Jun. 2022].
DOJO Creative. (2019). Digital Marketing Examples: McDonalds, Uber, and Airbnb. [online] Available at: https://letsgodojo.com/digital-marketing-examples-mcdonalds-uber-and-airbnb/
Moloco (2021). The Uber Marketing Strategy Unpacked: 6 Lessons For Rideshare App Marketers. [online] www.moloco.com. Available at: https://www.moloco.com/en/blog/uber-marketing-strategy
iqbal (2019). Uber Revenue and Usage Statistics (2019). [online] Business of Apps. Available at: https://www.businessofapps.com/data/uber-statistics/
Twilio Blog. (n.d.). Uber Storms #SxSW: Free Uberx Rides, New Luxury Cars and Pedicabs. [online] Available at: https://www.twilio.com/blog/2013/03/uber-storms-sxsw-free-uberx-rides-new-luxury-cars-and-pedicabs.html [Accessed 1 Jun. 2022]