Thread: Social media - not for everyone

Interesting article thanks for sharing, just a thought do you reckon Ryanair maybe haven't embraced the social aspect because they could possibly loose online control & public relation standards. Ryanair's overall marketing strategy, PR stunts are second to none. some good, some fantastic, some really terrible but non the less rememberable. In my view Ryanair dictate the media. Social media could possibly damage there rep. Imagine you had a bad experience while flying Ryanair & I'm sure 1000's do every year! (we all know trying to get through to client service is a pain) Where would you go to complain? First thing that comes to mind is post on Facebook or Twitter page. (bad press they can't really control).

Good point on the 'just splapping up a page for social page for the sake of it' It's like with anything, especially if it's new to the client's business - Many times the notion of having a facebook page is totally different to maintaining one. 'You don't always have to keep up with the Jone's - but do check to see how well there doing, just in case' haha.

Well yeah, they'd have to fairly heavily moderate their fb page, which in turn could backfire.

Tesco though for example - fairly pushing the online ordering, but without a big social media presence. Again they may have just decided it's not worth it for their model.


Mind you, after looking at the survey in more details, I'm not sure of its validity. They looked for 10 factors - one was the ability to buy directly from a facebook page - I can think of a number of valid reasons you wouldn't want that. And another was allowing users to upload their own product pictures - completely irrelevant for a lot ot sites.

There is still so little evidence to suggest that having Facebook = more sales. Certainly you can make sales - but is this just a shift and do you incur extra results?

There's a difference between making people aware of your brand (as Ryanair do) and creating demand. If you've just invented a really cool cigar that's also somehow, lets say, healthy for you because it it's made of plant sterols that reduce your blood pressure and you had no money to advertise it - you'd probably do really well on Facebook by trying to create a viral effect. If you want to go on holiday to teneriffe and you dont care how you get there, you'll go with Ryanair. The seed was dropped months ago.

I've spent the week with directors of 5 other big Irish brands (all 100mln+ turnover) and none of them have a facebook page except to "secure" it.

While the headline of this post is overstated, like most are, its a pretty good "balancer" in the "OMG I totally have to have a million fans on my fan page" argument: 5 reasons social media is a waste of marketing dollars - iMediaConnection.com

I honestly can't understand why selling via Facebook would be a KPI for this
Makes zero sense to me

Originally Posted by blacknight

I honestly can't understand why selling via Facebook would be a KPI for this
Makes zero sense to me

Yet other far more relevant factors seem to have been totally ignored.

The one that stood out for me was CPW. They had a HORRIBLE year in terms of social media. I can vividly remember two separate occasions where they were inundated with irate customer feedback, where the response was either delete or ignore.

They had a social media competition end up as a complete disaster, with the rules and the goal posts changing mid competition much to the dismay of customers and at the start of 2011 came under extremely heavy criticism from overselling a phone (lack of stock management system being incorporated into the shopping cart - followed up with an inability to handle customer complaints or organise a meaningful solution) (Personally involved in the latter, including various posts on a fairly horrific boards.ie thread, and while I managed to come to an agreeable solution in the end, I know that wasn't the case for many). Having a like button or allowing moderated comments isn't worth a cent if it isn't used well and doesn't make for a better user experience.

This a really interesting thread folks, thanks for posts as its a hot topic for us right now. These are really valid points and what I'm starting to see is a disconnect between the common sense understood by the industry contribs here, versus the (unrealistic?) drive some businesses owners have to get numbers up to perhaps only keep up with the jones's rather than looking hard at whether or not sales are in any way improved?

I think the pace at which Social Media has taken off has in some way got less-knowing business owners thinking their missing out on the next big thing if no page/not enough likes. I also think its a case of SMedia is only appropraite for certain business types.

For example, is an undertaker really going to need a FB page or worse still a Twitter Account *cringe* yet so many seminars/webinars/web pow wows etc etc hotly bill "social media for driving your sales up" that its commonly seen as an online business elixir. In the end it usually just ends up making the job all that more complex to handle as ones works hard to reset expectations.

Have to admit, I can clearly recall the night I saw the Avenmore TV Ad about a year ago, finish with "Follow us on Facebook" request - and I thought at that moment....WTF? Why?