This is part two of a four-part write up of a presentation prepared for the women of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) – Jessamine Chapter. The businesses and social media examples featured are those that I felt are most relatable and approachable.

By Ashley Thiesen Caldwell
www.TheModernConnection.com

IKEA Furniture, an inexpensive and modern furniture company based out of the Netherlands, is the international social media case study.

IKEA makes great use of multimedia features on their Web site. They feature live support chat, virtual planning and an integrative online catalog. They also have a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking sites.

In the fall of 2009, IKEA hired Forsman and Bodenfors, a Swedish media agency, to come up with a social media campaign. Creating a low-budget campaign, they used Facebook’s already built-in feature – photo tagging. They posted 12 photos of IKEA showrooms and allowed friends to “tag” themselves as an item to WIN THE PRODUCT.

Word spread quickly and virally (as it so often does), and within two weeks, the photos were filled with friend tags. Of course, the tagging popped up peoples’ news feeds, home pages, profiles and links. While this campaign reached about 10,000 people, the aftermath is what is impressive.

Popular blogs like Mashable and CNet have picked up the success story, as have thousands of other bloggers and media. Months after it happened, we’re STILL talking about it, which is a great thing for IKEA.

If you’re brainstorming a way to recreate this for your own business, you can’t. Facebook has since changed their promotions guidelines, but this does go to show that great success can happen even on a small budget.

After their hug success, IKEA started a “non-official” interactive Web site: www.ikeafans.com, which allows brand evangelists to socialize, interact and share. The site is moderated but very open and non-controlling. It’s a great example of why to create a hub of community for such a powerful brand.

What we can learn from IKEA:

1. Sometimes simplicity is best – IKEA utilized already existing features and created a very successful campaign on a low budget.

2. Know your audience and customers – IKEA customers are very modern, tech savvy and social, which is why they have great success on their multimedia channels.

3. People like freebies – It’s a fact of life: give something away, and people will take notice. If you give entire showrooms of furniture away, people will DEFINITELY take notice.

4. Find those brand evangelists – Finding the people who love your business and brand is so important. Nielsen reports that 90% of people trust peer recommendations. Reward those who love your brand, and they’ll be more likely to spread the love.

About the author: Ashley Thiesen Caldwell is the founder and owner of The Modern Connection, LLC, which is an Internet marketing business with a social media focus based out of Charleston, SC.

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