Follow the Leader: Taking the Coca-Cola Approach to Social Media Marketing

Residents of Atlanta may find it hard to ignore Coca-Cola’s colossal success. Not only is the city famous for having been the birthplace of the iconic drink, but it also remains home to the company’s world headquarters. It also houses the frequently visited tourist World of Coca-Cola Museum, one of the city’s biggest tourist draws. This year, Atlanta will be at the heart of an ongoing celebration to ring in the 125^th anniversary of Coke’s debut.

So, what does Coca-Cola have to do with social media marketing? Quite a bit, in fact. Although it is a company whose rise to worldwide prominence was accomplished without the assistance of social media marketing, the fact that Coca-Cola has embraced social media in its continuing efforts to grow and remain relevant says a lot. It’s an endorsement that’s a bit like watching the circus strong man, dining on fresh spinach after every single gravity-defying performance. Once you catch sight of that, it sort of makes you want to rush out and buy a pallet of the stuff yourself.

Coca-Cola’s move to adapt its marketing to encompass an able handling of social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter is a similar lesson that shouldn’t be lost on businesses that have yet to carve out a presence on the World Wide Web. You might wonder what you can do to follow the example of social media marketing adoption similar to that of Coca-Cola. Here are a few ideas, for starters:

• Have a company website built. You don’t have to hire a million dollar per year advertising group to create a website that’s effective. If marketing design isn’t your strong point, keep it basic with a few simple themes: information on your goods or services, a section of testimonials from satisfied customers, contact information, and a blog.

• Create a Facebook page that links to your website, and vice versa. Use your presence on Facebook to drive visitors to your website, but avoid using misleading claims or bothersome tactics to accomplish that.

• If you’ve had a commercial made in the past or have the resources to make more, create a YouTube profile and upload all relevant video files here. This is a free method of getting your brand message out there and it can be linked to your website and to your Facebook page

• Get on the Twitter bandwagon and build your list of followers organically as opposed to simply spamming the known universe and hoping that some of your message gets through. Use Twitter to send focused, targeted messages to your audience, always directing them to your website.

If you’re thinking that you could use a bit of help with any of the above suggestions but don’t want to have to approach four different professionals to get them all done, you’re in luck.  

Flyline Search Marketing offers services that range from basic web design to implementing complex social media marketing campaigns. You may not achieve the numbers that Coca-Cola has done, but at least you’ll know you’re on the right track and in capable hands.