Let’s Get Social: Lessons Learned From Pleo Jul 23, 2008 5:18 PM
, By Lisa Wehr
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Last Christmas a robotic baby dinosaur demonstrated a social media marketing tactic that can generate a mammoth return: a social network.
When done right, a social network can turn customers into advocates--advocates who sell your product for you. And in the case of Pleo, this social media marketing tactic paid off with thousands of owners logging on, eager to share their experiences with their new robotic pet.
The social media marketing tactics
The online community at PleoWorld.com is made up of several different social media marketing strategies including:
Public forum
This forum allows current and prospective Pleo owners to communicate with each other online. They can post questions, answers and more. The forum enables customer interaction, as well as provides a way for parent company Ugobe to monitor what consumers are saying about their product.
Blogs
On PleoWorld.com, a “plog” is a Pleo owner’s personal blog. Individuals setup a profile page to register their plog with the Pleo site, and can post about their experiences with Pleo in their online journal. Plogs are open to the public via PleoWorld.com, and each week a different plog is featured as the “Plog of the Week.”
Video
PleoWorld.com hosts several behind-the-scenes videos about the making of Pleo. These videos include interviews with the designers as well as people on the street interacting with Pleo for the first time.
News
Anytime Pleo is positively mentioned in the news, a link to the story is added to the home page. Also, Pleo offers an opt-in e-mail newsletter to help customers stay in the loop about the latest software updates, news mentions and more.
Flickr and YouTube badges
Flickr, a popular online photo-sharing site, and YouTube, a popular video-sharing site, are featured prominently on PleoWorld.com. Badges for both sites feature screen shots of what can be found about Pleo on flickr and YouTube. Clicking on the badges will direct the user to the Pleo photo and video stream – prompting them to contribute their own.
Twitter feed
Twitter is a free service that lets people keep in touch using the Web, phone or IM (instant messenger). Anytime something is posted about Pleo on Twitter, the Twitter feed at PleoWorld.com is updated. This allows people to communicate with each other and discover what is being said about Pleo online.
Free downloads
Another creative social media marketing tactic that Pleo is using to maintain interest and drive interaction with PleoWorld.com is the occasional free download. Ugobe offered owners a surprise downloadable holiday behavior mode, which made Pleo sing and dance to six popular Christmas carols. These special downloads bring owners back to the site, generate discussion and enhance future selling opportunities.
The traffic
The buzz created by the social network paid off for Pleo. The traffic was at an all-time high after the company’s November 2007 product launch-- perfectly timed for the holiday shopping season. And according to the PleoWorld Website, nearly 6,000 people registered for the online community by the first of the year.
The takeaway
Each of the social media marketing tactics listed above were used together to strengthen and further enhance the customer experience with the Pleo brand. But they can also be powerful social media marketing tactics when used on their own.
The key is determining the right mix for your target audience, and remembering that social media marketing is an ongoing commitment to your customers. It is not a set-it-and-forget-it tactic. Be prepared to invest the time and resources it takes to do the job right, and avoid the extinction of interest in your products during the critical holiday shopping season.
Lisa Wehr is CEO/founder of Oneupweb, a digital marketing agency.
