Social Media – the key word here is “social.” Being social
means engaging in conversations, interacting with your target audience, and
listening to what others have to say.
Your audience wants to know about your brand’s personality.
Brands such as Progressive and All State have taken the idea
of an engaging personality to a higher level. These insurance giants have
distinct characters they use as part of their advertising campaigns and they
have included the characters as key strategies within their social media
efforts.
Flo, the Progressive Girl, has close to 4 million likes on
Facebook; while All State’s Mayhem is up to almost 1.3 million. Each of these companies
has incorporated their respective fictitious characters into solid facebook
personalities.
Mayhem’s followers post how he has interrupted their days
with unexpected calamities, and he responds – dark humor and all.
A recent Mayhem post – “I'm
the annoying radio song drivers scramble to change when they should be watching
the road. Who can guess what song I am?” More than 3,880 people responded with their least favorite song.
Flo, the Progressive girl, is sunny and positive – similar
to her television persona. She gushes about photos progressive owners have
shared and celebrates random events such as National Poetry Month. By posting photos of Flo in everyday
situations, Progressive invites you to believe she is indeed an actual person
and not just a public persona.
Progressive and All State understand that interacting with
their audiences online is key to increasing brand awareness. They are not
simply posting company updates, but are welcoming their followers to share
stories, photos and thoughts as well. It is proving to be a successful
combination for the two insurance giants.
Not all of us have a Flo or Mayhem to use as our social
media personality, but a takeaway is that by combining the same messaging in
our social media efforts as we do with other marketing tactics, we can
strengthen the conversations with clients.
Your brand is your personality, and it should be visible and
relevant whatever the marketing medium you are using to voice the message and
engage your clients to be a part of that message.
