Hello and welcome to the first in a series of posts on EzyInsights looking at how brands are performing on social media platforms. We’ll show you some examples of good and bad practice, showing you what’s working and what’s worth avoiding when it comes to social media.

First up: Kiehl’s Facebook:

Kiehl’s benefits from fantastic branding, and the interesting thing about their Facebook presence is that they’ve not only carried this across, but managed to improve upon it.

In this post, they invited fans to share their skincare concerns. Asking direct questions to fans is always a good way to start some engagement – especially when the question revolves around the fan. What’s of note here is that each fan who left a comment got a detailed reply back, suggesting an appropriate product(s) in the Kiehl’s range.

This sort of approach may seem simple and perhaps obvious. But this is exactly the sort of things that a lot of brands don’t manage to achieve. Taking advantage of the two way communication possible on social media, rather than simply posting dull marketing messages that people don’t trust.

Kiehl’s took the time to reply to everybody in the thread

 What is likely to happen as a result of this post is that the fans who got a detailed and personal reply will feel great about it – and by extension, the brand. People answering the questions were not random people, they are on the Kiehl’s page because they chose to go there – so their relationship with the brand becomes deeper.

Which lead to re-engagement, direct sales and increased loyalty from fans

These fans may become super-fans and ambassadors of the Kiehl’s brand online, sharing experiences and positive messages with their friends. Even defending the brand from negative comments made by others. Word of mouth and personal recommendations are a hugely compelling factor in purchasing decisions, much more so than traditional marketing messages.

Thumbs up Kiehl’s – a great example of the possibilities that exist on social media.