Social media is a powerful tool.
We can send messages to thousands of individuals all over the world in an instant. This vehicle can be used to inform, entertain, and converse.
In my experience, it seems rare to find a brand that uses all three of these social media methods. As a fan of gaming, I decided to look at a giant in the industry and see how it uses social media to increase and strengthen its presence.
Xbox is a well-known brand, but due to the competitive nature of the videogame industry, it must ensure that it remains in the mind space of videogame consumers everywhere.
When looking at Xbox’s social media presence, not only does the brand inform consumers of new promotions, products, and upcoming developments, but it also provides amusement to those seeking distraction and even makes attempts to converse with its fanbase.
Information
As a service and ecosystem, Xbox must utilize social media sites to notify consumers of everything going on with the brand. Xbox does this with multiple daily posts providing updates for games offered on the platform. This includes announcements of upcoming and newly available games, as well as changes and new content in games currently available.
In a more critical scenario, Xbox recently used social media to repair public relations after an unpopular announcement. In January, the brand announced that the price of its Xbox Live Gold subscription service would be increasing by 100%.
As you can imagine, this was a greatly unpopular move that fans and media outlets expressed. By the end of the day, Xbox had announced that it would be reversing its controversial decision, resulting in a quick save for the gaming brand.
Entertainment
While a brand’s main purpose for media is to announce and inform, creating supplementary value for consumers through engagement and amusement helps to strengthen consumers’ connections with the brand.
Xbox is frequently making gaming-related jokes on social media outlets such as Twitter. A recent example is a tweet of a picture that triggers gamers by showing food-covered hands reaching for a controller. The tweet was very popular with over 30k likes and 1700 retweets.
Conversation
Just as important as entertainment when it comes to creating and strengthening connections with an audience is using social media to engage and converse. Xbox has been doing a great job of this, especially when compared to competitors such as PlayStation and Nintendo.
Xbox will often tweet conversation starters themed around gaming. A great recent example is asking fans about living their lives as the last customer character they created.
In addition to generating conversations, Xbox also takes part in them. In a recent tweet thread where fans were posting pictures of their new Xbox consoles, the brand was replying to them.
Conclusion
It is very refreshing to see a major brand like Xbox making efforts to utilize social media for more than just advertising and promotion. While some have expressed a dislike at the brand’s attempt to “meme” its output online to “appeal to the kids”, as a marketing student, I admire the attempt to take current sentiments and attitudes into account when representing your brand.
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