It’s refreshing to hear a presentation from someone in a non-social media industry who really “gets” the use of social media (SM) for their business and how to leverage it as part of their marketing mix. Cuisinart is a leader in their industry owning the first or second share position in 13 of 15 categories. Based on the presentation today at the Shopper Insights in Action 2010 conference sponsored by IIR US, Cuisinart gets some of those results from the effective use of SM.
They have focused on the SM tools appropriate for their strategies. 76% of their consumers are women and 26% are age 25-34. Cuisinart chose Facebook, Twitter, retailer websites, the blogosphere and viral videos. Facebook is a primary SM tactic and is the number 1 referring site to Cusinart’s website. Twitter (@MyCuisinart) is also a key tool but Mary cautions users to “know the rules” in Twitterland.
The blogosphere community is growing. Cuisinart has done a great job of finding their segment and leveraging product reviews, giveaways, sponsoring events, webinars, promotions, and the like. Video is important to Cuisinart’s retailers (think product demos) and is handled and distributed for Cuisinart by Invodo.
So what does this all mean to their business? Plenty, it seems. Online traffic is up 20% and revenue 35%. Pretty good bump for a marketing channel with a lower cost structure than traditional channels.
Cuisinart and Mary Rodgers “get” the role of SM in their marketing mix and have leveraged it to drive better business results. Pretty cool.
(By the way, you can follow ThinkWay on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn!)
