Introduction
Social media is a platform used by similar individuals and organizations. As a mode of communication, it allows users to reach others from around the world, share opinions, display creativity, and engage in various other activities. Social media is an invaluable tool for businesses that allows them to promote their products and services and uphold their brand reputation. By interacting with their audience, a brand can attract more potential buyers and increase its profits. However, each brand chooses its strategy to penetrate the online market and acts according to its brand positioning.
To understand how companies use social media accounts to their advantage, it is necessary to review some examples. This work will compare the social media presence of two soft drink brands. The companies chosen for this overview are Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper. Both organizations occupy the same market niche and cater to the same population segment. Because of this, it will be easier to compare them equally. To present a fuller outlook, the presence of the two brands on two social media websites – Twitter and Facebook- will be compared.
Coca-Cola Brand Presence
Coca-Cola is a well-known and popular soft drink brand that provides non-alcoholic beverages in a wide range of flavors. Twitter remains one of their primary modes of customer outreach online, and the brand adopts a strategy of appealing to younger consumers. To sell its products, Coca-Cola uses humor and “relatable” content that allows it to gain recognition among the public. The majority of their posts are short and accompanied by different hashtags. Instead of directly making people aware of new product releases or producing advertisements, the company engages in interactions designed to familiarize itself with an audience (“Coca-Cola (@Coca-Cola)”).
Posts fall within the theme of a given advertisement campaign or contain some joke that emphasizes the value of Coca-Cola as a product. This strategy allows the brand to appear more modern and friendly. The organization likely chose to present itself in such a way that it would focus on making sales and increasing the number of people who find it appealing. Such a tone of interaction appeals to people who spend a lot of time online and connect with many of the “memes” posted by Coca-Cola.
The Facebook Coca-Cola account is similar, with subtle differences. Chiefly, Facebook posts are much less frequent than Twitter posts and use images more often. The disparity is likely connected to a difference in demographics between the two websites.
Jokes are also present on Facebook, although they do not make a similarly liberal use of hashtags. Additionally, the company puts a strong emphasis on different events that it is present at, such as football matches and conventions (“Coca-Cola”). Instead of providing direct adverts, it shares content that users would be interested in seeing.
Dr. Pepper’s Brand Presence
Comparatively, Dr. Pepper’s Twitter presence is almost the same as that of Coca-Cola. The brand uses short, funny, relatable content to push its products and garner a larger following. Hashtags are much less pronounced, making the text less obviously an advertisement. Emojis are used at the end of every post as a way to reinforce its messaging and add a visual component to the presentation (“Dr. Pepper (@DrPepper)”).
Overall, this type of promotional material creates a feeling identical to Coca-Cola. On Facebook, however, the brand shows some signs of individuality. It advertises its newly-released flavor directly and discusses its merits with the audience. Different posts include jokes, community engagement posts, promotional material, and videos (“Dr. Pepper”). This variety helps differentiate between all kinds of content the page posts. In addition, Dr. Pepper posts more frequently.
Conclusion
In conclusion, most social media accounts of today follow specific patterns of interaction and behavior, regardless of their general brand image or standing. In particular, a significant emphasis is placed on appealing to the internet-savvy people who spend most of their time online. To garner a larger following, increase the outreach of their advertisements, and improve PR, companies make jokes on social media and encourage individuals to interact with their corporate accounts. In addition, promotional campaigns, imagery, and video are prevalent. All of these tactics help companies secure a stronger position in the market.
Works Cited
“Coca-Cola (@Coca-Cola).” Twitter. Web.
“Coca-Cola.” Facebook. Web.
“Dr. Pepper (@DrPepper).” Twitter. Web.
“Dr. Pepper.” Facebook. Web.