In the new age of social media, the rate that individuals and companies share information is increasing exponentially.  Previously, if a customer had a bad experience they would tell a few of their close friends around the water cooler during coffee break at the office and that would be the end of it.  Not a lot of damage was done to the company’s brand name.  Fast forward to today where negative customer experiences are tweeted to social media websites while they are happening.  Moreover, once these incidents are posted, other unhappy customers add their experiences making the problem bigger.

Consumers aren’t the only people following companies on social media outlets.  Social media outlets allow companies to gather real time information about competitors.  This allows companies to identify opportunities to launch micro marketing campaigns and get ahead of competitors by outperforming them on a global stage.

For example, back in 2012 Samsung flew two tech bloggers to Berlin, Germany to cover the product launch of the Samsung Note 2 and then threatened to leave them with the bill if they didn’t pose as Samsung employees.  The reporters believed that they were going to be guests at the event and were free to enjoy the day as they pleased.  However, when they arrived Samsung informed that they were going to pose as Samsung employees and man a booth at the event.  If they refused they would be left with the bill for the cost of their hotel and return flight.

Lucky for competitor Nokia they were closely monitoring the situation developing on social media.   Before weighing into the situation Nokia monitored and listened to what people were saying about the incident.  Nokia realized that these two popular tech bloggers had influence over a large number of followers.   As they watched the situation go from bad to worse, Nokia identified an opportunity to send a message to people following the situation.

Nokia reached out to the two tech bloggers and offered to cover the cost of their hotel and return flights.  This created a huge amount of positive publicity for Nokia.  By monitoring their competitor’s social media channels, identifying opportunities to talk and initiate small marketing campaigns, and acting in a smart and timely manner Nokia was able to create a massive amount of positive publicity for their company using relatively very few resources.  The massive amount of positive publicity was due to the fact that Nokia’s good deed was amplified over social media channels.