Little Debbie LogoI have a bit of a thing for Little Debbie. Have for a long time. I especially like her Swiss Rolls. There’s some history where they are concerned in our house, which I’ll explain in a minute.

Little Debbie is actively marketing via social media. The company’s Facebook page has over a half a million fans.

They’ve also got a presence on Twitter, though it seems they have been much more focused on their Facebook efforts as their Twitter account has only attracted a little under 7,000 followers in the year and a half plus since the opened the account.

Doing Things Right

But here’s the thing. The folks behind the Little Debbie brand are doing the right things on social media. They are going beyond just broadcasting their marketing messages on social media and actually engaging their customers.

I’ve seen it first hand.

Let me explain.

Social Media Engagement

The other night I was doing some work online and I made a little bit of a confession. I figured that anyone familiar with AA might recognize the phrasing and give me a “Hi, Chris.” Tweet back. I got a couple and it added a little humor to my work that evening.

Then yesterday, I had another Swiss Roll with lunch. As I was enjoying my treat I tweeted about my Swiss Roll addiction. The person representing the Little Debbie brand on Twitter noticed and replied to me hinting about a big announcement. Then, about three hours later Little Debbie replied to me again saying:

@ChrisCree Know any good applicants for our "Peppermint Swiss Roll Taste Tester" opening?

That’s actual meaningful engagement with a real customer. Who is then telling other people about the brand.

You see, Little Debbie is doing something very smart. They are reaching out to their existing customers – those folks who are already enthusiastic about their brand. And they are asking if any of them would be willing to be among the first to try their new product.

And then because they reaching out to their customers via social media they are getting people talking about their brand even before the new product is launched. Their launch has the potential to reach a whole lot more people much faster, and more importantly, for much less money than via other, more traditional marketing channels.

They’ve already got nearly 300 likes on the status update they posted on the wall of their Facebook page and nearly 900 comments as I write this. All those comments are from people lobbying to be one of 5 people to be the first to try their new Peppermint Swiss Rolls as they launch.

How would you like to have that many people talking about your next product launch before it happened?

Keep in mind, the real marketing for this product launch started a long time ago. The entire time they were interacting with people on Facebook and Twitter they were laying the ground work for this to be a successful product launch.

Peppermint Swiss Roll Taste Tester

And, yeah. I know someone who would be perfect for the Peppermint Swiss Roll Taste Tester job. Me!

Here’s my video application for the job:

Oh, and did you see how their brand has now moved from Twitter and Facebook onto YouTube. They didn’t even have to do anything to make that happen.

Smart.

What do you think about Little Debbie and how the brand is using social media? Leave a comment and tell us.

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