Companies That Get Social Media

I was recently asked: "Which companies 'get' social media?


One company that stands out is @CandH_sugar.
I first saw them tweeting a few months ago. I followed them. I figured they might be happy to chat with me about sugar related things.. you know. BAKING? Yup. They did. (Big shocker huh?) In fact they replied, asked me questions back, I was thrilled!?


Another company I've been impressed with is Cuisinart. Mainly due to their Facebook group. They run giveaways, but not the standard boring stuff. Instead, they ask for recipe submissions and ideas from their fans as the contest entry. (Thus featuring and highlighting their readers and fans!) What a great way make it interactive more than simply tweeting out stale links. Jennifer Perillo is the woman behind the scenes at the Facebook group and she tweets from @JenniferPerillo as well. Tell her I said hi!

Here are some real life examples from C&H Sugar:

For one of my Summer Beat The Boredom Posts... I asked @CandH_Sugar if they had any great kid friendly recipe ideas. (Something my 11yrold could make on her own.)
This was their reply: Molasses Ginger Cookies.
She made them. WE ate them!

I asked if they had a FAST recipe for labor day weekend since we were heading to a friend's house to watch them shoot off a water Rocket!
Again, their reply: Chocolate Ice Cream Cake
Wow...how perfect and... toasted almond crust? Ohmyheck. SOLD.

I mentioned that I had just made my favorite Blueberry Sour Cream Bundt Cake.
They asked me to upload a photo of it to their facebook page. Um... Heck yeah!

I recently begged: HELP! I bottled 21 quarts of pears and 10 quarts of pear sauce... and EEK! What should I do with all that pear sauce?
Wow did these guys come thru or what? They wrote a whole Facebook note answering my recipe mayday!
Here's a couple of their genius ideas:
Ultra Chocolate Cake (WHAT!)
Brown Sugar Pound Cake.. uh huh.. (see what I mean)??
Check out the rest to really enjoy what I'm talking about! And yes I'll be posting a photo of my pear sauce draped cake... as soon as I stop drooling.

See how they make it more about me than the company?
They GET Social Media from the Mom's perspective.

There are plenty of other companies out there who 'get' social media.
And just as many who don't.

My list of DON'TS:

1. If I tweet you a question about a product or about your site, do not answer me with a link to your website and nothing else. Um... I KNOW where your website is?
{Instead, reply! Answer me realistically. Assume I'm a real person, maybe I have kids, maybe I work full time, maybe by interacting with me you'll gain a loyal customer for your client. If you sell clothes it's safe to assume I WEAR clothes. If you sell a service, ask me if I use it, then why or why not. Don't be afraid of the negative. Working to solve negatives helps me realize you are human too.}

2. If I tweet you directly about a problem I'm having with your site or product... feel free to offer a customer support email, but likely I already sent in a customer support ticket.
{At least tell me you are checking on it and will get back. Or heck give me a REAL email where I can try to solve my issue. Then check back and see if it got resolved. I think I would faint if I got that kind of follow up.}

3. Don't use your Facebook page only as a way to shoot out new product updates or blog posts. The point of social media is to be SOCIAL.

{Again let me direct you to the C&H Sugar Facebook page. Note the interaction. Note the part where they feature their fans. Note how they use the discussion panel to further a bigger conversation with their customers and readers.}

C&H Sugar gets it right on their website too.
check out the Family fun section:

• Sugar Galaxy
• ABC's of baking with children
• sweet activities: lemonade stand

Disclosure: There is no disclosure. I wrote this article of my own free will and choice. People have asked if I'm working with CandH, and I answer: "If they offered to pay me I would say no, they GET Social Media they don't need me!"