Introduction Some of the most successful social media campaigns have been under the radar, like that of Goodwill of the Great Plains (Bitter, n.d.). Others are broader and international in scope, like that of Amazon. A global brand with localized needs, Amazon is an ideal company to analyze because of the success of their national and global campaigns. Yet at the same time, Amazon is not known for their social media prowess. Lacking in creativity, the Amazon media campaign reveals several gaps that can be addressed through more thoughtful leverage of the power of social.

Obviously if metrics alone were the measure of a solid social media campaign, Amazon would have no problems at all. On Facebook, total fans of the Amazon page have increased exponentially (“A deep dive into the social mediahabits and performance of Amazon,” n.d.). The same is true for Twitter, albeit with far more moderate growth (“A deep dive into the social mediahabits and performance of Amazon,” n.d.). Where Amazon really suffers is using visual social, like Instagram. Metrics show Amazon is floundering there, barely paying attention to the need for active engagement across multiple platforms (A deep dive into the social mediahabits and performance of Amazon,” n.d.). This report will reveal gaps in Amazon’s overall social media strategy with the goal of offering strategic recommendations for how to improve its presence.

National and Global Campaigns: What’s the Difference?

Amazon’s reach is so thoroughly global, their brand so entrenched in the public consciousness, it seems that the behemoth barely needs any social media presence at all. Yet nothing could be farther from the truth. Consumers expect to be actively engaged, even entertained, by companies. Clever social media campaigns create content...

Essentially, the customers do the work for the company when it comes to a good social media campaign and social marketing strategy. Amazon’s biggest strength—its global supply chain and brand recognition—can also become its greatest weakness when it comes to social. As social network analysts like Scott (2017) and Serrat (2017) point out, the global reach of a network is not a measure of its embeddedness. Local messages are critical for reaching subcultures and market segments: the consumers that actually use OneClick. For Amazon to differentiate between its global and its national campaigns, it would need to hire specialized staff that could create culturally relevant content. Hashtags in local languages, imagery that can be shared on Instagram and other visual social platforms, and stunning blog content would also help embed Amazon in local social currency.
This is not to say that a global campaign is unimportant. Amazon’s success is with global strategies that leverage not just social networking and social media like Facebook, but which work with Google to influence algorithms. Amazon solidifies the filter bubbles Google create. Amazon’s presence as a curator of digital content is its key to a successful global campaign. Although sinister, this global campaign precludes the need to pay attention to Instagram and other platforms that other companies do need to worry about much more in the short run. Working locally, though, Amazon would do well to increase conversational content it creates and monitors on Facebook and Twitter. Not just relying on ad placement and tracking of personal data, Amazon should be creating a cohesive story about some of the products and services it offers.

Increasing Business Value and Profitability…