SOCIAL LISTENING

 

    Reader I have a crippling addiction to power tools, despite the absurd price I just can't help but spend my paychecks as soon as I get them on the newest quiet compressor or 3/8in impact wrench of course despite being manufactured in the same country to the same industry spec by the same supper conglomerate I insist not all power tools are the same! In my opinion there is no tool better than Milwaukee. I know, way to go with the crowd right? For those who couldn't care less what color their power tools are there is nothing more contentious in the power tool world than the brand tool you use. The four heavy hitters are DeWalt, Mikita, Ridged, and of course the ever flashy Milwaukee. Due to the absurd cost of power tool batteries most people buy one and stick with it, despite all brands offering more or less the same basic tools. In short I'm a total sucker for their advertising, and wouldn't touch the other colors with a ten foot pole. Of course a luddite like me couldn't care less about twitter, instagram, or facebook and see most adverts on displays at work or Home Depot. Nevertheless for this post I made some fake social media accounts and dove into the social media power tool scene to see just how convincing their campaigns are. 

First and foremost let's start with their value proposition, for Milwaukee tools they specialize in “Built for the trades” tools specialized for trade applications primarily electricians  this is expressed quite clearly on their Twitter and Instagram with the majority of posts prominently displaying Hard Hat clad Tradesman hard at work, of course using Milwaukee tools. This is in contrast to brands like Ryobi that feature homeowners prominently in their social media. Overall from a look at their posts on both instagram and twitter the reception is overall mixed with the majority of people using it as a customer service with almost all posts being questions regarding product questions with responses being directed at their customer service department, Another portion of their stream is dedicated to advertisements for new products such as their new line of box cutters or the M18 lawn mower being released in June.

These posts are very straightforward and have comments turned off on Twitter. On Instagram comments are general buzz and excitement mostly form fans of the products as we can see from the following two posts from “Tinkey Winky”, And “James Allen”

Besides those types of post we also have a few negative customer service posts sprinkled in such as this one from Chris Houston.

Both these types of comments are reflective of the type of page being run, it's not much more than an advertisement board with content no different than what you'd see in a sales catalog with a customer service line attached. Posts such as the two positive ones are not responded to but may occasionally get a like from the company nothing more. It is very clear that the company doesn't invest serious money or time in to their social media posts with little engagement with their audience, I would not be surprised if the page was run by only a handful of people. That being said, for a company like Milwaukee this is more than adequate and very in line with the competition, with the other major power tool brands having almost identical pages. Milwaukee's customer base is primarily businesses and so called “prosumers” as such a majority of their customers are already well established with the company. Most new customers are brought in by either in-store promotional events and offerings such as myself, or by industry trade shows as most companies would be. Knowing this it is absolutely no surprise that Milwaukee invests millions in NECA trade shows and rows of advertisements and displays in every major hardware retailer, but not so much in social media.

I believe this company is rather reflective of social medias use for marketing, it can be an amazing tool for smaller companies and startups trying to make a name for themselves with a fun and new campaign earring them a spot on the news and more importantly customer eyes, or even an old company trying to build a new image such as with Cracker Jacks, Cracker Jill campaign. But for successful companies with an established market, distribution, and stream of new customers there is little benefit to a social media campaign especially when your primary customers aren't looking, that being said as we can see with Milwaukee it can still serve as a solid connection to your customer base for service and questions.

 

Personally if I were brand manager for Milwaukee I’d admittedly stick to much the same formula with regular adverts and prompt response to concerns, with one little change of course. I do believe the engagement with the liked section was abysmally low with very little outreach it can't hurt to drop people like “Tinky Winky” a little comment for his effort or a joke or two for the “James Allens” of the world this can only help build your company's good will with your customer base, even playing off brand loyalties could be a nice wink to most people's religious tool buying habits. From this deep dive my primary takeaway is that although it's often presented as the golden ticket of advertising, social media is not necessary the best advertising base for all companies, especially considering the diverse amounts of different customer profiles companies must target, many of whom such as myself couldn't care less whats on Twitter or Instagram and only ever go there to ask a question about our exploding nail guns.