From consistent, thoughtful engagement with the audience throughout the life of a post, to a unique “surprise and delight" program, plus educational, informative and creative content that brings to life the brand that invented the automobile, the Mercedes-Benz Facebook page not only leads its category, it’s also a model for a how any brand in any industry should handle its Facebook presence.Mercedes-Benz USA does more than check the boxes on Facebook—we lap our vertical and pace our industry: -Industry-leading engagement. Mercedes-Benz USA’s Facebook content feedback percentage (sourced from independent tool Quintly) typically doubles—at a minimum—the average of every other brand in the competitive set, including Audi USA, Lexus and BMW USA. For comparison, Toyota USA, General Motors and Ford averaged a .13 Feedback Percentage for the month. MBUSA has averaged nearly .75% since we began measuring in May of 2012. -Explosive growth. The page has grown from 80,589 fans at the beginning of 2011 to over 2.2 million as we near the end of 2013. -Best-in-automotive community management. An average of over 12,000 inbound comments and posts are moderated monthly and those that require action receive clever and thoughtful replies, often within 15 minutes of posting during normal business hours. See appended slides for examples of customer interactions inside Facebook comment threads. -Best-in-automotive moderation: We actively moderate our page round-the-clock, 365 days a year. Spam is wiped clean virtually as soon as it happens, whereas many other brands let it sit there for hours and even days. -Surprising, delighting and rewarding our fans: We host public-facing contests and drawings, giving away everything from a chance to hit tennis balls with Roger Federer, to front row tickets at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, to multiple trips to the AMG Driving Academy where fans learned how to drive our most powerful performance vehicles from professional drivers, to brand new Mercedes-Benz vehicles themselves. Altogether, we hosted 22 public-facing contests or sweepstakes in 2013 alone. In addition, we have a “surprise and delight" program with an annual budget in the tens of thousands of dollars dedicated specifically to rewarding members of the audience who make considerate comments or send in particularly strong UGC. Dozens of fans have received gifts from the Mercedes-Benz Accessories Store, signed merchandise from athletes associated with Mercedes-Benz, exclusive gifts and more -A mix of heritage and innovation. A constant challenge for this brand is honoring its heritage as the inventor of the automobile (all the way back in 1886) while emphasizing its ongoing pursuit of innovations and entire vehicles that change the very industry it created. Our tone, messages and type of content must continuously inspire in order to mesh with our younger, often aspirational Facebook audience. As such, we have a unique mix of posts that teach, entertain and engage the community, as well as simply surprise on a weekly basis. See appended slides for exemplary posts. -User-generated features. We oftentimes ask our fans to share personal memories, stories and photographs of their lives with Mercedes-Benz products and later use them to create galleries, cover photos and more. It’s all part of using Facebook as more than simply a vehicle for marketing, but as a vehicle for building a community. MBUSA Shorty Award Submission from Mercedes Benz USA
