Social Media Monitoring – Grand Theft Auto

When Rockstar Games released the first Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 16 years ago, nobody could have guessed that on their fifth installment of the game that the company would make $1 billion worth of sales within 3 days. Grand Theft Auto V was released on September 17th, 5 years after the previous GTA IV and was rumored that production costs were between $200-250 million dollars. So what made this game generate so many sales? Social Media Marketing.

 

 

Social media has allowed business to share their products/services for free on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Rockstar Games utilised this and many more marketing tools to get their customers attention. There was a big buzz around GTA V before its release, prompting eager gamers to vent their excitement on Facebook/Twitter which of course was followed by those that were complaining about it. Businesses can use this type of activity for their benefit with simple Social Media Monitoring tools.

 

Social Media Monitoring tools gives brands a way to analyse their effectiveness. Companies using social media monitoring can add the following values to their virtual identity:

• Measure and manage marketing effectiveness
• Compare statistics with industry/competition
• Develop new potential marketing opportunities
• Insights for more cost effective procedures

 

One of the social media monitoring tools that I experimented with was Social Mention. Social Mention was very easy to use, however I felt like it was missing a lot of posts and was not gathering the correct information. With a simple “GTA” search the service was able to provide 372 mentions was which derived from the following sources Twitter (100), Photobucket (81), answers_wiki (49), YouTube (48), Facebook (25) and more. This data was the filtered into positive (97) / neutral (262) / negative (13) feedback, which allowed me to view each of these categories. This data is very vague and is generally just comments or status about the gameplay. However, there is one thing that can be assured after using this tool, GTA V rocks!

 

Social media monitoring can be used by business that are only just beginning, and also by larger companies that are looking to gather insight into their virtual identity. Each monitoring service offers something different for the business allowing them to gather various types of data. With so many services available to monitor a businesses social media, it’s important that the correct research is conducted into this service and also the business to ensure that are correctly utilising this great tool.

Sources:

GTA V sales speed past $1 billion in three days

GTA Social Mention Search

Law Firms and Social Media, Do They Mix?

There comes a time in a persons life when they will need to meet with a lawyer, and this can be a daunting for most people. Luckily, companies such as Trilby Misso are here to help. As a Queenslander and I try to support the local companies that are here to help my community. Trilby Misso started in 1956 with humble beginnings, their vision is to understand personal circumstances whilst serving justice for their clients.

Trilby Misso has adapted to social media and currently has accounts on YouTube, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. Trilby Misso has been thriving within the Law industry for decades and is now in a position to help the community, and this does not just relate to court cases.

The image above was shared on Trilby Misso’s Twitter page, and depicts their involvement with a charity walk for Parkinson’s Queensland. Looking at their Twitter page will provide a clear indication of what the company is trying to offer, Customer Care. With consistent posts regarding the well-being of the community and its clients, Trilby Misso is doing more than just serving justice. Twitter users have the opportunity to communicate with their account, allowing for positive/negative feedback on their posts.

As social media grows, companies need to utilise this service. Various companies are able to use social media as a form of marketing and customer communication. With a law firm, it’s hard to sell their service straight away because of the complexity of their service. Trilby Misso has created a virtual identity that puts them in a position to be seen as a friendly yet effective team of lawyers. By using social technologies, and sharing stories that matter, potential clients are able to understand that the employees are here for them.. Because they care.