Development of social media at König & Meyer

We got our start in the world of social media in November 2009, when we first appeared on MySpace. With a profile page programmed to match the company’s corporate design, König & Meyer became part of the MySpace community, which at that time had over 220 million members worldwide, primarily musicians and music fans.

Not long afterward, other social media platforms arrived on the scene: Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
The company hoped to use these channels to make a closer connection with customers and provide direct, personal contact. Another goal was to boost the attractiveness of our music accessories and related products and raise awareness of the brand on the German market, and especially on the international markets.

Around that time, YouTube was also emerging as a more important platform as we uploaded our first product videos, which we had made about some of our flagship and highlight products. Then, at the Musikmesse trade fair in March 2010, we finally began actively advertising the new channels among customers. Announcements were also made in the newly created dealer newsletter.

A basic training course in social media at the Social Media Academy from May to September 2010 and a user survey regarding the existing social media channels supplied the basis for the development of a social media strategy for König & Meyer GmbH & Co. KG. As we mapped out the strategy, we considered a number of factors:
What specific goals does König & Meyer wish to reach with social media? Who should be responsible for managing these channels within the organization? That meant not only did we have to consider who was going to post items and respond to questions and comments, but also who, within the company, could be asked for advice in certain situations, such as when there were technical questions or sales information was needed. We also needed to consider how we wished to respond to positive and negative feedback. At the same time, we examined our choice of social platforms, and the structure and appearance of our accounts and pages. One of the final steps was to consider and plan content that was relevant to these channels and their users.

In late 2010, this initiative culminated in a highly successful Facebook sweepstakes aimed at bands and musicians.
In the meantime, MySpace was losing ground to other channels, and membership numbers were dropping. Interaction and timely communication were difficult and barely took place at all. Updates and finally a relaunch of MySpace failed to bring the platform the boost executives had hoped to see – quite the opposite, in fact. Ultimately, the König & Meyer profile page could no longer be displayed. In light of these developments, the company made a final decision to terminate its activities in this channel.

When the Musikmesse trade fair launched in Frankfurt in April 2011, the new website of König & Meyer went live.  During the relaunch, we focused on making sure that the website also reflected the social media world. For example, the Twitter and Facebook feeds for endorsers are featured on their individual profile pages, under the “Bands & Artists” category.
Also in terms of support did the new website not only rely on a contact form and a list of contacts, but also quite clearly on social media as a support channel.

The true highlight of the new site, though, is the newsroom, which features everything users need or want to know about König & Meyer in a single central location. Tabs include “News,” “Videos,” “Photos,” “Press,” “Newsletter” – and, of course, “Social Media.” http://www.k-m.de/de/newsroom.html
The “Overview” page, the homepage for the newsroom section, provides a snapshot of the content available in the various subsections.
Another factor that was important to König & Meyer during this process was to make sure that the website was equipped with sharing functions. As a result, users can find the “Like,” “Tweet,” and “Share” icons on individual news items and each individual page.
At the same time, the company worked to adapt all social media tools to reflect the König & Meyer corporate design. A background was designed for the YouTube and Twitter channels, featuring the logo, contact information, and various ways to contact us along with links to other social media channels.
 
The Facebook profile image matches the part of the YouTube/Twitter background that consists of the logo and contact information.
Additionally programmed Facebook tabs give users more information and individualize the König & Meyer page. First, a “welcome” tab was launched in April. All users who are not yet registered as fans are routed to this tab. Its aim is to provide initial impressions and an overview of what the page offers or enables them to do, giving them an incentive to click on “Like.”
Then, in May, we launched the “About König & Meyer” tab, which offers teasers that link to the main categories on the website, shows the possibility of registering for the newsletter, and creates a link to the dealer search function of the site.

At present the Facebook page has about 2,200 fans, we have over 300 followers on Twitter, and the YouTube channel has 72 subscribers and about 32,000 views.
With social media, though, the number of fans and followers is not as important as interaction within the channels. That factor has developed highly positively over the past few months.
Facebook and related tools are increasingly being used as feedback and support channels. We are pleased to receive all comments.