Clémence Robineau - Assignment 3

Analysis & Evaluation of IKEA's social media page:

https://www.facebook.com/IKEAUSA

Is this commercial page doing an effective job of social media marketing and why?

Yes! IKEA is a Swedish company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances, and home accessories. As of January 2008, IKEA is the world's largest furniture retailer. If you look them up on Facebook, at least 20 pages pop up in your first search, each belonging to a different country, or even a specific location in that country (like Emeryville IKEA popping up as my second search since it's the closest to my current location). They have over 298 stores in 26 countries. By looking at their IKEA USA Facebook page, one can see that they upload two new posts with pictures and details every day and they make sure their page is up to date. Their page is constantly filled with vibrant colors that attract the eye without ever taking away from their sleek, simple and sophisticated interior decor. 

They do provide premiums in some of these posts, such as "Love your IKEA store? Join the #IKEAcrowd on Crowdtap! Answer questions to earn prizes and gain access to exclusive contests!", they offer deals for their food: "Click to print out a coupon you can present at the IKEA Restaurant to enjoy a Swedish meatball plate for only $2 this weekend!" and they even had a student special where college students could win a full makeover of their dorm rooms if they liked a specific post and participated in the raffle. Their page is also full of participation points where they involve the users to make sure their customer service is top notch: "We want to hear about your IKEA Services experience! Have you used our Delivery, Delivery with Assembly, or Picking with Delivery services in the past 3 months? Please click here to complete a short survey: http://bit.ly/1fuG2Yz". Most of their posts involve creative uses and decorations that could help the users furnish and assemble their home, although they do not post anything users have sent them. While their user-generated content is quasi-non-existant, they do make sure to keep their followers communicating by implementing a customer service "portal". They have the users participate in each post by asking them questions about their favorite pieces of furniture, or how they would decorate their rooms for the holidays: " What’s your favorite meal to serve in the fall? Make it easier with IKEA cooking tools!"; "Tell us — what is the coziest room in your home?". 

All in all, IKEA marks all the points for having an effective social media and marketing Facebook page, although they could perhaps bring more user-generated content.