Hitachi’s Social Media Success

Article first written for, and published as Hitachi Data Systems Shares 5 Steps to B2B Social Media Success on Technorati.

Social Media for Enterprise Business

When most of us think of Hitachi Data Systems, we don’t necessarily think “social media.” I mean, at first pass, I wouldn’t associate the image of a towering black Hitachi server as something I’d particularly want to Facebook “like.” But perceptions like that can change, and at a conference this week in San Francisco, Hitachi demonstrated how.

Hosted by SocialMedia.com, the BlogWell Conference is a showcase of how big businesses have achieved success through social media. In two of their most recent campaigns, Hitachi Data Systems used social media to drive user engagement and lead generation far beyond their own expectations.

Social Media Campaigns

The company’s internally-named “Quiz Campaign” was its first. Launched on a fresh microsite, the program directed users on a treasure hunt to find details about a character. Users navigated through Hitachi’s YouTube, Facebook and other sites answering product questions.

The company’s next, the “Globe Campaign” was launched on an engaging multimedia site. Customer testimonials and case studies were spread all over this virtual world, compelling users to interplay with it. As an added gamification element, stars in this interactive universe represented the collection of moderated user Twitter tweets. And users had the opportunity to Facebook “friend” the site or add product recommendations via LinkedIn.

To entice users, the company awarded prizes for these promotions like iPods, consumer electronics like HDTVs and camcorders, as well as professional storage requirements assessments for the real techies.

Results and ROI

Hitachi measured the engagement and returns on these campaigns and proved that a conservative, high-end B2B technology provider can drive serious revenue through social media engagement. The “Quiz Campaign” generated 8,000 visitors, 604 leads, 43% uplift in Facebook user engagement. At the end of its life in October of last year, the “Globe Campaign” had yielded 14,580 visitors, 369 leads, 494 engagements, and 9,000 clicks on collateral. Calculate the cost of generating those clicks and leads through traditional advertising, and the ROI for them was incredible.

5 Steps to Social Media Success

So how did they do it? Hitachi’s Global Online Marketing/Social Media Manager, Sharon Crost, offered these five steps to the company’s social media success.

1. Test different social media channels. The ones you might “think” will be most effective, may not be.
2. Segment your users, but let all who want, participate. Hitachi allowed their audience self-select whether they were “targeted” product prospects or just players by offering different prizes.
3. Amplification – Use influencers to push your message.
4. Measure your results.
5. Nurture your relationships by thanking participants.

Hitachi’s latest product campaign can be found here.