How Canon is Creating Loyalty Through Social Media

Canon Inc. has been producing cameras for over eighty years, and for many the Canon brand represents the highest quality in imaging and optical devices.  My own experiences with Canon products have been nothing short of outstanding, and I’m happy to say that I, like thousands of other photographers and videographers, both professional and amateur, am a loyal Canon user.

Based on Steyn’s (2007) definition of adaptive PR strategy, which adapts the organization to “values, trends, events, issues and stakeholders in the environment”, and “focuses on relationships, symbolic actions and communication, emphasizing attitudinal and cognitive complexity among diverse stakeholders and societal interest groups”, we can study how Canon employs adaptive PR strategy to cultivate strong brand loyalty via their social media tools.

Canon has a robust social media presence, utilizing several social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , YouTube, LinkedIn, and Vimeo, in order to communicate with its audiences.  It also interacts with its customers through the Canon Community, a forum where Canon users can ask and respond to questions from other Canon customers, and through the Canon Digital Learning Center, a site where users can go to educate themselves on camera and photography techniques, equipment, events, projects, etc.

Canon is heavily engaged in all of its social media accounts and on its customer websites.  The Canon Community forum boasts dozens of boards on a variety of topics, with most boards featuring thousands of posts from community members.   The Canon Digital Learning Center includes blogs from a rotating selection of professional photographers and movie makers, hundreds of articles about a wide range of camera and photography related topics, DIY content, registration for workshops and classes, and a calendar of events.  Not even counting their engagement on the social networking sites, these websites alone already allow Canon to be “full and active participants in the community” and “provide ideas and advice on a wide variety of subjects and topics” in the photography and film making field (Scott, 2013, p. 69).

  

With over 1 million “likes,” Canon’s Facebook page is updated daily with engaging content that encourages followers to participate by submitting their own photos, or to peruse content posted at the Canon Community.  Canon’s Twitter feed, which has over 83,000 followers, offers a good mix of promotional and interactive tweets.  It’s Instagram account, which has only been active since August 2014, also has a little over 83,000 followers and is hugely effective at showcasing photographs taken using Canon equipment, the majority of the images earning thousands of “likes” and dozens of comments.  Canon’s YouTube channel has over 72,000 subscribers, with original video content on a wide range of topics like tutorials, reviews, testimonials, and events, being added weekly.

According to Kerpen (2011), “If and when customers or prospects acknowledge that you’re listening, you immediately strengthen your relationships with them” (p. 15).  Canon is very receptive to feedback from its community, and responds quickly to questions posed to it through its social media outlets.  A quick scan of comments made to Canon through Facebook show that the vast majority of them are actually photographs shared by Canon users.  The few customer service issues that came up were acknowledged or addressed immediately.  Looking through the forums in the Canon Community, one notices the same attention to customer care.  Forum moderators address customer issues and offer suggestions or solutions if possible. 

The voice that Canon projects across its social media is also quite personable, and is void of the “bland corporate mantra” that Kerpen (2011) warns about.  By listening to its customers, speaking with an authentic voice, and engaging in two-way conversations, Canon succeeds in creating a “likeable” social media experience that nurtures its relationship with a rabidly loyal following of consumers.

References:

Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (and other social networks). New York, N.Y.:McGraw-Hill

Scott, D.M. (2013). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video, & viral marketing to reach buyers directly. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons

Steyn, B. (2007). Contribution of public relations to organizational strategy formulation. Retrieved from:  http://www.prconversations.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/excerpt-excellencebook.pdf