26 Jan Social Media Example #24: Xerox Corporation
One might imagine that a company such as Xerox Corp would be resentful toward the internet. I mean, before the world wide web, printing technology had been the “big cahoona” (the “Grand Poobah,” if you will) in the world of document sharing since 1436.
But instead of playing the jealous big brother, Xerox has not only embraced internet technology into its product lines, but this fortune 500 corporation has plunged headstrong into the world of social media. From its slew of blogs to its active Twitter page, through the YouTube [channel] and back again, Xerox seriously impressed me with its outreach. I got the sense that social media was really a team effort on the part of Xerox and its employees.
Xerox Blog (s)
Xerox has fourteen blogs. Fourteen. Yeah, In a time when so many other corporations are struggling to create even a single blog with a personal feel and frequent posts, this company has fourteen of its employees writing about their Xerox niche on a regular basis.
Take Scott Titus’s “Ideas, Ideas, Ideas” blog. Scott has been blogging since July, 2007, about marketing in the print world. This post made me smile; his earnest devotion to Xerox is pretty obvious, but doesn’t seem fake.
In addition, you can learn about “The Future of Documents” on Francois Ragnet’s blog and “Information Sanity” with Mike Moeller. “But Wait, There’s More!” That’s another blog from Digital Production Specialist Roland Denzel. He promotes the primer he printed about Xerox and MS Word and webinar series he attends. There’s even a blog in Portugeuse, “Novidades Xerox.”
So some of these blogs have yet to amass a large following, and perhaps posts on webinars aren’t the most engaging pieces of content, but with over a dozen RSS feeds out there, you can’t claim that Xerox uses social media like a high-gloss finish. Xerox blogs demonstrate such intimate knowledge of their industry, not to mention a certain pride and excitement about their careers. Encouraging leaders in your company to write about what they already do best is such a great way to show off your talent and prove to readers that your employees really do know their stuff.
Xerox on Twitter
@XeroxCorp has been tweeting two to three times every weekday since September 26, 2008. And about four out of every five posts is a re-tweet or @reply. Though this Twitter stream does emphasize Xerox’s products and campaigns in many posts, they don’t forget to interact with their following, which is what makes @XeroxCorp stand out among corporate Twitter accounts. From professional articles to product mentions to “@Biztranz We like that video a lot too!” whoever’s sitting behind Xerox’s Twitter stream knows what he or she is doing.
It seems that Xerox Corp knew long before Xerox 1:1 lab that personable interaction is the best way to go with social media marketing.
Xerox on Facebook
Xerox’s Facebook page is entitled “So, what DOES Xerox do?” This corporation is self-aware. That’s cute.
Let’s see… multiple posts each week, often with many “likes” and comments from their 3900 fans – their Facebook insights must look sweet. However, Xerox does seem to be receiving its fair share of criticism.
Ouch. The thing is, from a social media standpoint, Xerox appears to be doing Facebook right. They don’t delete comments that speak poorly of the company, they respond to questions, and they continue to post. And the post on their corporation’s donation to Haiti did receive 51 “likes.” Now if only corporate would provide them with more happy news to post about.
Xerox on YouTube
With almost 100 uploads and 23,000 pageviews, it’s clear that Xerox didn’t take YouTube lightly either. Currently, the main video is from Xerox’s vice president, Gina Testa. She explains some of the exciting things Xerox has coming up in 2010, including upcoming industry conferences and emphasizes Xerox’s involvement with these events. I’m not quite sure what most laymen would do at a Xerox conference, so this message seems more directed toward printing professionals.
But then there’s the hilarous “Information Overload Syndrome” ad. Seriously, I recommend checking out this video for a few workday laughs (and a pretty decent Robert Stack impersonation).
Actually, this blog post is becoming “information overload.”
In Conclusion…
Xerox has a lot of social media content out there. But I’d have to say that the overwhelming quality and quantity of their blogs take the cake.
One Xerox blogger, Cheryl (last name not provided), began her blog, “At Your Service,” on January 7 of this year. While her first post begins with the definition of “weblog,” by the third, she has moved to admiring the wonderful varities of flash drives.
“So I have been with Xerox for 24 years now,” she writes in one post, “and I have seen a lot of technology come and go. When I started we did not have PCs, we had typewriters, and only black and white printers and copiers…”
Cheryl has had to keep on top of new technologies longer than I’ve been alive. And Xerox has been on it for four times longer than that. This company and its employees are great examples of the fact that you don’t have to be “young and hip” to be in tune with your customers via social media.
When corporation interaction goes from an extra to an expectation, Xerox, it seems, will be ready.
