Namecheap's gains from GoDaddy debacle highlights the power of social media

Namecheap owes this one to Bob Parsons.

Not many were familiar with Namecheap.com - the domain registrar and web hosting firm offering cheap websites till the misguided CEO of GoDaddy decided to pose in front of the corpse of a crop-raiding elephant that he had slayed while vacationing in Africa.

In the wake of the outrage that has followed the viral video, exceptional in its insensitivity and lack of judgment, GoDaddy has attracted not only a fair share of condemnation worldwide, but also lost significant business going by the outpourings of its disillusioned followers on social media. And in a clamour-free manner, Namecheap has stepped in to work this to its advantage, reports intelligence site Social Media Influence.

According to the report, as reactions to the video spread and social media reverberated with hate messages and harsh sentiments against GoDaddy, Namecheap quietly announced the offer of domain name transfers from GoDaddy at reduced price on Twitter and Facebook; it even added that for every transferred domain, it would make a one-dollar donation to an elephant charity.

Between March 31 and now, followers have retweeted the announcement some several hundred times and the number of followers has also surged in both networks, though not in great numbers. In fact, within a few days of making the announcement, Namecheap announced that it had already raised $20000 for the foundation Save the Elephant.

It is also estimated to have won over several Go Daddy customers (a CNBC report puts the number at 20000), prominent among them being the Humane Society of the United States, which reportedly had more than 650 domain names registered through GoDaddy.com. Just one more evidence of the fact that business owners can no longer be tone-deaf to the voice of social media.