Feb11
Does Real-Time Social Media Work for All Brands? Or, Just Oreo?
by Heather Whaling
When Oreo shared an image on Facebook and Twitter within minutes of the blackout, they scored a touchdown of their own on Super Bowl Sunday.
Knowing that Justin Timberlake’s “Suit and Tie” Grammy performance would be one of the most anticipated — and talked about — moments coming out of the awards extravaganza, Team Oreo once again capitalized on a real-time social media marketing opportunity. Cute, clever and fun, right? All while staying true to their brand voice. Impressive.
Since the Super Bowl, brands have meeting meeting and brainstorming about ways to capitalize on “in the moment” opportunities, following Oreo’s example. But, is it the right strategy for every brand? Last night on Facebook, an interesting conversation emerged on Justin Goldsborough’s Facebook page. He posted the Oreo bow-tie image and noted in the comments that real-time marketing isn’t rocket science. As Kasey Skala noted, the challenge isn’t just the “real time response” aspect. An even bigger challenge is that real-time may not work for every brand. Ever since Oreo’s Super Bowl brilliance, brands have been trying to live more in the moment.
Here’s the thing about real-time: As with anything in social media, start by understanding what matters to your audience. If it feels forced, it’ll appear gimmicky. And, no one wants that.
Tweetable tip: Oreo established real-time social marketing best practices. Don’t just copy. Innovate best practices. CLICK HERE TO TWEET
A Real-Time Success Story
Real-time marketing isn’t limited to major events, like the Super Bowl or Grammys. It should be a natural extension of your existing strategy, driven by a commitment to actively listen and respond to the community. When I work with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Columbus Marathon, two key social media goals revolve around encouraging athletes and providing a better race-day experience. Though we have far fewer resources available than Oreo, we were able to capitalize on a real-time opportunity that aligned with both of these goals. How? By listening, taking cues from the community, and accelerating the response time.The afternoon of the 2012 marathon — after just about everyone had crossed the finish line — we noticed a number of people excitedly tweeting that they’d set personal records (known as PR in the running world). That’s a huge achievement for a marathoner, one that we believe should be celebrated. After seeing a few people posting about PRs, we seized the opportunity to host an impromptu, virtual #PRparty. It was simple: We just encouraged people who achieved a personal best to share their time with us using the #PRparty hashtag. By identifying a point of excitement within the community, it was easy for us to spark additional conversation around this topic, while also encouraging and celebrating participants.
Sure, the #PRParty helped us add more followers and drive up engagement, but, more importantly, it reinforced the strength of the community we had built and conveyed our commitment to encouraging and celebrating the athletes.
Want to tackle social media in real-time? Don’t do it just because it worked for Oreo. If Oreo has set the “best practice” standard, take it upon yourself to innovate best practices. Get creative. Be smart. Whatever you do, just make sure it’s a natural fit for your brand and your community.
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Feb8
Geben Communication’s Must Read Articles – Week of February 4th
by Heather Whaling
Each week, Geben will compile and share some of our favorite PR and social media articles. As we close out this new week, here are some of this week’s must-reads:
- Did hashtags really work for brands with Super Bowl commercials?
- Twitter Acquires Social TV Analytics Bluefin Labs
- Creativity in PR: Three Ways to Feed the Inner Beast
- So, God made a PR Pro
- As Pinterest Grows, Startup Seeks $2.5 Billion Valuation
- 8 PR Practices Website Launches to Help Visualize PR Hybrid Approach
- Google Upgrades AdWords for Better Mobile Targeting
- Facebook isn’t making its own phone, but it’s pre-loading its software into millions of devices
- Nokia Slammed for its Content Marketing
- 24 Content Marketing Questions Answered in Less Than 140 Characters
Follow Team Geben on Twitter for more articles and resources throughout the week. Say hi and tell us what you’re reading, too!
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#NotBuyingIt – A Quiet, but Meaningful, Conversation
February 4, 2013We know — and are desensitized to the fact — that beer commercials often objectify women. But, the beer industry isn’t alone. MissRepresentation is a documentary and movement that “exposes how mainstream media contributes to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power and influence in America.” Using the hashtag #NotBuyingIt, they’re encouraging people to call out advertisers who misrepresent [...]
Geben Communication’s Must Read Articles – Week of January 28th
February 1, 2013Each week, Geben will compile and share some of our favorite PR and social media articles. As we close out this new week, here are some of this week’s must-reads: Super Bowl XLVII: The Social Media Guidebook 12 Essential Resources for Building a Killer Mobile App 10 Simple Product Ideas That Made Billions (Infographic) PR [...]
Information for Your Ears: 3 Podcasts to Check Out
January 31, 2013I have to admit: I’m not much of a podcast listener. I know there are long-running, high-quality options, like Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation, but podcasting has never been for me. Until now. It feels like the podcast scene is making a bit of a comeback, and some of my “Twitter friends” happen to be [...]
Community Management Advice (A Free Ebook to Celebrate #CMAD!)
January 28, 2013What do you do? If you’re in PR, odds are you get asked that question a lot, and may struggle to explain your job to people unfamiliar with our industry. (I’ve been doing this for a while, and I think my parents are just starting to figure out how I spend my days.) Our career [...]
Geben Communication’s Must Read Articles – Week of January 21st
January 25, 2013Each week, Geben will compile and share some of our favorite PR and social media articles. As we close out this new week, here are some of this week’s must-reads: 8 Devices to Keep Flu Season Germs out of Your Life Top Comments: Readers Weigh in on Graph Search, Obama’s Death Star Response, and Destiny’s [...]
“Disposable” Social Media: Overview & Opportunities
January 22, 2013Yesterday, Arik Hanson interviewed Greg Swan about “disposable” social media — tools like Poke and Snapchat. As Greg noted, “… there is a new breed of social networking tools that purposefully don’t let its users archive or retrieve content once it has been viewed. As someone who spends their days concerned about online reputation management [...]
Online Community Building: Don’t Believe Everything You Read
January 21, 2013Dear brands: People don’t want relationships with you. Or, do they? Perhaps the answer depends on the size of your organization … • • • Earlier this month, digiday ran a post from Adam Kmiec, formerly of Walgreens and now head of digital/social for Campbell’s Soup (and someone who I think is very smart). In [...]
Geben Communication’s Must Read Articles – Week of January 14th
January 18, 2013Each week, Geben will compile and share some of our favorite PR and social media articles. As we close out this new week, here are some of this week’s must-reads: Mobile Advertising Prices Up 50% in Q4 5 Ways to Avoid Getting the Flu at Work Coca-Cola Campaign Takes on Obesity New Myspace Opens to [...]
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