Posted by StrategicGrowth in mobile, Mobile Marketing, Strategic Growth Concepts.
Tags: advertising, case studies, cellular phones, David Reed, iPod, marketing, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, mobile phones, ROI, small business, Strategic Growth Concepts, trade show leads, trade shows, VM Direct
As someone who blogs regularly on the topics of small business, marketing, using new technology in marketing and mobile marketing specifically, I am always on the lookout for examples of businesses that are using technology to great advantage in marketing their firms so our readers can learn from them. Recently, I came across an excellent example being used by David Reed of VM Direct that I wanted to share with you. David has taken the concept of trade show participation to the next level to insure that he maximizes the trade show ROI for his firm. Please read David’s story below and let us know in the comments if this or a similar idea might work for your firm.
Collect leads at trade shows like hitting a jackpot in Vegas.
I went to an auctioneers convention in Denver Colorado earlier this month. I set up my little booth along with everyone else. And I notice that they’re laying out their pens with their company logos on them. Or whatever vendor fodder they are trying to catch the consumer’s attention with. They are setting out their fish bowls to gather business cards. Or setting out their pad of paper so individuals can leave their information with them. Etc…Etc…Typical tradeshow stuff.
And I watch while the auctioneers take their pens, put their business cards in the fish bowls, and don’t talk to these people at all. Not a care in the world as to why they are there.
And then there is me. Promoting an internet marketing system. I had purchased 2 i-Pods to give away at 10 am and 2pm. No pens. No fish bowl. Just a sign that said be here at 10 am and 2 pm for your chance to win an i-Pod. Funny thing is that I probably spent less on those 2 i-Pods as they did on the pens and stuff they were giving away. So 10 am rolls around. I have my system set up. Every one is gathering around because WOW a FREE i-Pod. I pull out my sign that says, “TEXT (my keyword, leaving this out for this post) (your e-mail address) to 69302 for your chance to win an i-Pod.” I start the Jeapordy theme song on my laptop and told them “GO”. To see everyone scramble for their phones was quite humorous. My phone is going crazy because I get a TEXT everytime someone subscribes. My e-mail client is going crazy because I get an e-mail everytime someone subscribes. And they are getting my business card delivered to their inbox because that is the autoresponder I had set up. Those with smartphones are getting my autoresponse business card in their e-mail and accessing it right away. Was kind of mass chaos there for a moment until the theme song stopped. I already decided that the 12th person at 10 am was getting the i-Pod. So I look at my phone, count 12 down and called that individual’s name. They were totally amazed that the system was automated like that. Then they were interested in what I was selling. I spent the rest of the afternoon talking to customers and the other vendors that had set up shop for the day. Word got around and 2 pm was just as crazy.
I collected 198 leads that day. Sold 38 retail accounts. Continue to e-mail campaign the others. And didn’t have to go home with my fish bowl and manually input those contacts into my e-mail marketing system. All for the cost of 2 i-Pods.
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Should you be interested in learning more about mobile marketing and how it can help grow your business, please review the mobile section of our website, additional mobile marketing articles within this blog, or contact us directly via the website or email at info@strategicgrowthconcepts.com for a FREE initial consultation.
Posted by StrategicGrowth in Social Media, Strategic Growth Concepts, Twitter.
Tags: advertising, case studies, ecommerce, GPS targeted marketing, Internet, marketing, Mobile Marketing, Mom and Pop businesses, retail, small business, small business owners, Social Media, social media strategies, social networks, Strategic Growth Concepts, Twitter, Twitter marketing
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER, New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — Three weeks after Curtis Kimball opened his crème brûlée cart in San Francisco, he noticed a stranger among the friends in line for his desserts. How had the man discovered the cart? He had read about it on Twitter.
Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
Curtis Kimball, owner of a crème brûlée cart in San Francisco, uses Twitter to drive his customers to his changing location.
“I would love to say that I just had a really good idea and strategy, but Twitter has been pretty essential to my success,” he said. He has quit his day job as a carpenter to keep up with the demand.
Much has been made of how big companies like Dell, Starbucks and Comcast use Twitter to promote their products and answer customers’ questions. But today, small businesses outnumber the big ones on the free microblogging service, and in many ways, Twitter is an even more useful tool for them.
For many mom-and-pop shops with no ad budget, Twitter has become their sole means of marketing. It is far easier to set up and update a Twitter account than to maintain a Web page. And because small-business owners tend to work at the cash register, not in a cubicle in the marketing department, Twitter’s intimacy suits them well.
“We think of these social media tools as being in the realm of the sophisticated, multiplatform marketers like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, but a lot of these supersmall businesses are gravitating toward them because they are accessible, free and very simple,” said Greg Sterling, an analyst who studies the Internet’s influence on shopping and local businesses.
Small businesses typically get more than half of their customers through word of mouth, he said, and Twitter is the digital manifestation of that. Twitter users broadcast messages of up to 140 characters in length, and the culture of the service encourages people to spread news to friends in their own network.
Umi, a sushi restaurant in San Francisco, sometimes gets five new customers a night who learned about it on Twitter, said Shamus Booth, a co-owner.
He twitters about the fresh fish of the night — “The O-Toro (bluefin tuna belly) tonight is some of the most rich and buttery tuna I’ve had,” he recently wrote — and offers free seaweed salads to people who mention Twitter.
Twitter is not just for businesses that want to lure customers with mouth-watering descriptions of food. For Cynthia Sutton-Stolle, the co-owner of Silver Barn Antiques in tiny Columbus, Tex., Twitter has been a way to find both suppliers and customers nationwide.
Since she joined Twitter in February, she has connected with people making lamps and candles that she subsequently ordered for her shop and has sold a few thousand dollars of merchandise to people outside Columbus, including to a woman in New Jersey shopping for graduation gifts.
“We don’t even have our Web site done, and we weren’t even trying to start an e-commerce business,” Ms. Sutton-Stolle said. “Twitter has been a real valuable tool because it’s made us national instead of a little-bitty store in a little-bitty town.”
Scott Seaman of Blowing Rock, N.C., also uses Twitter to expand his customer base beyond his town of about 1,500 residents. Mr. Seaman is a partner at Christopher’s Wine and Cheese shop and owns a bed and breakfast in town. He sets up searches on TweetDeck, a Web application that helps people manage their Twitter messages, to start conversations with people talking about his town or the mountain nearby. One person he met on Twitter booked a room at his inn, and a woman in Dallas ordered sake from his shop.
The extra traffic has come despite his rarely pitching his own businesses on Twitter. “To me, that’s a turn-off,” he said. Instead of marketing to customers, small-business owners should use the same persona they have offline, he advised. “Be the small shopkeeper down the street that everyone knows by name.”
Chris Mann, the owner of Woodhouse Day Spa in Cincinnati, twitters about discounts for massages and manicures every Tuesday. Twitter beats e-mail promotions because he can send tweets from his phone in a meeting and “every single business sends out an e-mail,” he said.
Even if a shop’s customers are not on Twitter, the service can be useful for entrepreneurs, said Becky McCray, who runs a liquor store and cattle ranch in Oklahoma and publishes a blog called Small Biz Survival.
In towns like hers, with only 5,000 people, small-business owners can feel isolated, she said. But on Twitter, she has learned business tax tips from an accountant, marketing tips from a consultant in Tennessee and start-up tips from the founder of several tech companies.
Anamitra Banerji, who manages commercial products at Twitter, said that when he joined the company from Yahoo in March, “I thought this was a place where large businesses were. What I’m finding more and more, to my surprise every single day, is business of all kinds.”
Twitter, which does not yet make money, is now concentrating on teaching businesses how they can join and use it, Mr. Banerji said, and the company plans to publish case studies. He is also developing products that Twitter can sell to businesses of all sizes this year, including features to verify businesses’ accounts and analyze traffic to their Twitter profiles.
According to Mr. Banerji, small-business owners like Twitter because they can talk directly to customers in a way that they were able to do only in person before. “We’re finding the emotional distance between businesses and their customers is shortening quite a bit,” he said.
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If after completing this article you’re still not certain how Twitter can be utilized to market your company, we would be happy to assist you in developing a customized program to promote your business. Please feel free to contact us via our website or via email at linda@StrategicGrowthConcepts.com to schedule a FREE initial consultation.
Posted by StrategicGrowth in mobile, Mobile Marketing, Strategic Growth Concepts.
Tags: advertising, case studies, cellular phones, demographic targets, GPS targeted marketing, marketing, mobile advertising, Mobile Marketing, mobile phones, Opt in, Popeyes, Popeyes Chicken, retail, ROI, SMS, Strategic Growth Concepts
By Giselle Tsirulnik, June 30, 2009
Popeye’s mobile coupon campaign that promotes the fast food chain’s three-piece chicken dinner has achieved a 54 percent double opt-in.
Cox Media is running television spots in Wichita, KS, encouraging consumers to text the keyword POPEYES to short code 74642. Ping Mobile powered the campaign. Already 750 consumers have texted and more than 50 percent have opted in for future communications from Popeye’s.
“This type of mobile advertising campaign was a perfect fit for the Popeye’s stores in Wichita,” said Mike Orr, account executive at Cox Media.
“With the ability to directly engage clients with coupons and offers that provide the client with detailed feedback of what day of the week as well as what time of day that a response was generated from a product placed ad is a tremendous validation of return on investment,” he said.
Consumers that texted in received a message that said, “Show this msg at Popeye’s Chicken & get a FREE 2PC DINNER with ur purchase of a 3 pc dinner & medium drink. Hurry into Popeye’s TODAY offer ends 7/31/09.”
Then consumers are asked whether they would like to join to receive future communications from Popeye’s.
The message says, “Reply YES to join the Popeye’s Chicken VIP Club! U’ll get MORE Xclusive offers just like this one right 2 ur phone! Mx3msg/mo. Std txt rts apply. Reply YES now!”
Consumers that join the Popeye’s mobile VIP Club get the following message, “Success! UR in! To quit txt STOP@anytime. Don’t keep the savings to yourself – tell your family and friends to get in on it too by texting POPEYES to 269411!”
“The strategy for this client was to find a unique and fresh way of promoting their three piece dinner- combining a great promotional offer, with a spontaneous and convenient method of redemption,” said Shira Simmonds, president of Popeye’s mobile service provider.
The results of this campaign show how positive an impact mobile marketing has had on the Popeye’s promotion.
Ms. Simmonds also said that the challenge for Popeye’s was using a newer medium while retaining the traditionalism and authenticity of its brand.
In addition, Popeye’s was faced with finding a way of integrating mobile into their redemption solutions.
Mobile was a perfect tool for the Popeye’s brand because it enabled them to reach out to their target demographic (families) via a medium that is not only accessible to them, but also one that is their most personal and convenient device.
Popeye’s also made sure that the offer was relevant and appealing to the target – a mobile coupon for a discount on dinner provides added-value to families in a time of economic uncertainty.
The fast food chain is distributing its mobile coupons via other avenues as well, including a mobile couponing campaign offering free two-piece chicken dinners (see story).
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While results of 54% opt-in are certainly not standard for mobile marketing, the results ARE typically much higher than most traditional forms of marketing. Results of 10 – 15% are fairly standard, though many mobile campaigns have achieved a response rate as high as 30%, compared to direct mail which typically results in a 2 – 3% response rate.
Should you be interested in learning more about mobile marketing and how it can help grow your business, please review the mobile section of our website, mobile marketing articles within this blog, or contact us directly via the website or email at info@strategicgrowthconcepts.com for a FREE initial consultation.
Posted by StrategicGrowth in Social Media, Strategic Growth Concepts, Twitter.
Tags: advertising, case studies, marketing, ROI, small business, Social Media, social media strategies, social networks, Strategic Growth Concepts, Twitter, Twitter marketing
By Jennifer Alsever, CNNMoney.com / Fortune Small Business, June 15, 2009
Always on the lookout for examples of small businesses making effective and profitable use of the valuable social media tools available today, we were very pleased to find this excellent article from CNNMoney.com / Fortune Small Business about several small businesses that have identified productive methods of utilizing Twitter to increase revenue. It bears noting that each of these companies understood the need to make an investment of their time in building up relationships on Twitter, and that after having invested that time consistently, they were able to identify opportunities to achieve product sales on a continuing basis at what they consider to be an excellent ROI (the investment being the value of their time).
Reading this article should provide you with ideas for ways in which their strategies might be applied to your specific business, but if you need assistance in this area, we’re here to help. Please feel free to contact Strategic Growth Concepts via our website or via email at info@StrategicGrowthConcepts.com for assistance in developing marketing strategies to grow your business utilizing social media strategies.
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A year ago Kris Drey couldn’t care less about Twitter.
With 13 years of Web site experience, Drey is no technophobe. He serves as vice president of product marketing at Fliqz, an online video-hosting service with 20 employees in Emeryville, Calif. But when he first skimmed Twitter, the popular micromessaging service launched in 2007, Drey saw a lot of mindless chatter and very little that seemed useful to a video business.
Still, with the economy taking a dive, Drey persisted. He was looking for ways to spread the word about Fliqz without spending any more of his maxed-out $15,000 marketing budget. Not only was Twitter the fastest-growing social media service around — its user base grew by a whopping 1,841% in 2008, to 14 million — but it also wouldn’t cost him a dime.
“The only overhead is your time,” says Drey, 40. “You need to pay attention.”
He did just that. Drey started posting three or four updates a day as @Fliqz (all Twitter IDs start with “@”) and subscribed to (or “followed”) the 140-character updates (or “tweets”) of anyone he could find who seemed interested in the online video industry, even if the person was just posting links to stories on blogs. One Saturday afternoon Drey spotted a Twitter post from a Fliqz customer who was having trouble encoding video. After exchanging a couple of tweets with him, Drey called the customer on the phone, figured out that the guy had a corrupted file and fixed the problem. The customer posted a tweet of happy surprise.
Talk back: Are you on Twitter yet?
Fast-forward a few months, and @Fliqz now boasts 1,358 followers. Thanks to Twitter, Drey snagged 21 new sales leads, and Twitter also helped him seal one $6,000-a-year contract. Fliqz signs or renews up to 30 deals a month, so the company is hardly tweeting its way to massive growth. But it’s not too shabby a return for a free tool. Drey estimates that he spends eight hours a week on Twitter, or the equivalent of 2% of his marketing budget every year.
Call this the year business invaded Twitter. The service — which can be used on any cell phone or computer — has been a hit almost since its inception, with celebrities as diverse as Richard Branson and Britney Spears using it to tout their appearances and correspond with fans. But in the past year, @Comcast has set up what has effectively become a help desk on Twitter, while @JetBlue (JBLU), @Zappos, @WholeFoods (WFMI, Fortune 500) and @Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) interact with hundreds of thousands of their followers.
“It’s the most conversational medium in the world,” says Jackie Huba, an online marketing consultant, blogger and co-author of the book Citizen Marketers. “It’s immediate, public and searchable. It’s never been easier to know what your customers and your prospects are saying about you.”
A handful of small retail stores rave about their success on Twitter. In Wichita, tea company 52Teas (@52Teas) has more than doubled its sales of handcrafted teas of the week since it started tweeting. The company has 3,403 users following its weekly announcements of new blends.
“In 2007 we shipped one or two packages every two to three weeks,” says Frank Horbelt, 38, founder of 52Teas. “Now we ship 52 packages a week.”
In San Francisco, Mission Pie bakery (@missionpie) sends tempting tweets about its seasonal organic pies. “If there’s a special and I tweet about it, it’s pretty common that we sell out,” says Ashleigh Cole, operations manager at the 14-employee bakery.
Of course, these are the outliers. Twitter has plenty of potential to be misused. For one thing, you get to sign up with any name you want that hasn’t already been taken. This can lead to confusion: A search for “Starbucks” reveals 16 Twitter users with that word in their IDs, such as @starbucksgeek and @starbucksgal. The coffee giant owns only @Starbucks, but Twitter has no way of telling you that. In theory, a competitor could use your name and post harmful messages from that account. You could sue, of course, but Twitter is a legally untested arena.
Such business-name theft hasn’t happened yet, and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone says one of his product managers is looking into setting up some kind of account-verification service.
“We’re hearing stories about these businesses using Twitter that are so inspiring, and we want to figure out how we can help more,” Stone says. One of his favorites concerns is Kogi Korean BBQ (@kogibbq) in Los Angeles, which sends updates to its 2,100 followers telling them where its taco truck will go next, prompting customers to line up before the van arrives.
Another problem: There aren’t many sophisticated ways to filter the increasing Twitter chatter, and the service can become a major time-suck. When Drey did his searches for “online video,” he had to spend hours crawling through tweets from teenagers about funny YouTube videos — not exactly his client base.
“You will waste a lot of time if you go about it haphazardly,” says Brent Arslaner, vice president of marketing at Unisfair, a virtual events company in Menlo Park, Calif. After hearing that friends and colleagues spent hours on the site, Arslaner limited his Twitter usage to a maximum of 30 minutes a day. He followed relevant industry peers and did searches for anyone mentioning Unisfair — and for tweets that might lead to new business, such as “event canceled.”
Even with that small an investment of time, Arslaner found 160 key analysts, partners, prospective clients, bloggers and other industry influencers. On Twitter he also came across a prospective customer who was asking the network for references on Unisfair. Arslaner responded immediately with a list of references, and his sales team closed the deal.
Tweeting too aggressively is a surefire way to become a Twitter reject. Use the service as an advertising channel or a newswire for press releases, says Huba, and you’ll blow your chances with a lot of users — who won’t even tell you it’s a problem. “There’s not a huge revolt, but people will stop following you,” she says. Your pitches may ultimately be heard by no one.
Other caveats from experts: Be responsive, especially to users who send you private “direct” messages. Be yourself, but as with any other business communication, be careful what you say. Some users have software such as Tweetdeck that download tweets, so there’s a permanent record of your ill-advised joke even if you delete it. Be timely and relevant, and cyberspace will reward you.
“Always bring massive value to the conversation,” says Joel Comm, author of Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. “Good things will come back at you.”
Erik Oberholtzer, a co-owner of Tender Greens restaurant in Los Angeles, got his good karma in March when he tweeted about construction delays at his new West Hollywood location. The city would not sign off on the building because of technicalities involving flushless toilets. A few tweets later, one follower called his uncle, who works in the health department. The pressure worked, and Tender Greens opened the next month.
“Twitter creates this culture that can extend way beyond your store,” says Oberholtzer, 40. “It’s really powerful.”
Posted by StrategicGrowth in mobile, Mobile Marketing, Strategic Growth Concepts.
Tags: advertising, advertising campaign integration, case studies, demographic targets, marketing, mobile advertising, Mobile Marketing, multi-channel marketing, small business, Strategic Growth Concepts
One of the best ways to utilize Mobile Marketing is to incorporate it into a multi-channel campaign strategized to maximize the brand’s exposure to its target audience. Mobile Marketing is a cost-effective method of dramatically increasing consumer interaction with a brand as part of the overall campaign strategy.
The following is an excellent example of a comprehensive campaign strategy which maximizes the effectiveness of Mobile Marketing as a way to enhance the overall effectiveness of the brand’s total campaign. As you review, please note the integration of the various channels and the way each element of the campaign continues to “build” to encourage continued interaction with the brand.
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Oberto beef jerkey targets alpha-male demographic via mobile
By Dan Butcher; June 10, 2009
Oberto beef jerkyOberto Sausage Co. is promoting its beef jerky with a multichannel campaign that relies heavily on mobile to get its target demographic to interact with the brand.
The company developed a promotional platform for its Oberto Beef Jerky products, including in-store, on-pack and mobile elements, as well as a promotional Web site at http://www.ultimatealphazone.com. The site provides an interactive environment for the brand’s male target audience.
“Our target guy is regularly plugged into what’s happening in the world around him,” said Ryan Post, senior brand manager for Oberto, Kent, WA. “He uses mobile technology to maintain a healthy balance between family, friends, sports, exercise, culture and his career, getting the info he wants when he wants it.
“From checking his mail on his mobile phone when leaving the gym in the morning to looking up sports scores and texting his friends to find out where happy hour is, an ‘alpha’ manages his life on the go,” he said. “We saw mobile marketing as an integral part of our latest campaign because it connects to the daily lives of our customers.
“Plus, Oberto is all about having fun, so the ability to playfully taunt ‘sidekicks’ on the go is right in line with our campaign and a fun, engaging way to let guys know what we are all about.”
A mobile call-to-action on an Oberto Beef Jerky in-store displayThe promotion allowed consumers to register for sweepstakes and send taunt calls via IVR and the Internet to their friends, calling them “sidekicks.”
The mobile two-way “Taunt Call” IVR campaign lets consumers send unapologetic claims to their friends, and “sidekicks” can send props or insults—“smacks”—back to their friends to continue the conversation.
Oberto’s in-store call-to-action at the point of sale reads “Text / Taunt / Win, text ‘Alpha’ to 433339 for a chance to win and taunt a friend.”
The point-of-sale includes shipper header displays and on-pack stickers with the mobile call-to-action.
The first sweepstakes offered prizes such as a Nintento Wii, an Apple iPod touch, an air hockey table, a Home Depot gift card and a Blu-Ray player.
A second sweepstakes is offering a branded leather chair, two cases of Oberto Beef Jerkey and gift cards from various retailers such as Fathead.com.
Oberto claims that it has received more than a quarter of a million sweepstakes entries to date, and many of those consumers opted in to the brand’s SMS database.
The beef jerky brand touts the Ultimate Alpha Zone promotional micro site at http://www.ultimatealphazone.com/index.html as a place where “guys can be guys.”
There is another Oberto campaign portal, created by another vendor, at http://www.eatlikeanalpha.com.
Throughout the year, “man room” elements will be added to the site for consumers to engage with to earn extra sweepstakes entries and build their “alpha” status for more digital rewards from the brand, such as ringtones and wallpapers.
Visitors can also set up a taunt call to a friend to send smack talk and spread the word about the promotion.
During the second phase of the promotion, Oberto launched a loyalty program “Order of the Alphas,” where consumers were encouraged to log in and register to increase their “Alpha” status for digital rewards and exclusive Oberto content.
Once the user becomes a loyalty member, their engagement activity is tracked and rewarded with loyalty points.
A rotating leader board on the home page highlights Oberto’s top alphas daily.
The loyalty program and Web site will be refreshed throughout the year to highlight a partner promotion, introduce new prizes and interactive features.
Oberto and its vendor developed an integrated campaign strategy by using mobile, online and in-store POS and on-pack stickers.
“To engage consumers with the brand, we built the Ultimate Alpha Zone, where visitors can experience the brand online, in-store and via their mobile device”.
“The campaign’s objectives are to increase consumer awareness of the Oberto brand and its Eat Like An Alpha campaign, drive increases in market share and drive sales velocity.”
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If you would like to learn more about Mobile Marketing and how it can help your business, visit our website for more information or contact us thru our website or via email at info@strategicgrowthconcepts.com.
Posted by StrategicGrowth in mobile, Social Media.
Tags: case studies, cellular phones, Loopt, mobile phones, small business, Social Media, social media strategies
Learned about another new social media application today called “Loopt” that is specifically designed for use on GPS-enabled mobile phones and then conveys the information to other social media applications. Seems to have some very interesting features that have potential to help users drive income if used effectively. Found a great article from one small business user putting it to use in her real estate business. See the article HERE.
Posted by StrategicGrowth in public relations, Social Media, Video Marketing.
Tags: case studies, Domino's, Social Media, social media strategies, Video Marketing, viral video
Think about it – your worst nightmare – one of your employees is on tape tampering with your product and has posted it to YouTube for all the world to see. And they’re seeing it, 550,000 of them as a matter of fact! That’s the problem Domino’s was facing when two employees decided to perform disgusting acts with its food, on camera, and then post them to YouTube.
In today’s environment of social media, viral video, and cell phone web access, every company needs to be vigilant about it’s brand and what is being said on the Internet. The following article discusses the challenges faced by Domino’s in this particular situation, preventative measures to be taken to insure your company is not involved in a similar situation, and lastly steps to take if it happens to you. Click HERE to read the article.
Posted by StrategicGrowth in Twitter.
Tags: advertising, case studies, marketing, Social Media, Twitter, Twitter marketing
I’ve been wondering how effective Twitter really is for marketing a company, a product, a service or an event. As a relatively new user myself, I have definitely found it to be of value in increasing awareness of articles I’ve written and my website; but I kept wondering if it could do more than that. So I’ve started doing some research to locate examples of how people are using it and the results they’re getting. In my search, I located a case study in a blog entitled, “The Marketing Fresh Peel” from a group that used Twitter to publicize an event. They devised a very interesting strategy and appear to have been very successful with it.
Read the article below and let me know what you think. I would also be very interested in receiving information about other ways companies have used Twitter to promote themselves so we can continue educating our readers. Enjoy the article!
Posted by Chris Wilson March 6th, 2009
(Photo via: @chrismartintv)
What do you get when you combine Twitter and a frenzy-style promotional model? OKCsocialrave of course.
On February 24, four Oklahoma City brands came together to put the promotional power of their Twitter networks to the test.
I’ve put together a case study detailing the highlights:
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Objectives: Get the city excited enough to attend a flash event at 4:30 on a Tuesday evening afternoon, promoted solely through the social through Twitter. (Put the driving social/promotional force of Twitter to the test.)
Sponsoring Brands: JD Merryweather (@jdmerryweather) from COOP Ale Works (@COOPAleWorks) and Ryan Parrott (@chefrp) from Iguana Mexican Grill put the idea together as a way to promote their brands together. They defined the parameters and then invited others to add to the event.
OKCBiz (@OKCBiz) was invited to participate after JD and Ryan found out that an OKCBiz article on Twitter, in which they were interviewed for, would be hitting the news stands the day before the event.
JD found DJ JoJo Bolds (@djJ2O) on Twitter and asked him to join in. After all, how can you have a party without the proper tunes?
Audience: Twitter users from Oklahoma City and surrounding areas.
Approach: During the week before the event, the sponsors coined the name and tag, #OKCsocialrave, and started dropping hints about who was hosting and how there would be offering free local gourmet food from Iguana and local beer from COOP Ale Works.
To build anticipation and keep everyone interested the location wasn’t announced until 30 minutes prior to the event. This led to many users creating their own rumors and guesses on where the event would happen, further spreading word and building anticipation. When the location was finally announced an surge in Retweets circulated letting everyone know the actual location.
Results:
- 130+ people attended OKCsocialrave
- Contact information was collected at the door from everyone in attendance, including: Name, Email, Twitter ID, Company.
- #OKCsocialrave became the 9th most popular trending topic on Twitter for the day (beating out a number of conference hashtags I might add)
Analysis: This is a great example of one way to tap into the network effect of Twitter. It opens up an array of opportunities for promoting causes both online and off.
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For a other Twitter-based promotions see: Twestival, Pledge to End Hunger.
Marketing with New Technology 
