Twitter Surveys

Here is a link to an article about Twitter Surveys, from 2012 when they first rolled out, along with a screen shot of one recently presented to me on my Twitter account (@rpvogt). Note that advertisers can use surveys to compare opinions of those receiving Promoted Tweets versus those that don’t. With Twitter being a great platform for users to share “concise” opinions, end users may welcome the opportunity to take a survey. (End users are not told the subject of the survey in the invitation tweet.) Then again, it’s unclear if the pool of active Twitter users would fit your desired demographic. Apparently, tweeters are great at discussing Madonna’s tumble (#capegate, #capefear) and dresses made of mesmerizing fabrics (#thedress).

http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/03/twitter-surveys-nielsen/

UPDATE: Here is an example of a Promoted Tweet. I like the way the tweet was written using some of the parameters we’ve learned in this course.

A SUCCESS-ful Example

An example of SUCCESS from the lecture two weeks ago was the zombie video game Dead Island’s trailer (WARNING: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence).

Unlike most game trailers these days, this one told a sad story: how a little girl got turned into a zombie. It was emotional, it was artsy, and it quickly went viral and was proclaimed one of the best video game trailers ever. Film companies even considered making a movie based on the trailer itself.

Then the actual game came out, and it turned out to be just another mindless zombie game. Dead Island is now known as the game that infamously failed to live up to its gut-wrenching, slow-mo trailer. In spite of everything, the emotional story-based trailer did generate considerable buzz, hype and (initial) sales for the game. And apparently the movie is still happening.

Snapchat’s next goal: Music

http://www.businessinsider.com/evan-spiegel-talks-about-snapchat-and-music-2015-2

Making content match the channel

We talked a few weeks back about making sure the content you produce matches the channel it is being distributed in. Here’s a helpful link with more information about formatting tweets, especially tweets that include more than just text.

How to Improve the UX of Your Tweets

Have you stumbled on any other useful links or tips?

A Critical Look at Twitter

There have been a number of analyses in the last couple of weeks that have looked at what Twitter is “good for.” Here’s a particularly interesting one that examines how much traffic Twitter might send to a website:

What Good is Twitter?

Have you seen any other interesting ones lately?

Great first tweet…

…or greatest first tweet?

Tweet?

— Big Bird (@BigBird) February 13, 2015

When Viral Media goes bad

This is a story similar to the one about the ‘mail glitter to your enemies’ story in class.

As some of you know, I have a sports drink business. It is a very niche product for people who cut weight. When I was first starting out, I was constantly offering free samples out to people. About once a week I would post something on facebook (I have a business page and business ‘person’ account you can see below) about sending us your address and we’d send you a free sample. I got maybe one or two people each time.

One day, I started receiving hundreds of free sample requests, they just kept coming in and wouldn’t stop. Needless to say, I panicked a little and tried to figure out why. Apparently there are a few coupon type websites and blogs that scour the internet looking for free promotions and post about them. A few had found my post. About 99% of these people were middle aged women – the exact opposite of my target market, who only wanted it because it was free. I spent an entire weekend stuffing envelopes to try to fill the requests and made it though about half of them. Eventually I gave up and posted that as a small business only a couple months old, we couldn’t fill all of the requests and that I was sorry. I also made the juvenile mistake of saying how unfortunate it was that people were only requesting samples because it was being offered for free from a coupon website – needless to say that didn’t go over too well with a lot of those people.

Long story short, you never know who will end up seeing what you post online.

In the years that followed however, not a single one of them ever ordered. However until then, about 75% of the people who received a free sample ended up becoming customers.

Ross MacBaisey

http://www.rapidrehydration.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rapid-Rehydration/129861463715921

https://www.facebook.com/rapid.rehydration.1

A Cautionary Twitter Tale

The New York Times magazine this weekend has a thoughtful story about Twitter shaming, and how easy it is for a bad tweet to take on a life of its own. Read it for an important lesson on the risks of having a social media presence as a representative of a business (or even just an employee).

How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco’s Life

The continuing saga of the Coca-Cola tweet bot

People were upset that Coca-Cola’s #makeithappy tweet bot had to be shut down. It turns out that the megablog Gawker was responsible. Here is Gawker’s response–it is well worth a read and some thought:

Brands Are Not Your Friends