Saw this article this morning in the iMedia Connection newsletter and thought it was worth passing along. Larry Weintraub, the CEO of Fanscape, describes two case studies where his company helped get the built-in fans of Game Stop and MTV's America's Best Dance Crew involved and interacting through social media.
It is true that both of these campaigns were very consumer-oriented. It doesn't hurt that the products they were promoting were the already popular Guitar Hero game and a TV show with a built-in, fanatical fan base. Still, there are some lessons that can be applied here even to B2B marketers.
As with any marketing campaign, the key is to determine what your audience would find exciting or worth taking an extra action for, and then deliver it. In the case of Game Stop, the winner of their contest will have his or her likeness added to the next version of Guitar Hero as one of the avatars. That's a pretty cool prize, especially for those who are already into the game. With ABDC, they were able to offer lots of video footage to bloggers, much of which (as I understand it) was not included on the show. There's a market for those DVD extras, so why not online?
You may not have anything quite that cool to offer. But you don't need to. If you're marketing widgets, think about what your prospective customers would love that they can't get anywhere else and offer it. Again, think "DVD extras" or a way your customers can identify themselves with you. Seek out the people it would mean the most to -- the people who promote your products the most online -- and get them engaged.
Get your biggest fans excited, and they'll excite the rest. Not a bad strategy.
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