JULY 2, 2009

Twitter Campaigns That Work (Or At Least That Worked On Me)

It’s a unique experience to be on the other side of what you do for a living.

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is the chance to help clients engage social media - find a way to connect with bloggers, twitterers, and other groups online in a way that’s engaging, informative, and sometimes even fun. We’ve had the opportunity to help plan many great events - everything from roundtable discussions over dinner to trips to company facilities - but last weekend I got to be the recipient of someone else’s planning. It all started with a typical afternoon on Twitter…

I’ve followed the Southwest Airlines (@southwestair) account for the past several months and had talked with them a few times about my flight experiences and how the heck you ever get the first boarding position. (I think it’s impossible.) However, no previous tweet had ever caught my attention like this one did:

I was lucky enough to see it 20 seconds after it posted so I responded and received a congrats message just a few minutes later. Over the next 48 hours, Christi Day, who works in emerging media for Southwest, sent me some additional info about the trip including flight times, hotel, etc.  On Saturday afternoon we showed up at BWI ready for a random adventure - and that’s exactly what we got: New York-themed gate area, complete with Frank Sinatra singer, balloons, buffet, and gift bags; the most fun I’ve ever had on a flight - a trivia contest, in-flight commentary, and champagne; transfers to and from our great hotel in Times Square; and interactions with lots of enthusiastic Southwest employees who obviously love their jobs and their company. They made the experience memorable without making us feel like we were part of marketing campaign. (Check out fellow passenger TheRobStory’s photo set on Flickr.)

My husband had never flown Southwest and was blown away by the entire experience. To say he’s been converted to a Southwest fan would be an understatement. Looking back, here’s what I think made this campaign so successful:

• Great opportunity: Who doesn’t want to go to NYC for the night? And, who isn’t going to tell everyone they know about it? We told at least 50 people about our experience, each time mentioning Southwest Airlines and LaGuardia, which was the entire goal of this effort. This doesn’t include all the people who saw our updates on Twitter and Facebook.
• Genuine fit: It’s an airline - giving away a free trip make sense.
• Passionate people: As I mentioned above, I was very impressed by every employee I interacted with, from the marketing staff to the pilots. Each conveyed a sense of enthusiasm and passion for what they do. You can’t help but want to be a part of that. I feel better about a company when people love to work there - to me, it means that Southwest is about more than just making money.

Beyond Southwest, here are a few other companies whose recent Twitter promotions stood out to me. And, while the ideas may seem simple (give away free stuff), they have attracted my attention - and I’ve talked about each of these companies positively offline because of what they did on Twitter, which I have to believe is the ultimate goal of any campaign:

• Orbitz - Followers eligible to win a free roundtrip airline tickets when they retweeted an Orbitz message.
• Maggiano’s -Offered $100 gift card to any of its restaurants.
• Baskin Robbins - Holding a cake trivia contest every afternoon in July, winner takes home a free ice cream cake.

Attracting attention and keeping it are two different things, so I look forward to seeing if these companies over the next few months continue to put their Twitter accounts to good use. Maybe giving away free stuff seems like a cheap ploy to attract attention, but the bottom line is that it works. It might not work forever, but it works for now. And once these companies have crowd following them, the next challenge is how they continue to offer value. I think this is where bigger picture concepts, like the ones Chris Brogan offers, come into play. Any other Twitter campaigns that have stood out to you lately?