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As Much As You May Personally Loathe 'Live Tweeting' - The Benefits For Radio Outweigh Ignoring It
January 28, 2014
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Over time, having a consistent "in the moment" presence is a smart and clever way for brands to stand out from the crowd. But it's about knowing how to track online sentiment and being fluid in order to adjust to what people are talking about, what's trending, and what kind of content you should be sharing.
When brands really pay attention to the most used hashtags, organized exchange on social sites, they get a peek inside the portion of the fan base that's socially active and chatty.
As the social space continually changes, brands have to be energetic and lively in order to keep up. And as much as you may personally loathe hashtags and live interaction on social platforms, the benefits for brands learning how to be present with them outweigh dismissing it.
Consider how online chatter has exponentially grown for The Grammys in three years:
In 2012, "Grammys" was mentioned in more than 5 million tweets on Sunday between noon and midnight PT.
In 2013, from just 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. ET, the Grammys garnered 13.2 million total tweets during that time span.
And this year, Twitter blogged that throughout the East Coast broadcast of the show (8:00 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. ET), there were 15.2 million Tweets about The Grammys.
Twitter activity for this music awards show has essentially tripled in just three years.
But live tweeting is so much more than just pushing out your thoughts as a station or a DJ. It's about participating in actual exchange between the brand and the fan about what you're communally watching. The art of showcasing their jokes and comments is what helps keep radio in-the-moment.
That's because there are some truly funny folks out there tweeting right along with you:
The "Tweet of the Night" Grammy, however, goes to Arby's.
Once again, this is more evidence of a strategic, prepared brand showing us what it means to pay attention in real time.
Grammy award winning producer, collaborator and singer, Pharrell, showed up with a hat that became an internet meme and even snagged its own Twitter account. But not before Arby's sent out what became the most retweeted tweet of the night:
Just because we can live tweet doesn't mean we should. It requires skill, timing, and creativity to humanize a brand and come off natural when participating with the latest trends. In fact, aren't those the same qualities that make for great humor?
That's why, in many cases, it's smart to simply take the focus off of you and turn it onto the fans.
It's been said many times here at Jacobs Media that just because social is free, it does not equate to it being easy. There is nothing simple about cleverly and consistently communicating as a real time social brand.
But if you're paying attention and coming at real time content from the fan's point of view, they will always remember who they spent a Sunday night with, yakking about "music's biggest night."
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