Viral posts on social media outlets, when a Tweet or other social media post becomes so popular that it is widely shared on the internet, are nothing new. However, 2013 brought about a new kind of marketing tactic, called
"Newsjacking". The method has other names as well, such as "moment marketing", and essentially it involves riding the wave of an event or topic that is seemingly unrelated to your business, to create a viral message. The purpose of such efforts are not to create instant or mass conversions for sales, but rather to drive traffic to your website or social media profile, spread your brands image and strengthen brand affinity.
Examples of this can be seen all over the web, from Oreo's "blackout tweet" during the electricity flop of the 2013 Superbowl, to Ben and Jerry's brilliant Tweet in reply to the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, which was retweeted over 10,000 times. The idea is to grab
"lightning in a bottle", to harness the energy and hype surrounding an event and use it to promote your business. While the effects of moment marketing on sales or revenue are hard to measure, one thing is clear, in a world of social media and technology, creating viral messages is a sure fire way to get a lot of people looking at your brand. Part luck and part cunning, these messages can be brief and
(should be) spur of the moment, riding the wave of an existing ephemeral theme.
The amount of buzz surrounding messages such as that from Ben and Jerry's proves the success of this tactic, and also highlights another important new trend in todays marketing world:
in house teams. Hiring a social media or marketing team from outside of your business may offload a lot of the time and effort, but it also means limits your opportunities to harness the power of newsjacking. By putting control in the hands of people who may not fully understand your business and your customers, your own potentially viral message may end up coming too late, or may fail to resonate with your customer base.
Have you had any success with moment marketing efforts for your restaurant or bar? And do you use an in house team or rely on an outside firm? Let us know your stories via Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Source:
Restaurant Business Online,
Image Credit (Flickr)
Tablebases.com
