Marketers will often tell you about making posts topical to something happening so I thought I would round up 10 examples of how to get topical with your marketing
One good way is to look at National / Global events…..
1. The birth of Prince George was highly anticipated and marketers and plenty of time to get ready for it…this rather cute pic from @StarbucksUK was a good example of how to make something fit your brand! a number of brands did something similar including @guidedogs Royal Puppy and Coke who had Wills and Kate bottles for the occasion.
2. According to Twitter, this year’s Super Bowl Final generated 24.9m tweets, with hashtags mentioned in 57% of Super Bowl ads. But it wasn’t just on Twitter that advertisers were getting in on this hot topic. One of my favourite marketing examples came from Connoisseurs Gourmet Cupcakes Ltd and their superbowl cupcakes on Pinterest
3. However the winner of the Superbowl brand battle on Twitter was @ESurance who reportedly increased their fanbase on the site by 710% in the hours following the match according to SocialBro…how? It booked the first commercial slot after the final whistle, used it to announce a Twitter sweepstake with a prize of $1.5 million (the money saved by not advertising in-play) and watched the mentions of its hashtag roll in. it may not be something we can all do, but just shows that the obvious play isn’t always the best!
On and according to Unruly’s Viral Video Chart, Budweiser’s ‘Puppy Love’ was the most shared ad of Super Bowl XLVIII with over 1.7m shares at the time of writing. #BestBuds
4. Sometimes it pays to keep it simple such as this tweet from @RedLionWelwyn on February being healthy heart month and enjoying a healthy glass of red wine at their pub…almost every day is something day or week or month so grab a calendar and see what fits your own brand.
Here are two examples of Facebook posts that tie in nicely with National Storytelling week….
5. Ladybird did a competition to win favourite books (Ladybird ones of course!) – this is a natural competition and you should certainly look for obvious ties with your own products and services to national events.
6. LeapFrog UK used it to promote a product where children can make up their own story – again an obvious tie in albeit not quite as straightforward as the book competition. Be aware of your products and services and promote single products – once on your sit, most people will have a look around. also notice that the post came from LeapFrog UK as this is a UK National event – be aware of regional events and don’t bombard people with topical posts that are not relevant to them!
7. The weather is always topical, especially in the UK and St. Albans spa, Eve and Adam have done a couple of relevant offers on Facebook including a post re weather beaten skin and another on how it’s warm and cosy in the spa. Different uses but both relevant. The pictures alone make me want to snuggle up!
8. PowWowNow also used the weather together with recent tube chaos sending an Email “Don’t let the Can’t stop you getting into the office…” suggesting we avoid the hassles of bad weather and tube strikes and use PowWownow to do business without leaving the comfort of our office or home!
It’s also worth looking at this Next email example – topical in that it responds to changes in gmails changes and practical in that it helps recipients put Next in to the inbox.
Zoopla umbrellas
9. Zoopla thought fast when they sent down purple umbrellas to those queuing in the rain for an impromptu Prince concert and posted a fetching pic on Twitter (I also wrote about the initial build up for the Prince gigs)
10. And finally – what does a biscuit have to do with the Olympics? Not a lot but @Oreo do a great job of making almost anything bout their delicious biscuits and the Winter Olympics is no exception!
So look at the world around you and see how you and your brand can be a part of it and use what your customers are interested in to build those relationships that work both ways.
VM.
P.S. If you’ve often got 10 minutes to spare – take a look at my 10 minute marketing tips