Innovative Social Media

Filed in archive Online Presence on January 15, 2010

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It's just not enough to say you're on twitter anymore. (If you're not there yet, welcome to being behind the curve). I meet businesses every day who say, "Oh, well we have a Twitter account." That used to be enough to excite me, but now I say, "Really? And what are you doing with it?"

It's not uncommon to see billboards with Twitter addresses or radio ads suggesting listeners follow them. But why? What compelling reason do you offer the man on the street to connect with you?

Here are some examples of innovative twitter campaigns.

* Tweet Sandwich: A local Quizno's uses twitter to take orders from customers.

* Crowdsourcing: Musical artist K'Naan used twitter to "crowdsource" lyrics for his next single.

* Haiku Contest: Starbucks hosted a Twitter haiku contest. The haiku had to be about coffee and winners won Starbucks Gold Cards (which is free coffee for a year).

* Random Free Stuff: All kinds of companies tell users to twitter with their name or hastag and a "random" winner will get free gear, tickets or whatever.

* Scavenger Hunt: Treasure hunts of all kinds are consistently popular on Twitter.

* There are also 140 stories, recipes, links to video, brainstorming and live webinars.

If all you do is post your specials and general "buy-now" propaganda, sure you might get a few followers but the relationship will never be established. You know, the social part of social media. Feel free to copy these creative twitter idea.


What innovative way do you use to connect to your market and create buzz?