My Failed Social Media Experiment

Last Wednesday, while laying (or is it lying?) in bed thinking about my sister having to put her dog Curtis to sleep the next day, I had an idea that made me feel much better – how cool would it be if I could create a viral campaign whereby people the world over would tweet about pets they have loved and lost with the hashtag in memory of curtis? I don’t think my sister is even on Twitter so I don’t know if it would have been a consolation for her but I loved Curtis too and I envisioned it being the perfect way to honor his memory, along with a recognition of the power of animals in our lives (full disclosure: I am obsessed with dogs and cats).

So how would I go about creating this viral campaign when by its very nature, viral is something you can’t control? Not to mention that I am a Twitter novice who is still just trying to figure it all out. Enlisting the help of Liz (a social media enthusiast), I set about my mission. First I signed up to follow some of the biggest Twitter influentials, from Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres to Pete Cashmore of Mashable and Drew of #BlameDrewsCancer and asked them all to encourage their followers to use my hashtag – no response. Next, I asked all the JS2ers to RT my request in the hope that their followers would catch on – nothing (thanks for trying Liz, Gina, Jamie, Amy and Amanda). While I gained followers throughout the day, not one even acknowledged my request. And then it all went to hell – Farrah Fawcett died, followed by Michael Jackson and sweet Curtis didn’t stand a chance.

While it didn’t go viral (not even close), it was a valiant effort. I guess if I knew what made something go viral, I would be a millionaire, sought out by corporations the world over to consult on their marketing initiatives. But I don’t and I don’t believe anyone does. So at least it made me feel better about the passing of sweet Curtis – RIP little boy, you will be missed.

Hit of the Week: Chain Leader Magazine

Our restaurants are Twitter-pated! The hit of the week is another strategic placement on behalf of our clients about their use of popular micro-blogging service Twitter. Tender Greens and Maggiano's Little Italy are interviewed and featured in an article in the May issue of Chain Leader Magazine about restaurants "All A-Twitter."


JS2 Communications helped Tender Greens set up their Twitter account and walked them through a "Twitter 101" crash course. Tender Greens quickly learned what to tweet, how to tweet in their appropriate voice, how to generate the most meaningful followers and get the most value out of this direct-to-customer tool.

The result: Tender Greens is currently slightly above 800 followers who they can bounce ideas off of, give exclusive information about new restaurants openings, construction updates, specials and new products. The challenge with a restaurant's Twitter is how to quantify the tweets and followers into actual "butt-in-seats." Tweeting their daily specials keeps Tender Greens top of mind for hungry potential customers at their desks. Here at the JS2 Communications offices, daily specials are usually too tempting for us to resist and we end up going to the new West Hollywood location at least 3 or 4 times per week.

Maggiano's Little Italy's Twitter is managed by Michael Breedlove. He used creative contests and ideas to generate awareness among the Twitosphere about Maggiano's and gain more followers. They are currently doing a contest which if they can reach 7,500 followers by May 31, 2009 Maggiano's will grant a wish with the Make-A-Wish Foundation in honor of their Twitter followers, $1 for every follower.

This placement builds awareness for Tender Greens and Maggiano's as innovative leaders in their industry using Twitter in creative ways that benefit their business and poise them for further growth and expansion. The article offers 8 tips for savvy tweets recommended by Erik Oberholtzer of Tender Greens, Michael Breed of Maggiano's Little Italy, and yours truly of JS2 Communications.

Hit of the Week: Restaurants using Twitter in Reuters

As more people jump on the Twitter bandwagon, it becomes increasingly difficult to stand out in a crowded space. The goal, as media relations-focused PR professionals, was to figure out how to leverage our clients’ presence on Twitter to get them placed in a story that highlights them as being innovative and successful at what they do.

We worked with Reuters to develop a story about how restaurants are using Twitter to help boost their business, reach out directly to their customers on a more personal level and establish their brand. Inspired by the Kogi BBQ phenomenon here in Los Angeles, we gave the journalist a list of different types of restaurants and chefs who Twitter well, pitched how Twitter is a powerful direct to consumer communication tool for small business like restaurants, and hooked her up with some restaurant marketing and advertising gurus. The result: an amazing article that featured three of our clients - Tender Greens, Rush Street and Maggiano’s - alongside major companies like McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks as trendsetters and examples of restaurants that are creatively using Twitter.

Reuters is a business news syndicate that is distributed to 15.3 million outlets internationally. This article was picked up by more than 35 online business, technology, lifestyle and food outlets in the U.S. and internationally including Yahoo! News, Forbes, Money.CNN.com, WashingtonPost.com, Portfolio, ABC News, PC Mag and more. The story resulted in an instantaneous increase of followers for each of our clients, large amount of Twitter chatter, re-tweets with links to the article, and interest from other media and experts in the industry.

To read the Reuters article, click here: http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE53I11Z20090420?sp=true

To see the Twitter chatter and people linking to the article click here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=Reuters+twitter+restaurants

Posted by Christina Wong, Account Executive