Tapping The Groundswell With Twitter: Politician Edition

Why do most of the candidates running in the 2020 election have a twitter account? Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff explain it well in their book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies when they hypothesize that Twitter users are among the most influential people you will come by. Take a look at this chart from Li and Bernoff's book below that outlines the average demographics of Twitter users. You can see why politicians might want to tap into Twitter and it's groundswell.

Groundswell, 2008

Donald Trump's tweeting habits have been the subject of many a conversation these past few years. His posts on the site have led the general public and many critics to take note of and question his online presence, motives and ethics. There is no doubt that Trump uses the platform for his political and personal agendas. Here are two posts from Trump's Twitter during the 2016 election.

These tweets were from three years ago when Hillary and Trump were running against each other. Now take a look at some of Trump's recent tweets and retweets from earlier this month. 

Ahhhh good times. Happy third anniversary to one of the great comebacks of all time. pic.twitter.com/KbSos1UApS

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 9, 2019

Why would Donald Trump want to post about Hillary's email scandal again, three years later, especially considering she is not even running against him in this upcoming election. You could speculate that he's trying to draw attention away from his own recent scandals or possibly his aim is to encourage his supporters to distrust other democratic candidates simply because they are in the same part as Hillary. Whatever his intent, Donald Trump is effectively utilizing Twitter to energize the groundswell in his favor. And he is certainly not the only candidate to do so.

Pick your favorite 2020 Presidential candidate and go on their Twitter. Does the frequency at which they are tweeting surprise you? 

Since Li and Bernoff published Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, Twitter, like other social media platforms, has only become more relevant. Proof of this is in recent complaints from candidates running for Congress 2020 who can't get verified on Twitter. These new and lesser-known candidates will have to wait until after they win their state's primary to get the blue verification mark from Twitter. This could actually affect their chances of winning in the first place, a catch-22! 

Twitter continues to be an important resource for all advertisers including politicians. But for the public, this can mean more discretion is needed when sourcing and consuming news. Political news or content you see on social media should always be fact checked or at least taken with a grain of salt. The video below is CNN's take on Twitter, Russian bots and the 2016 election. 

The report highlights Twitter as a tool in a propaganda campaign during the 2016 election. Does this concern you? Do you think Twitter should figure out a way to curb propaganda or are users solely responsible for fact-checking content? Do you think this video itself is a credible or bias source?

Tinder Wants You to Celebrate Being Single... by Using Tinder

Maybe you've downloaded a dating app yourself or maybe you've just watched friends swipe through potential matches on a Friday night immediate-gratification binge. Unless you've been living (and dating) under a rock, you've probably heard about Tinder. Tinder, which launched in 2012, is one of the most popular and widely used digital dating services of this decade. An estimated 50 million people worldwide use Tinder and users go on one million dates a week collectively.

Source: TheAtlantic

Tinder, along with other popular apps offering similar services, has earned the reputation as a "hook-up app," and besides Tinder, there are a plethora of apps to choose from! Bumble, Happn, Feeld, Grindr and others, all offer unique ways of connecting and branching out socially, romantically or sexually. In order to capture the attention of targeted demographics, these apps have had to brand themselves to not only appeal to the groundswell, but also to stand out from their competitors as well. A year ago in October 2018, Tinder launched its first-ever brand campaign "Single Not Sorry," Tinder has embraced their image as a "hook-up app" and honed in on one demographic in particular: single, empowered, young people. Here is one of their video ads for the campaign.

In addition to releasing this video for Tinder France, Tinder rolled out several more similar ads for other countries like Germany, Japan, Sweden, Korea and the UK. With spirited and liberated twenty-something-year-olds in their video ads and a bold tag-line to back them up, this campaign is hard not to notice and was ultimately a smart move for the company. But the hook-up app didn't stop there. As part of their "Single Not Sorry Campaign" Tinder teamed up with London based activist and artist Florence Given.

Florence's Instagram, she poses in-front of a billboard Tinder Ad featuring herself 

Florence Given, or Floss as her 263k Instagram followers know her better by, is what some might call an "influencer." Not only did Tinder UK use Florence as one of their happy, free twenty-something-year-olds dancing around in the video ad, but they also used Florence's influencer status and platform to help share and expand the campaign. A lot of Florence's art that her followers love her for already centers around being a young woman or being single and not letting your relationships limit you. So she was a perfect match for Tinder's "Single Not Sorry" campaign.

Florence's Art from Instagram

 By using someone that the groundswell already likes and identifies with, like a popular, feminist Instagram influencer, the company not only increases the odds that their campaign will be successful but they multiply their direct reach as well to Florence's followers and her follower's followers as well. Instagram's tagging and @ing features were practically made for this type of person to person marketing. Floss wins, Tinder wins, and the groundswell wins too because they get to see their favorite Instagram artist in a Tinder video ad or on a billboard on the Subway.

Do you think when the "Single Not Sorry" campaign was pitched to higher up Tinder executives, they were hesitant? Do you think partnering with an outspoken and unapologetic influencer was at all a risk for the company? Any thoughts you'd like to share on influencers and this type of marketing?

A New Age of Marketing: How to Talk With the Groundswell

The rules have changed in the world of marketing and communications and companies can no longer rely on any traditional models of communication and advertising to customers. As the authors of Groundswell: A World Transformed By Social Technologies note, gone are the days of shouting out at consumers and potential buyers. Traditional models of communication, like The Marketing Funnel seen below, are no longer relevant thanks to the groundswell. 

Groundswell: Bernoff, Li, 2008

It can be a confusing time for companies unsure of how to get their messages across. The audience is no longer an obedient child but is instead a rebellious teenager ready to talk back, share its opinion, and be heard. Notice how The Marketing Funnel depicted above appears linear. If you were to draw up a new model for marketing in the age of the groundswell, what shape would it take? Perhaps it would be 3D or take the form of a web like the image below depicts.

YoungUpStarts.com

In Groundswell: A World Transformed By Social Technologies, Li and Bernoff outline different techniques for talking with the groundswell. The first of these describes posting a video online and letting people share it! The second is to engage with social media and user-generated content sites. Kylie Jenner's business, Kylie Cosmetics is a good example of how to use these models of marketing well. One of Kylie's main methods of marketing is her presence on Instagram and within that she heavily uses Instagram Stories to announce, launch, and gain feedback on her cosmetic products. Check out the video below to see how she engages with the groundswell.

Notice how this video compilation of her Instagram Stories made its way to YouTube and is published by someone other than Kylie. This is the groundswell at work. When you give your audience content to engage with they share it with others in their own circles. As Li and Bernoff note, People learn from each other. If you follow someone who really likes and uses Kylie's line, it is likely you'll see them post when she is releasing new products that they are interested in. Maybe some of these products might interest you too. This is effective marketing.

Another tip that the authors of Groundswell recommend is to create a community where you can engage with your audience. There are multiple ways to do this and Kylie implements a few of them over the span of her social media platforms. Her website has a "Kylie's favorites" section and a "Best Sellers" section where consumers can see products that other consumers like best as well as products that Kylie prefers. This not only creates a sense of community among fans but allows them to feel "In" on what the celebrity likes. 

Kylie's Instagram Story

Kylie's Instagram

Back on her Instagram, Kylie fosters a community by posting intimate pictures and stories of her friends and family alongside posts of products. She'll even occasionally feature a fan's post with her products in it on her story which adds to the feeling of connection and excitement consumers might feel with her and her products on social media. 

Why do you think that featuring fan made content is a good way of marketing using the groundswell? How does this idea of celebrity fit into the marketing model when the celebrity owns there own brand? How is marketing different for celebrity owned companies? Let me know in the comments!

LinkedIn is In, Are You?

Social media platforms come and go so it's up to individuals and companies to keep up with what's relevant. A good strategy for keeping yourself or your company relevant is to try and predict what platforms and sites are on the rise. Sometimes, this could be a fancy new app or website but other times, promising media can include older platforms that are undergoing an update or are in a position to succeed during an external change. LinkedIn is one such platform which we all should be keeping an eye on. Need some proof that LinkedIn is adapting as a modern social media platform, check out this recent video ad from their YouTube channel.

Who is this ad targeting and do you think it is effective in doing so? Does this ad remind you of any other companies' campaigns you've seen recently? Take a look at this video ad for Facebook Life below. Try and identify how the two ads are similar and how they are different. What image are the ads trying to portray for the company and how are they doing this? 

These two ads are slightly different, the Facebook ad is more focused on employee recognition and job satisfaction while the LinkedIn ad is more focused on what the platform offers a user. However, they both are conveying a similar image of professionalism, usefulness, and modernism. Additionally, they both use young individuals to convey how people are satisfied with their company. If both ads are targeting young professionals, which do you think is more effective at reaching this target group?

In addition to trendy ads that are on the same level as Facebook's, LinkedIn has been updating their platform's architecture to mimic and compete with other popular social media, like Facebook and even Instagram. These platform changes, like integrating more video with Vimeo, launching a 'Groups' feature, and giving users the ability to upload personal stories, represent LinkedIn's effort to reach out and appeal to younger professionals and bring them onto the platform.

LinkedIn Stories,
Source: TechCrunch

LinkedIn's strategy of marketing to young people works because they are directly targeting young professionals who are entering or exploring the workforce but they are also indirectly marketing themselves to other businesses who might be looking for young people to join their team. They do both these things in one step. But why else might businesses be interested in LinkedIn as an up and coming platform?

Source: DemandWave

In addition to generating engagement, as the chart above demonstrates, LinkedIn has proven to be a valuable source for generating companies revenue. The more valuable LinkedIn is for companies, the more valuable it becomes for individuals looking to connect with companies for any purpose, including employment. In turn, LinkedIn knows that by increasing their value to companies which increases their value to individuals, they can get more people interested and signed up for their platform. You can read more about how LinkedIn has recently improved other companies' abilities to advertise on their platform here.

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! In a nutshell, that's the advice our text book is giving to companies dealing with the groundswell and navigating the changing landscape of marketing and advertising in an era after the explosion of the internet.

Source: me.me.

Groundswell is, at its core, a social trend with roots stemming from the collision of people, technology, and economics. It's rather democratic in this sense. As the textbook outlines, people draw power from other people and people power is multiplied in groups. Nowadays, we can sell and buy things cheaply with ease on Facebook market place. We can calculate which movie to watch based off of the quantifications on Rotten Tomatoes. You can plan your entire trip to another country by watching YouTube videos of other travelers. For the everyday Joe, this is great but for companies accustomed to advertising their goods and services in certain ways, everything is forever changed and  everything is forever changing. The internet threatens a companies institutional power if they are not prepared to learn from and grow with the groundswell.

Source: Medium.com

Companies that want to survive this new frontier need to be open to adapting. For this reason, the textbook recommends that companies focus on learning the relationships and connections that take place online rather than only focusing on the technologies themselves. Companies might want to consider why and how people are using the internet to understand how they can fit into a picture that already exists and is constantly changing. For examples of how companies have been adapting look at any fast food restaurant's presence on twitter.

Source: Twitter

But even after companies adapt, groundswell will always give people a voice:

Source: me.me

What are your thoughts on companies interacting with consumers on social media? Can we bring ethics into this and should companies be considering internet ethics as a form of preemptive crisis management?  For more thoughts on companies personifying themselves on Twitter, check out the video below!