evm_october-2024 - 62

SPECIAL REPORT
When creating these kinds of influencer
partnerships, Rosenberg recommends
putting everything in writing, particularly
any posting requirements, expectations
and timelines.
SOCIAL LISTENING TO TAP INTO
TIKTOK COMMUNITIES
Part of having an effective social media
strategy is being reactive to what's trending
and having the opportunity to move
quickly to push out a post... without being
too cringey. Time and time again, brands
have been blamed for killing off a trend or
been ridiculed for showing up too late to
the party.
" Whenever you hear about the greatest
marketing, p.r. and social media events,
it's always because someone was paying
attention to something that happened
online and found the moment to turn
it into great content, " Rosenberg says.
" You have to give social media managers
some leash to run with, because social
media management is inherently built in
community management, and they're the
eyes and ears of the entire organization.
The problem with red tape is that you miss
a good moment when you wait two days
for it. And the best brand is, truthfully, not
even being on-brand. "
Take Duolingo, which has long left
the boundaries of its language learning
app identity to capture the attention (and
admiration) of social media users. With 13.3
million TikTok followers, Duolingo puts
forward its bright-green bird mascot Duo
in most of its videos as a life-size costumed
character that goes on adventures, from
running a kitchen inspired by " The Bear "
to marrying couples as Elvis in Las Vegas
on Valentine's Day to hitting the " Barbie "
pink carpet dressed in Margot Robbie's
cowgirl costume.
The Duolingo social media team moves
quickly to jump on trends as they happen in
an authentic, and often surprising, way.
In September, the social media darling
crashed the opening night of Charli XCX
and Troye Sivan's co-headlined Sweat Tour
in Detroit, with Duo dressed in a " brat "
t-shirt outside the venue and 20 Duolingo
employees wearing large Duo-shaped
heads in front of the concert stage. " Brat
Summer " fans took notice, and Charli XCX
even shouted them out mid-performance,
which was shared on the brand's TikTok to
the tune of 2.6 million views.
Also finding success on TikTok is
62
EVENT MARKETER FALL 2024
eventmarketer.com
Walmart, which focused its social listening
on TikTok's community of readers and
authors who are passionate about discussing
books and literature, affectionately known
as BookTok. Walmart went all in on the
#BookTok trend of highlighting steamy
romance novels by launching a " Spicy
Summer " campaign to show consumers
and BookTok followers that the brand is a
go-to destination for the summer's hottest
books. " Spicy Summer " kicked off with an
invite-only poolside event for influential
members of the BookTok community in
Santa Monica, CA, in June, featuring a
menu of Fiery Summer Drinks, beachy
furniture and décor from Walmart, a book
charm jewelry-making station, a Red Hot
Auras photo booth, and, of course, fanfavorite
" spicy " books all over shelves.
" We are a customer-obsessed organization,
so we look for the places where
our customers are spending their time and
create genuine moments of connection
with them... BookTok is rapidly growing;
I think it's at more than 250 billion views, "
says Courtney Killingsworth,
directorbrand
marketing at Walmart. " What this
really allowed us to do is tap into a culturally
relevant moment, and it helped us work
toward the goal of putting Walmart, the
brand, into culture, and culture into the
brand. It was a step in the direction of
shortening the distance from inspiration to
purchase, and that's the goal. "
And if the goal is to go viral, that kind of
prominence can be difficult to chase with so
much content constantly swirling on social
networks. We discovered Walmart's Spicy
Summer Soirée through an influencer's
TikTok with 1.9 million views that popped
up on our For You feed.
" The life cycle is shorter, but the ceiling
is higher, " Rosenberg says.
" It's
funny
because now going viral is something that
could just become a meme. But again, that
goes back to social listening, where you
can create lots of mini relevant moments.
People confuse virality with being relevant,
and that's why it's really important to
consistently do things that are relevant,
and eventually, you'll find the one where it's
lightning in a bottle and gets big. " Go big or
go home.
By Juanita Chavarro Arias
Topgolf and Walmart hosted influencer events this
summer to generate buzz around new products.
IMAGE CREDITS: COURTESY OF WALMART; TOPGOLF
http://www.eventmarketer.com
evm_october-2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of evm_october-2024
