Word of mouth marketing on Twitter

 

When Nalgene launched its online campaign, America's Least Wasteful Cities, in April 2009, the results traveled quickly through the viral world. It was no surprise to see online articles and updates on Facebook appear, but in addition, a new form of online word of mouth marketing emerged - the power of Twitter.  In less than 2 weeks, Nalgene's America's Least Wasteful Cities received over:

• 400 unique postings on Twitter from outside users

• 380,000 impressions on Twitter

In total, www.LeastWastefulCities.com attracted over 22,500 page views and received over 90 online placements including articles with  Fast Company, U.S. News & World Report, The Huffington Post, Reuters, MSNBC.com and MSN Money.

The campaign highlighted a Nalgene study that took the pulse on Americans living in the top 25 cities, gauging their least wasteful ways and eco-conscious mindset.  Overall, the study ranked 23 waste-focused habits of urban Americans in the top 25 metro cities, from recycling, to using public transportation, to shutting off the lights when leaving the room.  Readers were asked to visit  www.LeastWastefulCities.com to view the results and take the survey themselves and compare their scores with both their own city and the national average.  

Throughout the launch of the campaign, Nalgene's personal Twitter account,  posted different links and facts relating to the study to create additional online buzz.  Nalgene also challenged some of Twitter's more popular personalities to even take the survey themselves by sending @ replies to popular "tweeters" such as  Ellen Degeneres and the anchors of the Today Show. In addition, top news outlet such as Fast Company, ABC News and Fox affiliates posted links to the survey on their official Twitter accounts.  

Overall the campaign created an amazing online buzz all on Twitter.  Users were "tweeting" links to the website, their city's personal rankings and even their personal scores from the online quiz.  Plain and simple, the overall success of this campaign would have been nowhere near what it was if it weren't for Twitter.

This case study was provided by Libba Cox www.CerconeBrown.com

during my ongoing social media research project.

If you have a business success experience using social media and would like to be showcased in my column and upcoming book, please contact me at help@drdavehaleonline.com 

Dr. Dave Hale, is a serial entrepreneur, university professor, professional writer, business coach, and a confessed  Internet marketingology junkie. He is the founder and resident professor at The Internet Marketing Professor.  He can be contacted at www.DrDaveHaleOnline.com or  Help@DrDaveHaleOnline.com.