Social Marketing Blog Post (Full)

Purpose: to illustrate the thought process behind successful live tweeting


Hey Good People.

I’m Delicia, Creative Coordinator at The Levity Department. This post will be the first in an ongoing series about my adventures with social media marketing as a young adult.

Before I get into things, I would like to announce that I dyed my hair silver-blonde and I am very excited about this. Selfies will appear on my instagram in the next hour.

Anyway, my responsibilities at Levity include live tweeting TV shows on our @LevityTV account. We have this account because we watch a lot of TV. And because we do a lot of work involving entertainment and want to have a presence in the “social TV” world.

Before my first session in March, I was pretty nervous. I’d written entertaining blog posts about my reactions to trends and celebrity news in college, but I wasn’t sure about coming up with material on the spot consistently for an hour or two. Using shows that I already enjoyed helped, but it took two sessions for me to get comfortable reaching the public this way.

Live tweeting is best when you’re generally interested in the show and want to connect with like-minded people in a larger community. The more you interact with people who share your love for a show, the more connections you make and the better presence you have.

To give myself the best exposure, I keep these things in mind:

1. Tone of voice has to be consistent, and should not be negative or overly hyper. That will nuke followers faster than you can say “Twitter fail.”

2. Jokes and thoughtful comments are the most shareable. People like humor, and people usually appreciate insight and interesting perspectives on things.

3. Which accounts you tag and which hashtags you use really matter, and it’s important to include them on every tweet. Avoid using more than 2 hashtags and 3 accounts

4. Every tweet won’t get huge action because things are happening fast. If one tweet that you worked hard on doesn’t get any action, don’t waste any time feeling bad about it. That takes away from the time you can spend tweeting new things which can get results.

5. It’s a good idea to retweet and reply to fellow fans and celebrities tweeting about the show. Doing this will reach them and increase your chances of getting retweeted, etc. by their accounts, which gives more visibility for your account.      

6. You shouldn’t live tweet to simply get attention and followers. Pick shows that genuinely interest you, and approach the situation with the intention to interact with a larger community that shares your interests. The less worried you are about results, the better tweets you will make. It’s easy to over-hashtag and/or sound inauthentic when you’re actively worried about how much engagement you’re going to get. If you already make people laugh and smile in real life, you can also do it on Twitter.

Click here and here to see examples of my success using rules 1-4 and 6. I wrote both of them right after tweets that got no action, and used humor and thoughtfulness together. I was just thinking out loud and tagged the most relevant actor accounts. My next goal is to double this.

My live tweeting adventures have included Pretty Little Liars and Total Divas, and I’ll definitely be covering Kourtney and Khloe Take The Hamptons when it airs in November. A follow up post of the funniest tweets I’ve seen while live tweeting is probably next.

If you have questions or comments feel free to email me at delicia@levitydept.com. You can also follow our primary account on Twitter at @LevityDept.

Client Acquisition Email (Copy Only)

Purpose: To begin a conversation and professional relationship with an individual who expressed interest

Hi XX,

We'd love to get you started cooking with (Company Name). We'll just need to have a quick chat on the phone first. Be sure to sign up here to create your account. 

I'm Delicia, a member of the (Company Name) Cook Onboarding Team. I will be in touch with you to set up your profile shoot and answer any questions you have at 2pm on Tuesday October 8th. 

I have sent a Google Calendar invite to confirm. 

If this isn't convenient, please respond with a better day / time to chat. 

Best,

XX

Internship Reflection (Excerpt)

Purpose: college internship reflection essay assignment

"I am ready to begin" Jean Luc, the gallery owner, looked up from his paperwork and pointed to a chair in front of him.

Jean Luc delivered his questions to me with building momentum, eyeing my resume from time to time. I continued to reply with confidence, keeping my shoulders erect and hiding my shaking fingers in my blazer pockets. I secured the position shortly after the interview.

As my internship grew from days to weeks, I seriously considered a creative career. I used to see myself having whatever job paid the bills after graduation, but I felt too alive during exhibition opening nights to keep that vision.

From reading press releases, exploring a myriad of styles and mediums, and assisting artists with installations of their work, I developed a better understanding of the creation process. It begins with inspiration and ideas. Some of those ideas evolve into works in progress. Sometimes they are discarded and sometimes they blossom into finished pieces. Pieces that can touch your soul, confuse you, bore you, anger you, or please your eyes. 

I still remember a painting that touched my soul. It was what struggling looks like on the inside of a person. I had dinner with this artist after his opening show at the gallery. 

If I can touch a person with my own creations, then I have done exactly what I was meant to do in my life.

Marketing Case Study (Excerpt)

Purpose: to demonstrate Levity's marketing approach for potential clients

Challenge: Previous success reduces motivation for change, and changing times make existing methods less effective.

Before collaborating with The Levity Department, Static Lounge primarily used word of mouth for advertisement. With excellent reviews from legendary food critic Frank Bruni and high marginal revenue, there was little need for specific marketing tactics in 2007. “It worked until it stopped working” says Gideon, Levity Department.

The 2008 economic crisis, presence of new competition, and growth of technology and social media created some friction for business during recent years. Since Static Lounge did not create new features for visitor entertainment and had a minimal presence on social media, the venue atmosphere became empty. This discouraged potential patrons from visiting and talented bartenders from applying, creating a vicious antisocial cycle. Static Lounge received lower ratings on Yelp by 2011.

But the sun was not down forever. Once on board in November 2013, the Levity Department developed a novel marketing approach to replicate previous success and prevent competition from getting too confident.

Campaign: Generate awareness, increase interest in brands, and obtain a greater following through different initiatives and social media platforms.

Being both ambitious and short on time, Levity used a top down, bottom up approach. Levity worked with the owners of the club to create exciting features for patrons, and also began up-selling to website visitors with weekly food and drink specials, recurring themed events and discounts.

Promotional development has included branding Static Lounge as an upscale, exotic venue offering a positive experience. All social media channels target young to middle aged adults who regularly enjoy nightlife. Copy is concise, informative, upbeat, and includes humor.

*Venue name has been changed