Joe Filipas and Evan Carpenter of Periscope discuss their successful social media campaigns.
When revamping a brand or taking it to the next level, many managers and executives see the importance of giving social media an overhaul. However, what was once limited to creating a Facebook page has expanded to so much more.
At Minnesota PRSA’s most recent event, we sat down with Periscope to learn more about their work in social media. Joe Filipas, strategist on the Community Engagement Team and Evan Carpenter, Director of Community, told us at Periscope they call social media “community,” because there is so much more that goes along with it.
Filipas spoke first about the work he did for Trolli, a candy company whose target market is teenagers and young adults. Periscope saw that teens have a need to be entertained — specifically with humor. In addition, most of the messages they receive come from their mobile device.
“Teens go where the content is — they are platform-agnostic,” said Filipas.
After acknowledging what teens want and need, they came up with three insights:
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Raise brand awareness with teens
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Speak in a way that resonates with said teens
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Use mediums outside of Facebook such as Tumblr.
Their big idea was to share “weirdly awesome” things. An idea that would drive all their content. For teens, being weird means being yourself, being authentic.
Their 2013 launch included broadcast spots, a new website operating off Tumblr, updated social content and publicity stunts.
Periscope measured an increase in sales of 18 percent and an overall brand lift of 74 percent.
This was 1.5 years ago. Filipas said they are constantly working to expand Trolli’s community. Some of their biggest takeaways were:
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Social media is a moving target
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Measurability isn’t always likes, shares or comments
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Move with your audience
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Position your client to be more comfortable with testing initiatives
Carpenter then turned the conversation to Buffalo Wild Wings. The brand has 13 million social fans, and 3 million of those can be attributed to the work Periscope conducted. The goal of their community is to create the ultimate social experience for sports fans.
For Periscope, Buffalo Wild Wings’ social media strategy was completely different than that of Trolli. Buffalo Wild Wings is constantly turning out new content, engaging followers and responding to complaints and compliments alike.
Their business objectives were to:
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Drive restaurant traffic
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Support strategic partnerships
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Increase check size
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Stand out by connecting digital and physical content
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Stand out by letting the brand take a back seat
They did this by “adaptive storytelling,” or personalizing each platform for a specific purpose. For example, Instagram was used for artful pictures, Twitter for quick updates and Facebook for menu information.
The common theme through all Buffalo Wild Wings’ social platforms is one-on-one engagements. Periscope has three or four people working on Buffalo Wild Wings social media at a time, including overnight shifts.
Although not all brands are as large as Trolli and Buffalo Wild Wings, there are ways to generate a community.
“For smaller accounts, try calculated risks if there isn’t a big budget,” said Carpenter. “It’s OK to let a channel go if it’s draining your resources.”