NOTE: I am using this as an example of poor use of social media, with suggestions on better ways to build an online presence. I do not intend to offer any judgment on the convention as a whole, or to encourage or discourage anyone from attending. Moving along…
So some of you may already be aware that I’m currently working as a social media strategist in Fort Worth (I work here).
By and large, American anime companies and conventions have taken pretty quickly to social media, for obvious reasons: it’s where their audience is. Some of them do really well with it, others are a little lax in their participation, but by and large I haven’t seen much that really put me off (unless you count those anime pirate sites that constantly flood the #anime hashtag as “anime companies,” which I don’t).
So I was surprised when I received the following tweet from a Florida-based anime show, one I’d even heard of before:
I replied:
To their credit, this anime con replied quickly, apologizing and explaining that they were “replying” to my #SailorMoon hashtag.
Now, my last #SailorMoon-related post was done on December 24, and a quick glance at this con’s account revealed that they’d been going through a LOT of people who have presumably used a similar hashtag and left similar messages, and have continued to do so today.
Protip (no, really!): I’m not going to lie, this MAY be effective short-term at garnering some extra hits, maybe even a registration or two (although you’d do better to target people closer to your con, I’d think).
But in the long term? It looks spammy and will net your particular account (and, in all likelihood, your convention’s marketing) a negative reputation. Which is not good for your con long-term. So, here are some suggestions for reaching audiences in a way that isn’t spammy or obnoxious but is still effective:
- Join the conversation. You’ll find people saying this all over the place without really meaning anything, but they accidentally stumbled onto the truth. Find people talking about Sailor Moon (which they may be doing without hashtags!) and actually talk to them. You know, like you would with a friend. Talk about how the show is awesome, how you’re excited to meet the voice actress, etc. Think of it as a more organic approach. You’re also more likely to run into bloggers/press whose eyes will glaze over and ignore your come-on tweets.
- Provide value. Most commonly comes in the forms of either entertainment (like, say, tweeting links to all that fun random anime/fandom-related stuff that’s ALL OVER THE INTERWEBS) or information (about registration, about special deals, about your con, or even about other events). You could live-tweet your public meetings, announcements, etc.
- Vary up your content! I’d be surprised if you got many new followers who didn’t also unfollow you shortly (that are also real human beings), because no one just wants to watch you come on to other people with effectively the same message 20+ times a day.
That list is far from all-inclusive, of course. But these are a few ways to launch a long-term Twitter campaign that people like instead of one that annoys people.
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Title: The Long Walk
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