Social Media Campaigns: Doing It Right

Over the last couple of days, the launch of a brand new purse site got a lot of buzz in the Twitterverse. Handbag Planet was giving away one purse an hour for 24 hours in order to celebrate their launch — signing up was super easy, give them your name and email address, then choose the drawing hour that corresponds to the bag you want and hope that no one else has taste as good as yours. Sign up, you’d get one chance to win. Every person you referred to the contest got you one more entry. Add Handbag Planet as a friend on MySpace or Facebook or tweet about it on Twitter to get 10 more chances. Blog about it and get 25 more chances. Even people who claimed not to like purses were all over it.

Unfortunately, I did not win the bag I wanted. What’s even worse, when I decided to buy the bag, it was already sold out. It was a great tragedy that meant I couldn’t take advantage of the 72-hour long launch promo 20 percent discount (the bag is back in stock on or around the 21st). I twittered my disappointment, not really expecting anything:

A few minutes later I got a DM from @handbagplanet asking which bag I wanted and telling me when they’d be getting back in (read from the bottom up for it to make the most sense):

Naturally, this somehow led to surfing HandbagPlanet.com and checking out the related links at the bottom. Tell me that tote isn’t the cutest thing ever?

I got to thinking, hmm, I wonder if my laptop would fit in there. Since I knew from my earlier tweet of sadness that someone over there was listening, I once again turned to Twitter:

Before too long, I got a reply to that one, too.

My dreams were shattered. But after a few DM exchanges and a couple emails with my new friend James, we found a solution. I get my bag (actually two bags. I couldn’t choose! Don’t judge me!), they get my business and all is right with the world. [I love happily ever afters! –Virginia]

So what did Handbag Planet do right with their approach to social media?

1. Great promotion that took advantage of the way people actually use social media: Handbag Planet got everyone and their mom to do the legwork for them, as everyone told their friends that it was free — no catch, just a chance to win a purse. They made it seem achievable and they made it conversational. There was no script to follow, no stilted message, no requirement except mentioning their name. How well did it work? How does 5000 backlinks sound to you?
2. Vocal presence: They’ve been out there, talking it up, answering questions, responding to concerns. It’s obvious they’re taking feedback into account and seeking to continue their relationships with the people who are now tuned in to their message.
3. Problem Solving: Handbag Planet learned a lesson from Zappos that great customer service is worth its weight in gold. By solving my problem, they’re buying brand loyalty. In the future, I’m much more likely to go to them.

Susan Esparza is former managing editor at Bruce Clay Inc., and has written extensively for clients and internal publications. Along with Bruce Clay, she is co-author of the first edition of Search Engine Optimization All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies.

See Susan's author page for links to connect on social media.