In early 2010, Journyx a provider of time tracking and resource management software solutions based in Austin, Texas – knew that its social media engagement needed to be improved but was unsure of the steps needed to achieve this. Like many corporations, Journyx wanted to dive in to the social media ocean but wasn’t sure how to do it intelligently and effectively. Journyx was doing everything it “should” be to engage in social media – it had a blog, a Facebook page, a LinkedIn group and a corporate Twitter feed but the results were poor and executives were beginning to wonder if it was worth the effort.
The Journyx marketing team and I set to work brainstorming ways to creatively engage in social media while accomplishing corporate goals. Together, we developed a campaign called “31 Days of Journyx Twitter Coupons”. During the campaign, which ran from March 1 – March 31, Journyx (@journyxinc) tweeted a coupon code each day that was redeemable for various prizes. This encouraged people to follow the Journyx Twitter feed to find out what the day’s prize would be. The prizes included free licenses for Journyx Timesheet or Journyx ProjectXecute software, an iPod Touch, $500 towards a Journyx maintenance contract, a Journyx-branded USB drive, a Kindle, a Journyx-branded water bottle, tickets to Austin City Limits music festival and a grand prize of 50 software licenses on the last day…just to name a few.
The campaign was a success. The press release was posted to more than 200 news sites. Journyx increased its Twitter followers from about 90 to more than 450. The unique URL that we created on the Journyx web site for the campaign was hit nearly 2,000 times throughout the campaign. Traffic to the Journyx web site increased 20% during the campaign (and subsequently went down again in April upon its completion). We had several hundred participants from all over the world, including customers and non-customers, and we were able to increase goodwill with our existing customer base. Our primary goal, which was to build our corporate brand and leverage Twitter to engage with customer and potential customers – was definitely achieved.
We are now working to create the next campaign that will top the creativeness and effectiveness of “31 Days of Journyx Twitter Coupons” – but we’re up to the challenge.
Author: Whitney Wood Otstott is a veteran public relations consultant and founder of PR Ink, based in Austin, Texas. She can be reached at [email protected].