User Generated Content Is Still Standing

Hold Me Even Closer Tiny Dancer

And this is the literal (cut and pasted) call to action: 

“Share it online, connect with fan groups and pages to see if you can create the entire artwork and figure out what the announcement is all about. 

Good luck!”

Jeff, you’re saying that seems innocent enough and pretty straightforward. What’s the point of this blog? 

Glad you asked, thank you.

Engagement is bigger and more complex than people give it credit for. It’s a complex thing to create a dialogue between two people. 

Here are the tiny improvements that would have brought this email and campaign to the next level. 

REWORDED EMAIL

Share it online with #EltonJohnHasASecret (and tag us on twitter @eltonoffical/instagram tag us @eltonjohn), connect with fan groups and pages to see if you can create the entire artwork and figure out what the announcement is all about. 

Pretty simple, right?

The hashtag addition:

• Allows for quick searching on instagram or Twitter for others that posted so that the community can work together to piece together the image. 
• Ask your fans to tag (@) you so that you know they’re likely part of the campaign and not just trend jacking the hashtag. 
• With the addition of a hashtag Elton’s team can now track the call and response success of the email reach out.

As is, without the hashtag it would be near impossible to find someone else that posted an image unless you happen to follow their feed. You need to create a common thread to bring people together and allow them to get in on the fun. Asking for an @ is always great because it will drive people to your social page and you’re likely to get more impressions and followers as a result. 

Even more important would be for Elton’s team to understand who the really engaged super fans are. Under the best circumstances it would be amazing to know:

• Who shared the image with the hashtag?
• How engaged is this person normally with posts on social media channels?

The @ implies a reach out to you. If you’re @’d you can assume it’s ok to engage with that fan. That’s one of the great reasons to ask fans when posting to include the @ with the hashtag. 

What an amazing world it would be to know who your engagers are.

PS

For those of you who are curious about the secret, here is the completed image:

The campaign was an announcement of a new Elton John Album. (Yes, I bought the LP, it's wonderful).

Oh, and by the way:

Stampede Social makes it super easy to track UGC campaigns via our amazing interface. Know how many posts exist. Engage. Download all the entries with a click of a button. We make it super easy for you to fall in love with UGC all over again.

Stampede Social tracks your UGC campaigns on Instagram in real-time.  Stampede Social helps you manage your campaigns and the real engagement that results. This gives you a real pulse on what’s being said and by who. Get to know your fans better today. Contact us to learn more.