New Regulations on Tweets

How many times have you read something on Twitter, on Facebook, or even under the reviews for products on sites like Amazon and thought it sounded a lot like they were trying to sell you on something. Well, those days are over.

Starting December 1, 2009 bloggers are required to clearly state any connection to an advertiser. This meaning that anyone making a post anywhere in the social media world must disclose payments for an endorsement. Furthermore, they can be held accountable if the statements made about the product are false.

No longer can celebrities get paid for commenting about products and influencing our decisions without explicitly stating that they are getting paid to do so. It’s the first time that rules are being placed in the blogosphere about what can be said. Previous to Twitter and Facebook endorsements were made through the actually ad firms in forms of testimonials or television ads, but it has become increasingly popular to pay individuals to post their “personal experiences” in hopes of creating buzz.

Izea is a social media marketing company that specializes in sponsored tweets and sponsored conversations in blogs. Their purpose is to create buzz and drive traffic. Some might say this is the end of Twitter. What if every post made on twitter was for advertising? That would take away the purpose of spreading ideas and engaging in conversation that twitter holds, and turn it into an advertising frenzy.

But now with these New Guidelines bloggers must disclose that they are getting paid to make the statement. FTC regulations might have just saved twitter!

-Annie H.

New Regulations on Tweets

Tweeting a Buzz, “Rehab” Style

Hip-hop artist Eminem’s new album “Relapse” was released May 19th, but far before that there was a tweetabuzz going on at marketing headquarters.

In the hip-hop world, being away from the scene for five years is a near deal-breaker, so Eminem’s marketing team at Aftermath/Interscope Records had a unique challenge ahead of them: bringing back the dead. Using Twitter as a means to convey a story, something Eminem is very good at conveying musically, they were able to tell a tale in a series of disturbing and intriguing “tweets” that blurred the lines between real and fiction creating the type of viral buzz that is slated to carry the album to platinum status.

There were basically two types of tweets going on simultaneously. One type was directly related to the release of the album with its accompanying iPhone/iTouch game and interactive website. While the other revolved around a haunting thought or something that would link Eminem to a mental institution/rehab facility called Pompsomp Hills.

By using this method of anticipation via intrigue, this musician was able to pre-engage his fans to talk about the experience and ultimately push them to hurry out to buy the product; a recipe for success!

Eminem is not the first artist to use new media marketing in order to engage a fan-crazed rage as you can see in the case of the “Twilight” book series , but it does take an imaginative artist to realize the power of a story and how incredible this power is for sales. This type of characteristic campaigning proves that you don’t need to be extra talented in order to bring yesterday’s news out of the closet.

A compelling story and some clever marketing plotted out over a period of time will create a chattering frenzy; ultimately boosting a band or even a product like the Beanie Baby back, even if it was proven dead and gone.

-Jodi

Tweeting a Buzz, “Rehab” Style