RE-TWEET IT!
Tweet
On September 12th, 2008, I ran an event called the Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon on Twitter. It was to raise awareness about congenital heart defects in children and generate funds to sponsor heart surgery for some kids.
For 24 hours straight, I posted tweets every 30 minutes. The event had some great supporters, and raised a little over $5,500 in a day.
Today, best-selling author and top Internet marketing expert Joel Comm held another version of a Twitter fundraising marathon called Tweetathon 2009. It was to raise awareness about the desperate need for clean drinking water, and raise money to help provide children with clean water in Africa.
I watched in awe and delight as the buzz spread across the Twitterverse!
It was amazing to see how a well-planned, well-coordinated and well-orchestrated event can and should be run… and I learned a lot from observing a master marketer at work.
We don’t know yet how much was raised for charity, but I’m pretty sure it’ll dwarf the $5,500 that the Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon brought in.
It was also, for me personally, a bitter-sweet experience.
Because I’m now starkly aware of how much potential I left untapped by not planning and executing better, by not doing many things Joel did masterfully, by not putting in more effort into it – while at the same time, learning and taking notes on how to do it better the next time around.
Here are some things that might help anyone else planning such an event.
1. Get more people involved. Joel has a far bigger network than most of us, but still, it was amazing to see how many people he managed to get actively involved in his project. I can only imagine how much arm-twisting, cajoling and calling in past favors must have gone into it – hat’s off to Joel Comm for managing it!
2. Find a celebrity to pull in crowds. Tweetathon 2009 had MC Hammer. I just peeked – on Twitter, MC has got over 93,000 followers! Wow. Quite a few of his fans would have helped spread buzz.
3. Start early. If I’m not mistaken, Joel started preparing for this event sometime in November 2008 with an announcement to his email list about his new Twitter book, and plans for a special Twitter-based event.
4. Use multiple channels to communicate with your tribe. Joel used his email list, his blog, Twitter as well as in-person networking at events to constantly build up excitement and anticipation for the Tweetathon.
5. Tie it in with something to leverage the effort. Joel had it coincide with a book launch (incidentally, a side-benefit was that the book hit best-seller status).
6. Prepare to work hard. I guess that was my biggest failing – not putting in the kind of intense effort I knew was necessary.
7. Keep the time frame reasonable. I went with a 24-hour Twitter marathon, because in past years I did a 24-hour blogathon, and thought it would also help reach people in many different time zones. Joel’s event only lasted 12 hours, and so had more engagement with the audience, some of whom planned to watch or listen to the entire event.
8. Sustain engagement. My Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon had bursts of tweeting activity every 30 minutes. Joel Comm’s Tweetathon 2009 was a continuous event, where different people entertained people all the while, no intervals or interruptions.
There will probably be a few more lessons I’ll recollect in retrospect. And I might pick Joel’s brain for more ideas, if I decide to repeat the Heart Kids Tweet-a-thon again this year.
Whatever else comes out of this, one thing has been proved beyond any reasonable doubt. Twitter is a social network with far-reaching impact and can be used as a tool to do enormous good in the world.
TWITTER POWER – you’ve gotta love it!
{ 2 comments }
Dear Doc
Both 12 hour and 24 hour events have their own virtue. For example, I could not hop in to Tweetathon2009 because the hours were odd for me.
Joel does have a much bigger following and it is very gracious of you to use it to learn new things rather than feel a competition. We will do better at the next event we organise.
@Arun Agrawal – Many years ago, Stephen Pierce taught me the importance of rejoicing in other people’s success and achievements. It creates the mindset that allows you to replicate it yourself!
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