Denny’s successful Twitter meme.
Denny’s, the restaurant chain, recently had one of the most popular brand tweets of all time. How did they do it?
It used the “zoom in scavenger hunt meme” trick. Showing a photo of pancakes, the tweet asked viewers to “zoom in on the syrup.” Interested sharp-eyed viewers saw a message. Without delving into the details, the message sent viewers on a scavenger hunt of sorts, instructing them to look scroll and zoom about the image. They ultimately found the hidden message. Observers might wonder if viewers felt the message was especially humorous or if they thought finding it was worth their time.
Understand the Audience
But Denny’s evidently understands its audience. The tweet’s social media marketing success was not questionable. In less than a week, the tweet gained 85,000 retweets and more than 116,000 likes. It exceeded the engagement obtained by the Arby’s tweet: “Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back?”
Although it’s all but impossible to estimate how many additional Grand Slam breakfasts (or other revenue) the tweet success generated, Denny’s seems to believe that maintaining an on-going social media relationship with their target millennial audience ultimately pays off in more paying customers coming into its restaurants more frequently. They are probably right.
Many brands trying to appear cool to social-media- savvy millennials sometimes embarrassingly miss the mark. They ultimately come across as forced or contrived. Denny’s social marketing team prides itself on staying abreast of the latest internet and pop cultural trends.
“It’s critical that our content be current and relevant to the conversations that are happening across America,” Denny’s Chief Marketing Officer John Dillon told Adweek. The social media team, which includes strategists, writers and designers, works with the company’s agency, Erwin Penland. The team, Dillon said, constantly seeks trending stories, popular memes and pop culture news.
Monitoring Social Media
Even if organizations lack the resources to create intricate scavenger-hunt memes, they can monitor social media for mentions of their brands, industry topics or other keywords. By receiving real-time alerts, marketers can quickly respond to posts or contribute to social media conversations.
Through newsjacking, marketers can inject their brand into a breaking news story. A media monitoring service can help identify industry-related news suitable for newsjacking. Many businesses prepare to newsjack breaking national news or major events. However, watching for everyday or industry-related news events may be a more effective newsjacking tactic than focusing on heavily covered national events like the Super Bowl or Academy Awards. A major pitfall is attempting to take advantage of a negative event like the death of a celebrity or natural disaster.
Companies can also monitor social media for customer service. Since relatively few organizations place a priority on social media listening for customer support, companies can gain a significant competitive advantage if they monitor social media channels and quickly address customers’ comments and solve their problems.
Social media monitoring also offers other applications, such as market research, product development and competitive intelligence.
Bottom Line: Denny’s showed how a scavenger hunt meme can produce outstanding results on social media. Before attempting to replicate the tactic, it’s essential to understand your audience to know how they may react.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
