Jet Marketing
As professional marketers, we get the question a lot — “how can we go viral?” This is followed by “how do we get to the top of the search?” and “how do we remove one-star reviews?” All reasonable questions that are answered in different ways. But for now, this blog focuses on the viral question.
Many of our clients at Jet are in the healthcare space. We do a lot of education about general healthcare topics, service availability, quality care, etc. When there is a “viral” situation, our experience hasn’t always been a good viral.
Last week we experienced a good viral when a hot air balloon ride company client realized an unexpected reaction. With one part preparation and two parts luck, let me share what transpired and how you might be prepared to go viral.
Be Prepared
Often when we start with a client, there is some general housekeeping that needs to be done. Website, logo, social channels, Google My Business — yes, all important. Is the brand being carried out through all mediums? Are there intentional efforts towards SEO? Is there a social media strategy? In general, what does the digital footprint look like and how easily can people find the product or service.
Love Hot Air Balloon Rides, a unique heart-shaped hot air balloon ride service company, came to us about a year ago. They had done a great job creating a distinctive logo, branding the chase vehicle, company uniforms, etc. Our job was to help with a website and social media. We also helped the client unravel their Google My Business listing and guided them to garner 5-star reviews.
Fast forward to an early morning on a beautiful February day — here is where the luck starts.
Certainly, a hot air balloon of any shape is something to watch, a unique occurrence in the sky. On this day the sky was blue, the mountains were in clear view, a perfect background for one person posting a photo on a local Facebook group page. Within hours, the post was shared over and over with many comments including more balloon photos saying “I saw it too.” Reactions, comments and shares . . . . it far exceeded any social media reaction that the client, or us, expected.
Then the post was shared by a local weather influencer with more than 200,000 followers. The image was shared with Denver media and played as a background to the daily weather forecast.
FACEBOOK: Over 3,600 engagements, 150 comments and over 200 shares. Denver media, hard to guess at the number of impressions, but the population in Colorado is roughly 6 million.
Was it lucky? YES. Was the client prepared? YES. Because we were prepared, the viral activity was very valuable and hopefully monetizable for future bookings. The Jet team was busy helping to comment, creating our own posts, and sharing the website URL. It was exciting and exhilarating!
Will it happen the next time the heart-shaped balloon flies? Probably not. But if it does, we’ll be ready to help them soar again.
Jackie O’Hara, Boss Lady
Jackie is the owner of Jet Marketing, and on that lucky day in February, she and her Digital Manager Lindsey were floating in the basket underneath that heart-shaped balloon. It was a thrilling day in many ways.
