Using a hashtag can be the equivalent of playing digital Russian roulette. Is it safe to use them anymore? Agency behind ______ campaign fired after social media disaster. You can fill in the blank with any number of recent #disasters, but this an actual headline pulled from The Guardian in November. The agency who created #MyTaxis, a seemingly innocuous campaign created to encourage customer feedback about their experience riding in Victorian taxis (and counter Uber’s Australian stronghold) was fired just three days after it launched. We’ll look at why it went so wrong so quickly.

1. Hashtags Gone Wrong
Using a hashtag can be the equivalent
of playing digital Russian roulette. Is it
safe to use them anymore?
Advention 2016
AAF District 10 Annual Convention
& NSAC Competition
Lubbock, April 15Lisa Du Bois Low© | All Rights Reserved

2. Lisa Du Bois Low | @ldlow
 Marketing, Digital & Emerging Media
Communications Executive (25 Years)
◦ NERD
 Education
◦ BA Business Administration/Marketing & Finance
◦ MBA
◦ Autodidact
@ldlow #Advention2016

3. Professor of Practice in PR
 Teach Digital and Social Media Courses
 Marketing/Branding for the College
 Faculty Advisor of the Outpost Social Media Lab

4. The Outpost Social Media Lab
 State of the Art
 One of the first in Higher Education
 Student Run
 Gives CoMC students & grads a competitive edge
 We are always looking for clients and partners!

5. A Little #History
 March, 2006 | Twitter launched
 August, 2007 | the #barcamp hashtag was used to
bundle (aggregate) conversation about a global
technology unconference called Barcamp .
 [They were NOT hyperlinked.]
@ldlow #Advention2016

6. #Then
 2009 | Twitter hyperlinks all hashtags
 2010 | Twitter introduced "Trending Topics" on the
Twitter front page.
 2011 | Instagram
 2013 | Facebook
@ldlow #Advention2016

7. #Now
 Hashtags are a
new form of
punctuation! They
convey #irony or
#sarcasm, suggest
#emotion or
#mood, provide
#context.
 #WTF?
 #ICYMI
Via Jonathan Crossfield, CMI
@ldlow #Advention2016

8. #Then and #Now
 Purely utilitarian UGC.
 Savvy brands listened and joined the
conversation via trending topics.
 Even savvier brands created their own and we
started the conversation.
 The democratic web said “not so fast, we’re on to
you.”
 Because. They. Can.

9. Democratic Web
 Social and mobile web has changed the speed,
efficiency and ease with which consumers engage
with each other with a tremendous impact on
brands.
 Prior to 2005, brands enjoyed one-way
communication with customers.
 Social media eroding that advantage slowly but
relentlessly.
 What publics say about your brand BECOMES your
brand--even ESPECIALLY uninvolved bystanders
(trolls/rubberneckers/slacktivists)
@ldlow #Advention2016

10. Gold Standard
 Discoverable.
 Relevant.
 Relatable.
 Measurable.
 Executed properly, # can be very effective in
helping brands spread their message to a wide
audience. After all, more than 70% of consumers
are motivated to explore new content when
hashtags are present – Hubspot.
@ldlow #Advention2016

11. #AskSeaWorld March 2015
 #AskSeaWorld Twitter Campaign Pretty Much Goes
How You’d Expect - HuffPo
 SeaWorld, it appears, has more outspoken
enemies than friends on Twitter – CNN Money
@ldlow #Advention2016

12. Once seen … #susanalbumparty
 November 2012. Susan Boyle was hosting an
album party for her new album “Standing Ovation.”
They quickly deleted the tweet but not after having
it retweeted multiple times and seeing it become
one of the top trending topics on Twitter.
@ldlow #Advention2016

13. Trolling for trolls
 BREAKING! @JebBush quits #GOP race, signs
deal with @hgtv for new reality show: #JebCanFixIt!
@ldlow #Advention2016

14. Slogan/Brand-Jacking
 This slogan-jacking shows just how difficult it has
become for political campaigns to control their own
message in the digital age. It’s no longer just up to
the campaigns to steer the conversation and their
opponents to counter it. Now we can all play a role
in spinning the new narrative, which dramatically
changes the power structure in campaigns.
Wired Magazine
 Organizations now utilize trolls to manipulate public
opinion (PETA).
@ldlow #Advention2016

15. Starbucks #RaceTogether
 Campaign to encourage meaningful discussion of
racism. Baristas were to write #RaceTogether on
cups to start the conversation.
 March 15, 2015 Campaign launched with a full-
page ad in The New York Times.
 March 20, USA Today covered the campaign in the
newspaper’s website and print edition.
 March 22, Starbucks ended the campaign.
 Why?
@ldlow #Advention2016

16. #YourTaxis
 To combat Uber, Ellis Jones created a campaign
calling for Victorian Taxi Association’s customer
feedback about their experiences riding in taxis
using #YourTaxis.
 Nov. 9 Campaign Launched
 Customers shared stories of verbal, physical and
sexual abuse from drivers; being refused rides by
drivers for short fares; and dirty and decrepit taxis.
 They EXPECTED negativity.
 How did all go wrong?
@ldlow #Advention2016

17. #YourTaxis
@ldlow #Advention2016

18. #YourTaxis
 As the criticism peaked and #YourTaxis began to
trend, the association insisted it welcomed the
feedback, including the negative, so that it could
improve its service.
 Nov. 8 VTA “has abandoned industrial action and
campaigning as a response to Uber, admitting the
industry has not responded well to customer
criticism.”
@ldlow #Advention2016

19. #YourTaxis
 Nov. 10, they jacked #remembranceday [typos are
so vexing]
 Nov. 12. Byeeee Ellis Jones
@ldlow #Advention2016

20. #OhNoTheyDidnt
 April 14 - What
started out as an
attempt to solicit
pent-up good
feelings among the
New York Police
Department’s
constituents is
turning out to be a
troll-fest of epic
proportions.
@ldlow #Advention2016

21. @ldlow #Advention2016

23. Avoid True Mistakes
 #hashtags are not the holy grail of viral.
 Intent: Why do you need one?
 Research, research, research (GTS).
 Run it by EVERYONE.
 Take it out of context.
 Hashtags are font and cap agnostic.
@ldlow #Advention2016

24. #Why
 What’s the objective?
◦ UGC?
◦ Second screen engagement?
◦ Print to digital engagement?
 Research & Discovery first.
◦ Are they fully invested in social?
◦ What’s their current brand tone?
◦ How will you measure/analyze?
◦ What will they do with responses?
 Timing is everything in multimedia campaigns.
@ldlow #Advention2016

25. A Perfect Decision Tree
@ldlow #Advention2016

26. If #hashtagjacking happens
 Do you NEED to do anything?
◦ No?
◦ Yes?
 Use rule of two.
 Don’t feed the trolls.
 Monitor with tools like NUVI
@ldlow #Advention2016

27.  Savvy marketers listen and don’t knee jerk.
 Put your customer service hat on and listen.
◦ Is the feedback:
 Meaningful
 Actionable
 Confidence under pressure comes from
understanding who you are as a brand, your “why”
and who your target audiences are.
 It’s natural to hate criticism, but don’t let it derail
you.
When It’s a Learning Opportunity
@ldlow #Advention2016

28. Tools
 PERSONAL use of social media
◦ Instagram
◦ Twitter
 Addictomatic
 SMM searches [NUVI, HSE]
 Hashtags.org [freemium]
 Ritetag.com [freemium]
 Tweetreach [premium]
@ldlow #Advention2016

30. It’s Just a Symbol
 Communication Design Element
 With Visual and Functional Implications
 Perfect for:
◦ Events
◦ Contests
 Imperfect for brand-driven:
◦ Conversations
◦ Movements
@ldlow #Advention2016

31. To # or Not To #
 Success in digital means brands
have to know who they are and
portray this identity consistently.
 The best defense is a good offense.
You wouldn’t let a client do
this.
@ldlow #Advention2016

32. Thank you!
 Questions? Comments?
 Want to know more about The Outpost? We’d love
to work with you.
 lisa.low@ttu.edu
 Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook: @ldlow
 Slideshare/LinkedIn: Lisa Du Bois Low