2014 Winter Olympics Roundup: How to Do Social like Sochi

Dallas, TX / Feb 24, 2014 / (http://www.myprgenie.com/ via ACCESSWIRE / Within the first 10 days of the 2014 Winter Olympics, there were more than 10 million mentions across social media, according to uberVU.
  
"Twitter really brought attention to events in Sochi that normally wouldn't have gained attention through traditional news outlets," says Bernard Perrine, HipLogiq co-founder and CEO.
 
Through trending topics and viral content, social media connected viewers, journalists, Olympians and brands to the Olympic experience in unique, memorable ways. Below, HipLogiq offers Olympic social media lessons learned that businesses can incorporate into their daily social media efforts.

Lesson 1: Trending Topics and Reputation Management
Before the games even began, the parody account @SochiProblems was created to document the many difficulties journalists and athletes were having with accommodations in the Russian city and became an instant success. @SochiProblems even has nearly 70,000 more followers than the 2014 Winter Olympics official, verified Twitter account, @Sochi2014. 

The #SochiProblems topic gained wide exposure and showed just how quickly consumer complaints can be communicated via social media. While most businesses wouldn't see this kind of volume, it emphasizes how important it is to quickly and efficiently participate in online reputation management. 

One brand that smartly took advantage of #SochiProblems was Clorox, who responded to a tweet about double toilets in a single bathroom with appropriate humor about a double headed toilet wand.

Clorox's tweet is a prime example of a brand leveraging a trending topic, making them a part of the social conversation and gaining exposure.

Lesson 2: Real-Time Results and Twitter
NBC received a lot of negative attention because of their delayed broadcasting of Olympic events. Through Twitter, viewers were able to find out event results and important details in real time. This example of sharing time-sensitive information triggers the need for a discussion about how traditional news outlets will be able to compete with social media.

One way businesses can take advantage of Twitter is to use real-time communication opportunities with potential customers. Just like Olympic results were tweeted instantly, potential customers also express their needs relating to a certain industry, or even mentioning a business directly. A gold medal social media strategy is for businesses to listen for tweets relevant to their product or service and engage immediately to participate in online conversations as they are happening. 

Lesson 3: Olympians Going Viral
There's no exact formula for creating content that is guaranteed to go viral. It's difficult for most businesses to publish something that is going to be seen by millions of people across the nation, but there is a way to create "clickable" content. What's important is recognizing opportunities to provide content people will find entertaining and be compelled to share across social media. 

When bobsledder Johnny Quinn tweeted about busting out of his Sochi hotel bathroom, the hashtag #quinning quickly spread across the Internet.

One of the main reasons this hashtag became so popular was people were able to easily participate in this trend by posting their own examples of #quinning.

Another example of an Olympian going viral was when United States figure skater Ashley Wagner expressed disappointment with her scores, and her "losing face" was instantly dubbed the 2014 Olympics' first meme. Wagner's meme-worthy expression spread across the Internet, inspiring a variety of humorous content. Brands can learn a lesson from the rate at which the meme went viral by incorporating entertainment and humor into their own content and inspiring customers to interact. 

About HipLogiq
HipLogiq began in October 2012 as Social Compass, an enterprise solution for social media marketing, now with a white label solution for companies and agencies that want to brand the tool. Co-founders Lindsey Madison, Adam Root and Bernard Perrine designed the patented technology to help companies target and engage customers over social media in a meaningful, results-driven way. To date, the applications boast an unprecedented conversion rate of 34 percent or higher, based on the number of downloaded discounts per campaign. 

SocialCentiv - launched in March 2013 - works similarly for small to medium businesses, but with a web-based, do-it-yourself solution. During the design of SocialCentiv, leadership decided it was time to evolve the company into an idea factory that produces the most innovative, successful applications in their market space. As a result, HipLogiq also launched in March 2013 and has received $12M in two rounds of funding since May. For more information, go to www.hiplogiq.com or visit them on Facebook or Twitter. 

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