#Fantographer: Advertising With Your Followers

Social media has already massively dispersed the reach of major brands in recent years. Now a trend toward user-generated content is putting on display even more of social media’s advertising muscle by placing more of the creative burden on consumers themselves. Major companies like Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, and Applebee’s have launched initiatives which have fans submit ideas, photos, or videos of a certain kind – and the companies only have to pick the best. It’s a low-cost path to great content.

Frito-Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor” campaign had users submit their best flavor idea for a new Lays chip, and the community voted. It was hugely successful, and “from July to October 2012, 3.8 million people across 14 countries submitted their flavor creations through a Facebook app.”

Coca-Cola aired this video on teen-focused channels. The unique thing about this video is that it is comprised entirely of fan videos. Coca-Cola chose the best clips, submitted by fans from around the world.

In July, Applebee’s launched an Instagram campaign encouraging users to share their dishes when they eat at Applebee’s, with Applebee’s selected the choicest fan pictures and shared them on its company Instagram feed. The results have been considerable. “Since the campaign’s launch, Applebee’s has gained 4,500 new followers, up 32 percent to 19,750; engagement rose 25 percent.”

And it isn’t as though companies have to overcome resistance trying to engage fans in this way. As Adweek noted, “Tweets tagged with #Fantographer have appeared in 78 million users’ timelines.” People participate because it’s fun. Being a #fantographer is fun.

This form of content generation is an obvious home run. It is, after all, an effective way of surveying your fans to find out what they like, but doing so in a way which they find enjoyable instead of burdensome. (My husband and I spent an afternoon tossing around flavor ideas when we heard about Lays’ competition.) On top of that, those who participate are being advertised to while creating advertising for your company, since they’re spending time thinking about your brand. Finally, it gives your team access to a giant brainstorm at little cost to you.

User participation has been one of the major themes of Web 2.0 for years. Now, with campaigns like Coca-Cola’s, Lay’s, and Applebee’s, we’re seeing the massive energy of the online community harnessed to power their advertising. So here’s to the online follower; here’s to the brand advocate; here’s to the #fantographer.