Unless you have been living in a soundproof cave for the past few weeks, you are probably well aware that Wednesday was what I like to call another “Stevenote,” or an Apple product launch keynote. There has been tons of hype growing in the interwebs over the last month or so about whether or not Apple will be launching a tablet, what the features will be, pricing, availability, etc. Below, we’ve taken a a closer look at the hype and how the rumors have resonated on Twitter, YouTube and blogs over the last 30 days. According to data provided by Sysomos, for example, Twitter users sent more than half a million messages – with an average of 6,545 tweets per hour – with both words apple and tablet in them.
Blogs
Sysomos also found almost 50,000 blogs posts. The post that resonated the most in the blogosphere, according to Sysomos’ data, was yesterday’s article on the Guardian’s Technology blog about Terry McGraw leaking information about the tablet on CNBC.
YouTube
In the last 30 days, YouTube users also posted over 5,391 YouTube videos that used the words Apple and tablet. The most popular one was a roundup of tablet rumors from TechnoBuffalo that currently has about 700,000 views.
Sentiment
Overall, the blogosphere’s reaction to the Apple tablet rumors has been extremely positive. Over 81% of all the tweets and blog posts in the past 30 days were positive about the tablet.
What Does This Mean?
Whether it’s a trip to see the summer blockbuster at the movie theater, a Super Bowl party, a youth group trip or even just a youth night, people more times than not respond to the hype not only with extreme interest, but also with their checkbooks. Plus, when you take into consideration the ever-stretched under-funded budgets of youth ministry, hype more times than not costs little to nothing, but can often times have a greater return than any type of true marketing.
Hype is a form of buzz marketing. Hyping a product, service, event, etc. pre-launch creates buzz which also creates curiosity and expectations. Hopefully your followers can write things on Facebook, send out Tweets, talk about it to their friends, and even more. Before you know it the word gets out to multiple people all hearing how great this product, service, event, etc. is, or is expected to be. This gets them excited and they can hardly wait to experience it.
With hype can also come backlash, it often over-inflates expectations. For example if you as a youth minister tell your teens about this great breakfast place you found around town. Over time, you keep telling them it was the best place you had ever been to and that you wanted to organize a group to go and experience its deliciousness. You are in effect building hype and a preconceived notion in your teens minds of this wonderful place that was going to be unlike anything they had ever experienced. Well, often more times than not after you take your group, some of them are going to be let down. It’s not that this place wasn’t any good, it just didn’t meet the expectations that they had set in their own mind based on your hype.
Creating Hype in Your Ministry
So how can I create hype in my ministry? Well, luckily for you, new technologies are changing the way that we can hype products, services, events, etc. and how we can connect with those to whom we minister. From running promotions on Facebook, holding a photo contest or something on Flickr, releasing videos on Youtube, to more, the possibilities are endless.
Whatever you do to create hype around your product service or event, remember and utilize these keys:
- Leak small details
- Give sneak-peaks
- Create marketing pieces that are still vague, yet help promote your event such as a logo to be used on downloadable Wallpapers and Icons, etc.
The overall key to generating hype is to give small bits of information over a period of time. You want to “wet their chops” per say and keep them coming back for more. You want them to yearn to know what it is. The emphasis needs to be on releasing details about whatever it is you’re hyping over time.
