Break the rules of traditional social media campaigns to get noticed

It's no secret that social media marketing thrives on producing eye-catching content designed specifically with the audience in mind. Unfortunately, as a result we tend to see marketers following established patterns when it comes to putting campaigns together which can mean that we set an expectation with our audiences for what marketing for different industries should look and feel like. True social media marketers are always looking for a way to be different, to stand-out in an incredibly crowded marketplace and to be heard above the noise. It's what's been dubbed the 'battle for eyeballs' as audience attention becomes a currency for those of us who use social media for business. So here at Socially-M we're always looking for something different, something that's truly fresh and we applaud those that dare to stand out or break with tradition to deliver truly spectacular campaign results.

Like us you're probably familiar with the formula for how movies are traditionally marketed, with studio announcements, press releases, tweets from the actors involved, the appointment of a director or writers, first glimpse posters in cinemas and movie theatres, all the way through to teaser trailers, movie trailers, social media campaigns, press tours and finally the premiere and red carpet interviews. The movie business thrives on building expectation, hype and making audiences hungry for a movie long before the actors have even stepped on set and run through their lines. In fact, how many times have you heard the expression "this year's most anticipated movie release"? It's a phrase that's attributed to almost every film these days, because it makes you believe that if it truly is that 'anticipated' then you definitely don't want to miss it. So with such an established model for how to market a movie, would anyone dare to break with tradition or do something radically different?

Last night, cinema-goers who sat down to watch Michael Bay’s 13 Hours were treated with a rather unexpected trailer for a film that no one really saw coming. The film in question, directed by Dan Trachtenberg (Portal: No Escape) and code-named Valencia, has been in the works for a while now starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr. and that’s pretty much all anyone knew about it. Now Paramount has released the official trailer, which you can view below. There's been no hype, no rumours and no tell-tale tweets or snippets from the actors themselves. Produced by J.J. Abrams and his company Bad Robot Productions, we're led to believe that the movie is some sort of sequel or 'blood-relative' as Abrams calls it, to the 2008 movie Cloverfield which followed the efforts of a group of New York party-goers as they try to navigate their way across the city after dark and an apparent alien-slash-monster attack.

Not much can be gleaned from the first look of 10 Cloverfield Lane in how it exactly relates to the original film, perhaps it's the aftermath of the attack or perhaps the events of the movie run con-currently to those of the 2008 movie? Which is exactly why we love the way it's been released completely under the radar and under the noses of an unsuspecting audience. The response to the trailer on social media has been amazing, it's featured in major tabloids and publications overnight. It's effectively turned an online audience of movie-lovers into it's own marketing and press machine, which is an exceptional feat by any marketers standards. Normally when the first trailer for a film drops we often have months, if not years, to wait and see what it’s all about. Thankfully, having kept so much of the film under wraps for so long we need only wait till the beginning of March 2016 when it’s released.

Surprise things like this happen so rarely in this day and age that we already love 10 Cloverfield Lane for catching us off guard. So if your business uses social media and you know there's already an established pattern or expectation to how you build a campaign online, why not start thinking about alternative approaches? A pleasant surprise engages and stimulates an audience far more than the usual pattern or tired old advertising that they're used to. We love this approach and we love originality, just like your audience will.

Start thinking less-traditionally, keep your audience guessing, they won't expect the unexpected so you can start delivering world-class social media that nobody even saw coming!