Social Media Marketing Magazine | News, Tips, Insights & Thought Leadership

3 Twitter Takeaways from the Oscars

Written by Amberly Dressler | Mar 3, 2014 6:00:00 AM

If the fashion and acceptance speeches weren't enough to keep viewers' attention, the 86th Academy Awards was ripe with on-camera social media shout-outs. 

In fact, when host Ellen Degeneres took a "selfie" with the likes of Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt and others, it was retweeted so many times that it disrupted service for more than 20 minutes on Twitter. Here's what your brand can learn from the star-studded, social-media friendly extravaganza. 

1. Ask and You Shall Receive

Host Ellen Degeneres's Twitter-crashing selfie was the perfect example of the power of asking for a retweet. Although we can't all set records for 2.5-plus million retweets, asking for retweets can help brands achieve a 12 times higher retweet rate

2. Empower Employees

DiGiorno Pizza had an employee live-tweeting the Oscars and because they empowered their employee to do this, they were able to contribute to the Oscar conversation in a very relevant way. 

Live on the show, Degeneres said she was ordering pizza and this is what the pizza company said:

Brands allowing an employee or employees to do the same, should make sure there are guidelines set beforehand. For example, if an employee you trust has a Tweet they are unsure about, there should be someone available to run the content by before it is posted. 

3. Give a Behind-the-Scenes Look

Did you know Wolfgang Puck catered the Oscars? Maybe. Did the average viewer? Probably not. By tweeting behind-the-scenes looks, not only was Wolfgang Puck able to share the day with their followers, but also get a retweet from The Academy who also wanted to enhance the conversation around the event.