What Social Media Marketers can learn from #TheDress

Over the past few days we have seen serious debate on the internet over what colour a dress is. Bizzare right?

A badly lit photograph has spawned the internet generating arguments, memes and even scientific explanations!

The image of the dress was found from a blogger who goes by the name of ‘Swiked’ on Tumblr, who started the argument between a group of friends when they couldn’t agree if the dress was white and gold or blue and black.

The debate has puzzled thousands of us that as a result the news has widespread and even celebrities have started tweeting about this photo which now goes by the name of #TheDress

But what can Social Media Marketers learn from this viral topic?

In 3 days. #TheDress has been tweeted more than 500,000 times!

...and between 5pm and 9pm, tweets were estimated to reach 130,000 per hour!

Online Retailer ASOS was retweeted 36 times, Gambling shop Paddy Power used humour and received 65 retweets, Manchester United Football club referred to their kit and received 3.2k retweets.

Here are some example of how brands have used the trending hashtag #TheDress for their online marketing…

For any brand, it is a good idea to relate your products/services to trending topics and expand your content to a wider audience. After all, 70% of consumers are motivated to explore new content when hashtags are present.

Not only do trending hashtags expand your content to a wider audience beyond your followers, they also amplify your brand, target your market, get your content found and help improve SEO.

Trending hashtags can come and go, so it’s essential marketers react quickly and engage with users interested in this particular topic. Think of it as a way to get 15 seconds of fame!

Some key analytical tools to help with measuring trends are:

Hashtags.org

Topsy.com

Trendmap.com

If #TheDress has gone global, why not reach out to a wider audience by adding the hash tag to your social media strategy in real time?