If you were anywhere around a television, radio, computer, smartphone, or even a person in July 2013, chances are you heard the buzz about the impending birth of the Royal Baby. While this was an event that directly affected the people of England, the volume of conversation stateside was immense. On July 22, 2013, the day the baby was born, reports estimated over 2.7 million tweets were sent as well as over 3.5 mentions on Facebook with the hashtag #RoyalBaby. Why were Americans getting so excited over the birth of a child, one born into wealth and good fortune, in another continent? There are thousands of babies born every day, and some of them are born without having both parents present, because one is away serving their country and protecting its citizens. America’s Navy seamlessly joined the conversation about the Royal birth, but injecting the following thought: Is a Sailor meeting his newborn for the first time as important as a royal baby?The Royal Baby birth and America’s Navy don’t really have much connection on the surface, or even below the surface. And that’s what makes our response that much better. It took a strong understanding of our page’s audience (Sailors, their spouses, family and supporters, and future Sailors), the content they have enjoyed and interacted with in the past, and utilizing real-world events as a vehicle to deliver the message. It wasn’t just the response we got in terms of the total number of likes, comments and shares, but what it engendered in the fan base that made it special. In the comments on the photo, you saw family members sharing their own personal stories, photos, congratulations and thanks to Sailors and all that they do. The best responses to a major event or cultural phenomenon transform the event into something that connects so deeply with your own fan base. We effectively took an event that happened in another time zone and on another continent and made it relevant to the most important part of our fans’ lives: their family. It’s one thing to get a ton of retweets, but it’s a completely different, and much more meaningful thing, to provoke such a powerful and emotional response. Our case by the numbers: • Likes: 246% increase on the post versus month’s average for page • Shares: 397% increase • Comments: 273% increase • People Reached: 170% increase • Engagement Rate: 3 percentage point increase • Impressions: 46% increase • Engaged Users: 277% increase • 98% positive sentiment on post • 70 mentions of “more important" • Post virality of 9.92% (as a reference, 1.92% is the average for pages)
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