On Thursday I talked about a one day movement called “Bum Rush the Charts”. This movement was an example of a failed social media marketing campaign. What exactly happened? Bum Rush the Charts did not reach out to the proper people who could make the movement a success. If you want to succeed at social media marketing, then you need to create a significant amount of buzz. Prior to the Bum Rush the Charts day, there was practically no buzz. As the Alexa chart illustrates, there was very little site traffic prior to the day of the Bum Rush. While the traffic wasn’t groundbreaking, it was fairly significant on the day of the event (over 17,000 visitors), so something else must have prevented the movement from being a success.

Simply put, the creators of the movement underestimated the sales volume of itunes. With Bum Rush the Charts obtaining close to 18,000 visitors on the day of the event, I would guess that they sold no more than 10,000 units. I had to work hard to convince friends of mine to purchase the song, and it was only 99 cents! Bottom line, the marketing was not done properly. No A-list bloggers covered the event, there was some press coverage but not enough, and apparently 99 cents was a fairly significant hurdle for some people.

Is it possible for a campaign like this to be a success? Yes, but it takes a concerted effort and an amalgam of marketing channels. I have been inspired by the challenge, and am working on putting something together to make a movement that succeeds. If you have any suggestions please let me know!