Robin Hood Society — How to Capitalize on Your 15 minutes of Internet Fame
Be prepared. You never know when you might get mistaken for the big story of the day and unexpectedly go viral.
There you are an organization toiling away in relative obscurity when a big story breaks about another organization with a similar name. Suddenly your Twitter account is blowing up. Are you prepared to handle it?
This is where the World Wide Robin Hood Society found itself this week after the Robin Hood App catapulted into notoriety for its role in the GameStop/Redditt story. For more about Robin Hood’s role check out Steve LeVine’s How Robinhood Went From Hero to Villain in 48 Hours.
Many people turned to @robinhood on Twitter to air their strong feelings. The only problem is the @robinhood account is run by the Robin Hood Society not the Robin Hood App whose handle is @robinhoodapp.
What happens next is a master class in how to handle sudden unexpected attention and harness it to grow your brand awareness and reach. There are many lessons about what to do when you find yourself in the spotlight and how to position yourself to be ready to catch a wave and ride it for all its worth.
Own the name
The Robin Hood Society was well-positioned because it owned the @robinhood handle. Never underestimate the value of the right name at the right time.
Strike the right tone
The Robin Hood Twitter account began the day on Thursday, Feb. 28 with under 400 followers. By Friday morning they had over 40,000.
Their first tweet after realizing what was happening set the tone for all the tweets that followed. “Lovely to have all these new followers .. can we just check that you know that you’re following The World Wide Robin Hood Society in Nottingham and not the Robin Hood App .. if so .. a big welcome from Sherwood”
There is not a hint of anger, frustration, or being overwhelmed. Even more importantly those who made…
