I cannot let this week go away without sharing my new favorite OBSESSION.  Yes, folks I am talking about @BronxZoosCobra.  I tend to be a little leery of the latest Social Media fad because they come and go so quickly.  But there was something about this snake that really drew me in.  In a short amount of time, this snake went from a local NYC issue to the newest, hottest and most infamous star coming out of the Northeast – and that is saying something, they have Snooki up there.  As I write this, I am happy that the Cobra was safely found and returned to her habitat, but am saddened that I won’t see any more tweets from her like this and this.

Personal entertainment aside, there is something we can learn from the tweets behind the snake and as a digital marketer I am incredibly impressed.  Ms.Cobra set Twitter records gaining 60,000 followers in the first day, growing to 100,000 the second day and finishing off at over 200,000 followers.  Twitter was the perfect platform to tap into the awareness of the loose snake and give it a personality.  I always stress that social success works if you are genuine and authentic.  Corporate speak fails on Twitter.  The snake’s tweets were entertaining, no agenda to push and no sales undertone. While we all knew about the Cobra, someone did an incredible job of giving her a personality and making her real.  They made the best use of conversation that is at the heart of any social platform’s success.  They were witty, funny and smart – which encourages the mighty Retweet (RT), which can help to drive fast growth of followers.

They were also able to take a local news story (as “local” as NYC is) and tweet about locations that were familiar to all of us and not just a small niche. I  have to wonder if NYC Tourism had something behind the tweets and soon we will all be able to take the “Cobra” Tour on our next trip to the big apple.  While zoo keepers and residents of the Bronx were wondering where the snake is, her twitter following was enjoying every morsel of her big adventure.  The well written tweets made the Cobra relatable – human in fact.

At Vco, we are always asked by brands and marketers, should we be on Twitter?  I always believe that you should use a medium by leveraging the strength of its capabilities to satisfy your goals.  While, Ms. Cobra did not have marketing objectives, she did leverage Twitter to its fullest.  She entertained.  She tapped into a national news story and gave it human emotion.  She had fun and did not try to push an obvious agenda.  She became viral.

So bravo @BronxZoosCobra!!  On your next adventure, how about some celebrity sightings in the Hamptons?

-Beth