Only 4 days ago on February 19th, Jason Aldean tweeted a picture that would ultimately change the music industry's entire approach to social media. In honor of the weekly Twitter trend #ThrowbackThursday (even though the tweet was sent on Tuesday) and his newest single "1994," Aldean posted a photo (shown below) of himself dating back to his early years in 1994. Along with the candid shot, Aldean included the caption, "OK, guys: THIS is what I looked like in #1994. REAL cool, huh?" Aldean's highly anticipated song "1994" is a tribute to many popular artists and smash hits from the 90s country era.
What Aldean did not expect, was for his one, photo-embedded tweet to trigger a viral "Twitter epidemic" of fellow country artists and fans tweeting their favorite 90s pose to his Twitter page. Country artists such as Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Kix Brooks, Tim McGraw and Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott all joined in on Aldean's "Throwback" fun. Today, nearly 4 days later, Aldean is still receiving tweets and 90s poses by the droves.
This example alone demonstrates the significant impact that strategic social media efforts can have upon fan loyalty, as well as record and concert sales. Now, thanks to one, single tweet that took only minutes to compose, millions of people all across the nation will be scrambling to get their hands, or keyboards, on a copy of Aldean's latest album, "Night Train." Hats off to Aldean and his genius PR team for this brilliant example of social media promotion!
Similar to Aldean, Carrie Underwood has also taken it upon herself to start a "social media revolution" with mere photos as well. Instead of using the popular Twitter platform, Mrs. Underwood has decided to be a "game changer" within the music industry and begin using the hot, new photo editing and publishing app, Instagram. Since joining on February 14th, Underwood has already racked up more than 52,000 followers on the photo sharing platform.
While Underwood has only committed to following a mere six people herself, including Oprah and Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott, she has, however, fully committed to regularly uploading pictures and, as a result, giving the public a "little glimpse" into her personal life. Underwood has already photo documented her lunch (a veggie burger, of course), her dog and a highly popular picture of her backstage, wearing an oxygen mask (apparently necessary in the case of high altitudes). Sheesh, talk about getting personal! Apparently Underwood's fans are also oxygen mask fans, because that picture alone garnered more than 10,000 likes within the span of one day. I might even sport an oxygen mask if I thought I would get that much attention! Way to be social, Carrie!
The Academy of Country Music (ACM Awards) has also recently joined the social media revolution that is spreading like wildfire within the music and recording industry. In a news release earlier this month, the ACM's announced that they would be introducing a new type of award presenter this year called the "fannouncer." The "fannouncer" (coined by a CMT writer) is selected from among self-submitted videos of fans announcing their picks for this year's "Entertainer of the Year" award.
If you happen to choose the correct winner of the 2013 "Entertainer of the Year" award (which is based on fan votes), you and your video could have a chance to be featured live on the 48th Annual Academy of Country Music awards! For more information regarding the contest and video submissions, please visit CMT's website.
Thanks for tuning in to this edition of "Country Goes Social!" Leave me a comment and let me know if you have any other excellent examples that you would like to see featured within the next edition of "Country Goes Social."
