Jimmy Fallon debuted as the sixth person to host The Tonight Show last week with 11.3 million viewers, hitting the highest ratings in five years. If you are a Jay Leno fan and/or never stayed up past the midnight hour to watch Fallon, you might not have known what to expect from the new kid in this time slot. But, Fallon has a secret weapon that helped propel him into this space successfully (remember the fate of Conan O’Brien?).
In addition to his tenure on The Late Night Show, Fallon had already established himself on social media channels and his raving fans followed him. Fallon’s social media presence is extensive, and he has established his following and platform, counting over 11.5M Twitter followers, 1.17M Instagram followers, 2.0M You Tube subscribers, and 1.4M Facebook fans.
What can bank marketing professionals learn about using social media from Jimmy Fallon?
Start with strategy. The incorporation of social media and the web was an integral part of Fallon’s strategy when he hosted The Late Night Show that premiered on March 2, 2009. Fallon created a Twitter account in July 2008 and a vlog on the show’s official website, which ran snippets of comedy bits and background reports on how he was building the show.
Takeaway – A social media strategy will create a cohesive plan of action that leads to results.
Connect with Your Market. – Online interaction and its presence on The Late Night Show became crucial to its success and these tactics have now been integrated within The Tonight Show’s marketing and content development. Fallon’s ability to connect with his fans is unrivaled. He asks for their input in creating show content and engages with them using Twitter in a segment called Late Night Hashtags.
Takeaway – Your customer is web and social savvy and expects to communicate with you using these channels. Find ways to engage them with your product, services and organization to help build trust and create relationships with your customers.
Be authentic. Have personality. Tell your story. – Fallon has published a Welcome video and created the Ask Jimmy segments which are driven from his Tumblr account. His name and personality are emeshed in every aspect of his work. He kicked off his first Tonight Show monologue by”telling his story” to the audience. He immediately created a bond with the audience by being relatable and approachable.
Takeaway – No one wants to communicate with an organization. Identify the culture and personality of your organization and let that show throughout your social media content and engagement. Find a way to incorporate your institution’s people in your content so your customer knows there are people behind the story.
Engage and respond. – As mentioned above, Fallon regularly interacts with his fans on Twitter and during his Ask Jimmy segments which are recorded and placed on all his social media channels. He has a team to help him do this, and even introduces them on his Tumblr site.
Takeaway – There is nothing worse then going to a social media site and the posts talk “at” people and/or they never respond to comments. It may take a team to create, monitor and respond to social media communication. A process or system should be in place to track and respond appropriately to all social media interactions.
How can you incorporate some of these tactics in your brand’s social media presence?
