Social Media Marketing Tactics Help A&E's Duck Dynasty

The cable network A&E has assembled a staff of marketing people to promote their hit reality show, Duck Dynasty. Promoting a cable TV show is nothing new, but the way it is marketed is something that is new to the 21st century. Social media has proven to be effective for Duck Dynasty, especially Twitter. I saw a story on OMG/Insider about this marketing team tweeting in real time while the show was airing. One good thing about this is that people are watching it live if they want to participate online. That is becoming more and more important since many people are time shifting their viewing habits, watching shows via DVR, skipping through commercials. Networks want people to watch when the show is live so they can see the commercials as they air. This real time marketing strategy has helped Duck Dynasty to be a runaway hit, with 6.5 million viewers watching last season's finale. The A&E staff rewards viewers who use the various hash tags used on the show. The goal is to get Duck Dynasty as one of the trending topics on Twitter, signifying plenty of online chatter. Humorous pictures with captions, or memes, are tweeted and the number of likes on the Facebook page are tracked to gauge the effectiveness of social media efforts. The above picture shows a screen from a contest where viewers need to follow the Duck Dynasty cast on Twitter. When they see a Duck Dynasty member tweet the hashtag #QUACK, then they need to tweet #DUCK to win. It's interesting how social media has opened up a whole new world when it comes to marketing. Check out this article for more information: http://adage.com/article/media/inside-social-response-lab-a-e-s-duck-dynasty/240073/