As we have seen in class, new social media channels have helped companies increase their online presence by focusing on the “Earned and Owned” marketing, spending less money on billboards and printed advertising. Is it not enough to throw money at a project to make it successful: in order for Earned media to fully work it has to become a true word of mouth around a meaningful and engaging subject. However, as there are thousands and thousands of messages out on Twitter and Facebook being generated everyday it becomes harder for one message to stand out. Thunderclap has created a new way of spreading those messages, as long as they are good and wise words. This is where non-profit businesses can benefit from their service, by getting help from such program to intensify their message.
Thunderclap uses your Facebook and Twitter account to create a strong and loud message by posting it at a specific time at a specific date. People will just have to RSVP on a companies’s “event message” by giving Thunderclap the authorization to create a post on their behalf on a certain date. By sending out all their messages at the same time, the campaign will have the chance to stand out. This is called crowd-speaking, and it allows companies to send their message through their fans and actually see it result into something big, unlike most of the time when it simply gets stuck somewhere no one but your close friends will see. Thunderclap helps brands to align their ideas with a good cause without the fear of failure.
A great example was how UNICEF has created a Thunderclap for the International Day of the Girl which addresses the issue that still today millions of girls don’t have the chance to get education. On October 11 UNICEF promoted girl rights and the importance of continuing this fight for gender equality around the globe. With the use of hashtags people could follow the conversation online. It created a sense of community and brought much more awareness than a simple Facebook ad on the right side of your home screen would have. Today, Thunderclap has been used by the White House and celebrities like Beyonce and Lady Gaga to help their good message have a stronger impact and be heard louder. Forbes has said it is the “future of social empowerment”, we will have to see up to where it can go.
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