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| Fox Sports originally called it “The Dumbest Twitter Feud of All Time,” but hockey fans and marketers across the country have been chuckling quietly ever since the New York Rangers began their last-minute Twitter trend for the 2015 NHL playoffs: to promote their match-up against the Washington Capitals in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Rangers’ Twitter feed has been void of all capital letters.No Caps — Capitals — get it?
ESPN dubbed the move “trolling,” but it’s a pretty interesting technique to incorporate. The Rangers’ Twitter feed is still grammatically correct, has perfect spelling, and reports correct stats from the games. It might also just be an Internet search engine play. But every word — down to the team’s official name on its Twitter account — is written entirely without caps. After the Rangers subtly began Tweeting in lowercase letters, the team’s fans soon picked up on the trend and began sending out their own lowercase Tweets in support. The move might be a little cheesy, and perhaps a little grating for any grammar nerds, but it certainly is one of the most unique ways that an organization has used Twitter for a subtle and effective marketing campaign. Moreover, it shows just how well the social media platform is operating, despite recent reports. Those reports, about Twitter’s financial stability, have recently caused investors to do a double-take before agreeing to any advertising, as the New York Times has noted, but it appears that this roadbump may not affect content marketing campaigns — even informal ones, like what the Rangers have created — as much as the numbers suggest. The Times has stated that Twitter is failing to attract new users and that its most recent revenue has been substantially lower than expected, causing Twitter stock shares to drop immediately after the news was announced. But with 302 million people now using the website at least once a month (which is up from 288 million in December 2014), the exposure that Twitter presents is simply too good to turn down. Even B2B marketers have begun using Twitter for content campaigns because studies have found that Twitter alone is capable of generating twice as many leads. Perhaps Twitter may not be growing as quickly as investors would like, but it’s still incredibly effective for simple marketing strategies, especially when other Twitter users can join in. For anyone wondering, the Washington Caps have not responded with their own all-caps tweets. As the New York Postexplains, “All-caps tweeting is a faux pas.” |
