Whether you are in agreement or not with the New Yorker Magazine cover that prompted a national conversation using the hashtag #TheEmptyChair campaign, you cannot disagree that the use of traditional media plus online media and social platforms drove the success of the public relations outreach. This example demonstrates how imagery with social media efforts delivered more impact than daily news reports could.
So how does this story impact your business? For starters they did not rely heavily on copy as the picture encapsulated the story (look at all those women). The image’s impact created a social media frenzy and the hashtags #theemptychair was featured prominently from #facebook to #pinterest, #tumblr and #instagram. Beyond that the story spread throughout the network of their fans, friends and contacts and then was picked up by bloggers (like me), newspapers, magazines and social media curation sites. By adding hashtags# the stories spread even further by connecting the topic and then connecting this story with the topic of sexual assault which was already in the news due to the out of hand number of assaults on campuses in America.
So it started with an image and then led to a hashtag #theemptychair and that connected all social media and online posts to the other conversations, including the publication and other social media accounts. Followers could then retweet, repost and share what impacted them most about the story and their network of friends and contacts would be exposed to the story.
Then if you visit that conversation (in this case #theemptychair) you will find all the conversations that reference that hashtag or images for it — all in one place, and you can also check it out on search engines to see images, stories, content that were offshoots of the original story. As a follower or viewer you can choose to keep in the loop and see where the 
conversation goes. Along the way if you comment or post, your logo, comment and other images are referenced so that people following that conversation can connect with people who share their ideas (thus expanding your reach and area of influence).
So suppose you own a gardening business and you want to tap into a trending hashtag and or conversation on drought resistant plants. You can search twitter or google and grab those stories that are trending for that topic and you can include or insert your company into that conversation by retweeting or reposting the hashtags and social media feeds and then commenting some gardening solutions and offer folks to see some drought resistant solutions you have installed and a suggestion they get your gardening newsletter monthly or follow your feed on #pinterest, #twitter, #tumblr, #facebook or #instagram.
By media mixing, social media expands your reach and sometimes it can start a conversation and provide a beacon on how to follow that conversation. In addition people can message you to find out more about whatever peaked their curiosity or add their private conversation to the platform with just the owner of the hashtag or the page for the platform. You can choose to continue to broadcast your message to your contacts or you can expand your area of influence by connecting with others outside your contacts using tools like those used in this example.
Author Liz Harsch is a marketing consultant, Email Marketer and Authorized Local Expert presenting Workshops for Constant Contact, SCORE, SBDC, Metropolitan Water District, multiple Chambers of Commerce, The City of Los Angeles and other Organizations. If you are interested in getting help for your marketing plan or your marketing projects, Email us at tmade.mkt@verizon.net.
For more information about Liz or Tailor-Made Advertising, visit them online at tailormadeadvertising.com. Or sign up to get her monthly tips for small business owners and management. To schedule Liz Harsch as a speaker on Traditional and Online Marketing, Social Media, Analytics or Email Marketing for your organization, Email beth@adteamla.com or contact us at 310-791-6300.
