7 Lessons from #TheVoice on how to Sync Efforts with Social Media
I have seen many attempts to link social media to a TV show but I have to say that the folks at The Voice on NBC have done an awesome job at integrating social media. They have also done it in a way that is inviting and might even serve for the follow up on the Book Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization 
I have been watching the show since the first episode. The fact that they had Cee-Lo Green on the show as a coach (as I write I am listening to @ceelogreen’s music) and I am huge fan made me sit down and watch the show. I was impressed because it was something completely different and here are a 7 reasons why I think the show links with social media perfectly:
Fresh New Style
Instead of going imitating other singing contests, they decided to switch the whole competition around into something completely different. For those of you that have not watched the show, one can clearly see how they involved the coaches and later incorporate the audience into the decision of who stays or not.
Blinding the Coaches
When you are behind a keyboard reading a blog, answering a tweet, commenting, or on a chat you can read someone’s thoughts. But in many occasions when you meet them in person they look nothing like their avatar or how you pictured them in your mind. During the first phase, the coaches just listened to the participants. The only factor that would make them turn around their chair and have a chance of that participant joining their team was if they thought the voice was awesome.
Participants got their choice of which team to join
If the participant convinced a few judges that his or her voice was awesome, then they got to choose which team they wanted to be on. Very similar to how online you have the freedom to read a certain blog or engage with certain people.
Mentors Instead of Judges
In other shows you have judges being critics with a good mix of personalities. On the Voice I can really see how the coaches have become real mentors to their teams. @BlakeShelton really stood out as a great mentor to @X3nia17 and @diaframps.
Internal Community
The mentorship model made the competition a bit more embracing amongst all participants. Every coach with the exception of Christina Aguilera, served to motivate even the participants that where not on their team. In all types of environments it is difficult to build that kind of community in such a short time.
Outside Community
Individuals like me were able to chat with some of the participants. @nakia , @X3nia17 , and Bev were my three favorites. I was able to share thoughts via twitter using the hashtag #TheVoice with individuals that were also interested in the show. I think the key link was also how many of the participants were reaching out to their audience.
Quality Content
Most of the performances were amazing. The same way I am attracted to blogs with quality content, this show was able to exceed expectations. Even last night’s performance with @ceelogreen’s and @viccimartinez performance of Love is a Battlefield, provided quality content for the entire family.
Linked to Sales
They even linked voting to direct sales of the singles that were performed during the show. I have downloaded my good mix of singles from participants (especially the final 8) and coaches. I even bought my first country song from @blakeshelton. Many social media efforts fail because they are not linked to sales; the voice did a great job at not missing out on any opportunities.
Multi-platform but Centralized
NBC used various channels to communicate; NBC Website, Facebook, Twitter, Itunes, and TV. They did a great job at making people end up on their site as the central place for everything. You could find the participant’s blogs, videos of performances, and even a voting platform.
I think many individuals who are trying to get a social media effort going can learn a lot from the folks at #TheVoice. I really think I got to know each participant and coach better. The show built enough trust with me, that I purchased their songs, made me a fan, and began spreading the word about the show.
Do you know of any other TV Show that comes close or does a better job than #TheVoice?
I don’t watch much TV so I leave it to you to teach me about the others.
Nice post! Its interesting to see how social media is being used by large companies. Very useful to learn from them and use similar strategies for smaller individual websites.
I do agree that these things can be scaleable in both ways. Thanks for the comment!