Web series ‘The Social Experiment’ launches; gives creatives the inside track on Snapchat

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IMG_1436[1][2].jpgSnapchat is the next big opportunity in social, but most brands and creatives are not quite sure how to turn a profit through the platform. A new online, reality style web TV series called ‘The Social Experiment’ follows one man’s exploration into social media and, in doing so, provides creatives and agency execs useful tips on how to create social content that actually turns a profit.

 

‘The Social Experiment’ follows the journey of a company that has always been “crap at social media”, but then makes millions of dollars in a few short months by pumping out useful social content.

 

By following the experiences of consultant Kerwin Rae, the series offers businesses a ‘how to’ guide to succeeding at social, and delves into how businesses can profit from social channels like Snapchat. The solution, in short, is feeding audiences large quantities of useful content that has no sales message whatsoever.

The series acts as a useful guide for creative and digital agencies, and could be particularly useful for any creatives who have been in the industry for a long time, and who feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of new social channels like Snapchat.

 

At the beginning of 2016, Rae generated almost no content at all for his social channels, “except for the odd inspirational quote”. However, in early 2016, he made the decision to create an online documentary called ‘The Social Experiment’, which followed his attempts to “really push the limits of this social media thing”.

 

The short episodes follow Rae’s journey as he turns his business into a content machine, creating large amounts of interesting content across Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. One thing his experiences have taught him is that Snapchat is the next major opportunity for businesses; but most brands don’t really know how to use it, with only 1% of businesses using the platform.

 

By simply pushing useful video content across Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram, his business has been able to make considerable profits. The series picks apart how he did it, so that brands and agencies can follow the same path.

 

The most interesting part of the story is that none of the content Rae pushed out had the traditional “Calls To Action” or sales messages associated with most advertising, or asked for anything at all from consumers (except a request to share or like the content). He was simply giving audiences high value content to consume. “The key is to give, give, give, before you ask for anything.”

 

So how did he turn content with no commercial message into millions?

Answers Rae: “It’s called the mere exposure effect. The more exposure a person gets to a brand, the more familiar they become with that brand, the more trust they develop towards the brand, and this leads to a stronger likelihood that they will engage and buy your product.”

 

The “value” that Rae gave his audience is a range of business insights, as well as the interesting storyline that is delivered through ‘The Social Experiment’ reality style web TV series.

 

Says Rae: “Through social channels like Facebook, I can see who is consuming this content, and I can put large amounts of new and valuable material in front of the same audience again and again. Only then, after I know they have a familiarity with my brand, do I serve them a promotional message, asking them to register for a free event or download something, which leads to a sales conversation.”

 

In four months, Rae has been able to make $2 million through Facebook, $100,000 through Snapchat and $40,000 through Instagram.

 

See all the Kerwin Rae content here.