Solar Eclipse of Social Media

August 22, 2017

Ahh, the Solar Eclipse. Some of us were mesmerized by its beauty while others simply did not care or were disappointed after all the hype. Regardless if you thought the hype was too much or not, that is what drew attention to yesterday’s scientific phenomenon and to the brands promoting it.

Of course every brand wants to hop on the real-time marketing, trending hashtag train – trust me I get it! But for instances like yesterday, only a few brands really have a reason or purpose to support on social media (aside from posting pictures of employees watching - guilty of that one...)

Below are three brands that shined bright yesterday, even when the sun was completely covered by the moon.

NASA

Thankfully, NASA nailed social coverage of the Solar Eclipse.

I say thankfully as a social media marketer and as a normal human being. Those who couldn’t step outside, or weren’t in the path of the eclipse, were able to view an all-day play-by-play on NASA’s Facebook. The team at NASA utilized Facebook Live beautifully and kept many users engaged throughout the entire day.

Alongside Facebook, Nasa's Twitter account pumped out amazing content as well. Their tweets were scientific, smart, but also FUN. The main NASA account partnered with NASA Moon and NASA Sun & Space to come up with this gem of a post:

What made NASA so successful, though? Aside from facts, live coverage and cheeky posts, this wasn't just a one day event for them. They put their event marketing skills to work on social media by promoting the Solar Eclipse before, during and after (a lot of promotions today!)

Great job, NASA, way to hype up the Solar Eclipse!

General Electric

GE is a powerhouse on social media, so it is no surprise that they knew what they were doing yesterday.

While GE is no NASA when it comes to Solar Eclipse expertise, they are experts in the solar energy space. Showcasing this expertise is the route they took on social and it was definitely a good route to take.

Twitter was the obvious platform to use yesterday with the trending #SolarEclipse2017 hashtag, but GE also used another platform...LinkedIn. And not just their main company page, their GE Power Showcase Page.

To whoever just rolled their eyes from GE using a showcase page for a major event - take it back! With over 550k followers, interested in Power/Energy, this was the best page to utilize.

Great job, General Electric, you hyped up the Solar Eclipse in places some people may never have thought of!

MoonPie

The MoonPie Twitter account 100% wins for Solar Eclipse promotions. But why?

Pre-event promotions were fun and engaging, but at 9:29AM ET yesterday, MoonPie sent out a Quote Tweet that will be spoken about until the next Solar Eclipse, and beyond.

Imma let you finish, Hostess, but MoonPie is the greatest eclipse snack of all time. TALK ABOUT CLAPBACK, am I right?! No fancy messaging, no fancy images, just two words to take back their official title. **ALSO, it is important to note that yesterday, MoonPie was not Twitter verified, but take a look at them now.**

Poor Hostess, (but not really) they did try to make up with MoonPie. Nice try...