The Success Behind Disney’s #ShareYourEars Campaign
The social media industry has become increasingly competitive as brands have to come up with exciting and yet new ideas over time. There have been many instances where brands have created remarkable social media campaigns that have completely changed the use of social media as we know it. One of these instances was Disney’s #ShareYourEars campaign. But what made it particularly magical? Was it the name of the brand or the creativity behind the campaign? Let’s dive in and talk about it!
About Disney’s #ShareYourEars
According to the 10 Most Effective Social Media Campaigns of All Time article by Tiffany Wang, the #ShareYourEars campaign was created in 2018, wrapping up Disney’s third year in a row partnering with the Make-A-Wish foundation. The campaign allowed for people to share their Mickey Mouse ears with the hashtag #ShareYourEars. For each person that posted with the hashtag, Disney offered to donate $5 per post with a maximum of $1 million matched.
The Make-A-Wish website stated that there were actually two phases of the #ShareYourEars campaign in November, and that it was created in honor of Mickey Mouse’s 90th Anniversary. Since 1980, Disney has granted over 130,000 wishes and has helped families create everlasting memories with their children, who had battled different illnesses. This campaign was pure and genuine, which may be one of the reasons that it became so successful. But, how successful was it really?
Let’s Talk Numbers
Disney’s #ShareYourEars official page discussed the gravity of the campaign, and how successful it really was. The website includes a promotional video, discussing its partnership with the Make-A-Wish foundation, the idea behind the campaign and it’s success. According to the page, the campaign resulted in 1.77 million photos being posted, 54 million social media impressions and 420 million social media impressions. It also created a big change for Make-A-Wish’s social media presence with a 15% audience increase on Facebook, 13% audience increase on Instagram, 330% increase in reach and a 554% increase in engagement during the campaign.
It can easily be said, that the campaign was quite a success. But what about it made it so successful?
Why It Was Successful
- The Accessibility
Disney’s #ShareYourEars campaign gave people easy access to make a difference and change the world for the better. There was an easy way for people to participate, which made the campaign successful.
2. The Purpose
The partnership with Make-A-Wish gave people the motivation to post and raise money for a good cause. Without the partnership, perhaps people would not have been as motivated to post, because they would not have seen any true benefit in doing so.
3. The Plan
Having a set plan contributed to this success, with it even being exceeded. Without a backbone being set in place, perhaps the campaign would not have been nearly as successful. As explained in 4 Components Of The Best Social Media Campaigns by Sonny Ganguly, having a set plan greatly contributes to the success of a social media campaign. This plan, as explained in the article includes: clearly defined goals, cross-channel promotion and thorough analysis, all of which Disney seemed to have.
According to the Surprise! #ShareYourEars Campaign Continues through November 27 article by Thomas Smith, Disney had a projected plan to raise $1 million dollars from fans combined who with each post, brought $5 to the Make-A-Wish foundation. However, from the overwhelming amount of support received by fans, Disney park doubled the original donation, which switched from $1 million to $2 million.
4. The Goals
Although Disney did not reveal it’s exact goals, it can be inferred that it had multiple ones, all of which were achieved. One of the goals could be imagined as “increasing revenue”. This of course, would be a business goal for both Disney and Make-A-Wish. This goal was definitely completed, eventually increasing revenue for both Disney and Make-A-Wish. Some KPIs that would most align with this would be: click through rate, social media conversion rate and the conversion rate.
Another goal that could be imagined would be to boost brand engagement for both Make-A-Wish and Disney on social media platforms. This was definitely completed, while both were mentioned when fans posted for the campaign. The KPIs that would most match the assumed goal would be: amplification rate, conversion rate and the social media conversion rate.
The third goal, would be to build a sense of community. This would allow for Disney fans to get together, interact with each other and discuss their feelings about the campaign while “sharing their ears” they have either bought or created for their posts. The KPIs best suited for this goal would be the: comment conversion rate, social media conversion rate and customer satisfaction.
The last goal that can be imagined for Disney, is to increase it’s overall brand reputation. If people see that Disney is doing well for society, then they will most likely be more inclined to attend parks, buy merchandise or even watch Disney’s content. The KPIs that would best suit this goal would be the customer satisfaction and net promoter score.
Overall, it can definitely be concluded that Disney’s #ShareYourEars campaign was extremely successful and beneficial for the world. Imagine using your creativity to help others create memories they will keep forever! It truly couldn’t get any better than that.
