American Pharoah Favorited My Tweet

Or, lessons in digital customer engagement from a horse.

I. Can. Not. Wait. To see American Pharoah run in the Travers Stakes at storied Saratoga Racetrack, this weekend. What a difference a tweet makes. Admittedly I’d purchased overpriced tickets and gotten a room at the Sagamore weeks ago on the chance that AP would run. Sunday was the day it would be decided. How would AP breeze? Would he be getting even better? Would Trainer Bob Baffert take the risk in the so-called “graveyard of champions?”

So I searched online all morning Sunday…waiting to see if we would have a fun weekend in Saratoga and Lake George or witness an historic event.  As soon as I saw the news from NYRA, the New York Racing Association, I tweeted the link with a fist-bump “YES!”

(I am by no means a racing aficionado, although I am a “horse person.” Like so many others, I had hoped against hope for AP to win the Triple Crown, and experienced shock and awe when he became the first to do so in 37 years.)

A few minutes later, I saw the magic words in my Gmail account: “American Pharoah favorited your tweet!”

I became not only a fan, but a fan who shares. A fan who thinks she is so cool because the Triple Crown Winner not only noticed, but favorited her tweet!  I told my husband, who thought I was a complete dork. I showed my best friend. I shared it with everyone I saw on Sunday.  Monday morning, I shared it with coworkers.  Now, I am blogging about it. I will share this blog on LinkedIn, on Facebook, and yes, on Twitter. 

Imagine the action next Saturday at the Saratoga Racetrack.  I may tweet with photos….of AP in the saddling enclosure. Of all the fans who will be there and how they dress. Of the race and the winner.

How is it that this horse is better at digital customer engagement than many marketers?  You’ve probably seen the headlines about social marketing: What is the value? How do we quantify the impact?  It’s about engaging with your audience. I. Am. Engaged. Even though it was a simple action, I feel as if I were engaged with and valued by American Pharoah. Yes, it is silly. No, a horse cannot tweet (well, there are lots of horse tweets). But yes, also, what I said on social media mattered to a horse (or industry surrounding a horse) that I consider a hero.   

Can we put an ROI on engagement?  Sure, we can say that engaged customers spend more, renew more often, buy more related products, travel more, etc.  But how do we make the connection? How do we know what will matter to the customer, at what point, and how can we create the action? How do make a single, sometimes-fan or customer feel as if she is part of something bigger, to create an engaged brand advocate - and why do we care?

Am I a delighted customer?  Not yet.  Will I spend more?  Almost certainly. Have I helped the American Pharoah brand and am I an engaged brand ambassador?  Yes, to some extent to the former, and yes absolutely to the latter.  All from a single, well-timed interaction on social media. A very cool interaction—to me.

Knowing your customer, and engaging with them digitally when and where it matters, creates engaged and lasting relationships. I will likely follow AP through his Travers Stakes trip, to the Breeders Cup, and throughout his life as a stallion. If I travel anywhere near where he stands at stud, I will take a tour to see him.  Will I breed a mare to him or purchase his offspring? Not likely, but will my words reach people who might?  Likely. And they definitely will reach people who might attend a race, who might buy some AP bling, who might learn that a Triple Crown Winner, who attained that most unattainable of all goals, is more human than we think.

AP connected the dots for this (converted) brand advocate.  For most organizations, this journey starts with understanding your customers, what's important to each of them, their context, and what they need in their customer journey, at what point in time.  The next step is connecting the dots among all of those data points to take action when it matters. Intelligent search is an important part of this strategy, because it can connect the dots to uncover the insights that matter, at every point in time, and on any device. 

Regardless of whether AP wins this Saturday, I will remain an engaged fan.  Now that’s something. Even if our actions may disappoint, our customer relationships can overcome.  We as fans or customers can understand, because we are human, and if we feel connected to and valued by that brand we will understand foibles.  Fans give their heroes another shot. 

How can you know your customer so well that your brand can become that hero?