user engagement

As Lose it! hadn’t always relied on user-generated content, the brand announced the program on its app to help their pre-existing users learn about the opportunity to share their own experiences. The hashtag was mostly used by people who already use the app, before others who don’t necessarily use the same program caught on to it too, expanding its popularity. 

To provide an incentive to users, the brand offered $500 to those who used the hashtag, along with several prizes for runners-up. This would provide extra motivation to participants, in addition to the opportunity to take part in a movement designed to help people worldwide. 

The competition also spanned across two of the biggest social media networks, Twitter and Instagram, making engagement easier for users and promoting participation from a wide pool.

Appealing to Users

Lose It! appealed to its users by clearly explaining the reason for the hashtag before encouraging them to take part. The brand let its users know that the initiative would help other people struggling with weight loss understand ways in which they could improve their experience. 

Additionally, the brand imported a “disruptor” narrative, stating that, while the common approach to weight loss is to use linear instruction, more importance should be given to the fact that everyone has a different route to achieving greater fitness. The hashtag would be a way for users to highlight their own unique experiences. 

The brand had the benefit of the app-based weight loss program having wide endorsement from personal trainers and health professionals. After the announcement of the hashtag, there was further endorsement from other credentialed people in the field, which helped to raise the status and engagement of the initiative. 

Lose It! gave the PR campaign a face when the CEO released a video in which he let users of the app and participants know that the weight loss road can be bumpy, and he hoped that through efforts like these, that fact would be more widely accepted and people would experience less self-judgment while trying to lose weight.

The Success of the Campaign

The success of the campaign helped Lose It! users to learn more about how to optimize their weight loss experience, while the brand’s offerings became more accessible to a large group of social media users. The hashtag trended on Twitter, indicating massive user engagement. 

The brand was also able to build on its already impressive pedigree, having helped over 25 million people to lose more than 40 million pounds since its founding in 2008. 

The weight loss industry is riddled with advertisements that tend to ostracize the target market. Campaigns like this one help to make the experience more inclusive while capitalizing on the PR power of user engagement.

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Ronn Torossian is the Founder & Chairman of 5W Public Relations, one of the largest independently owned PR firms in the United States. Since founding 5WPR in 2003, he has led the company's growth and vision, with the agency earning accolades including being named a Top 50 Global PR Agency by PRovoke Media, a top three NYC PR agency by O'Dwyers, one of Inc. Magazine's Best Workplaces and being awarded multiple American Business Awards, including a Stevie Award for PR Agency of the Year. With over 25 years of experience crafting and executing powerful narratives, Torossian is one of America's most prolific and well-respected public relations executives. Throughout his career he has advised leading and high-growth businesses, organizations, leaders and boards across corporate, technology and consumer industries. Torossian is known as one of the country's foremost experts on crisis communications. He has lectured on crisis PR at Harvard Business School, appears regularly in the media and has authored two editions of his book, "For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations," which is an industry best-seller. Torossian's strategic, resourceful approach has been recognized with numerous awards including being named the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, the American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year, twice over, an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist, a Top Crisis Communications Professional by Business Insider, Metropolitan Magazine's Most Influential New Yorker, and a recipient of Crain's New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Outside of 5W, Torossian serves as a business advisor to and investor in multiple early stage businesses across the media, B2B and B2C landscape. Torossian is the proud father of two daughters. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and a board member of multiple not for profit organizations.