Earlier this year, NBC debuted a new singing competition, The Voice, which at first glance seemed similar to FOX’s American Idol. Talented young performers all looking for their big break in the music industry by performing in front of celebrity judges or “coaches,” as The Voice coins them, including Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton with host Carson Daly. While the competition took a slightly different approach to the selection of singers and judging process, it took a radical new approach to the use of social media to create an engaging, new viewing experience that propelled The Voice to become the top-rated show this spring and dominated the Twitter-sphere.

How did they do it? NBC producers designed the show to integrate social media into every aspect to engage the coaches, contestants and viewers. Nicolle Yaron, supervising producer of The Voice, was quoted in an article on Mashable stating how, “In this day and age, digital and social media for a success television show can’t be an afterthought – it has to be established in pre-production and developed throughout the show.”  This is solid advice for anyone utilizing social media as part of your marketing and PR efforts.

The social media tactics that The Voice employed would work for a variety of companies as a part of their strategies. Here are several tactics they incorporated:

1.     The Use of Hashtags. Throughout the season, producers would promote the use of #TheVoice hashtag on screen when they felt the audience would be compelled to talk about what was currently happening, rather than reserving it solely for use during voting. Yaron reported in her interview with Mashable that “70 percent of the tweets about The Voice [during the show’s first live episode] included the hashtag #TheVoice, a ‘phenomenal’ rate that a Twitter spokesperson says is an ‘industry high.’” When promoted properly, the signature hashtag was quickly adopted by coaches, contestants and viewers alike and used consistently both during and between broadcast segments. This helped producers track conversations and feedback to include as part of the show’s format. If you’re looking for tips on how to create your own hashtag, be sure to check out a blog post we have written about this topic.

2.     Active Listening and Engagement. The Voice brought on G4’s Alison Haislip as the show’s “in-show and online correspondent” and the “direct digital connection to everything that’s going on with the show.” Not only would she interview the contestants and judges, she encouraged fans to post comments or questions on Facebook, Twitter, NBC Live and NBC.com for her to ask artists during the segment. In addition, she would also interact with fans via Twitter along with other members of the show, while the show was on air. Social media is more than broadcasting your own news, it is about engagement and The Voice fully embraces this principle.

3.     Creating ambassadors. When selecting the coaches, NBC encouraged each to fully embrace social media and become active spokespeople for the show. When Christina Aguilera joined the crew, she was entirely new to Twitter, while Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine were moderate users, and Blake Shelton was the most active. Regardless of their past experience, all four were committed to live-tweeting during the show and on their own time, sharing their personal interactions with the contestants and responding to fans through Twitter.

NBC also saw an opportunity for the contestants to continue the “storytelling” online. As the artists were selected, they were given training on how to blog and use their Facebook and Twitter accounts, as an integrated as part of the official site for The Voice. They were also given new tablets and cameras to document everything behind the scenes to provide viewers the opportunity to follow the artist’s journey.

In social media, creating a personal connection with your fans on Facebook and/or followers on Twitter is the name of the game, and The Voice really drove this home. If your company has a presence on social media, consider training a few of your own employees on best practices and have them engage them in your social media efforts. By doing so, they will be able to share a variety of information and points of view that fans and/or followers may find interesting, while also spreading out the responsibility of maintaining your social media presence to other stakeholders.

While I only watched a few episodes of The Voice this season, I was particularly impressed with how it created an ongoing conversation that has continuously built momentum each week – even between the segments. In addition, to know that the artists, coaches and hosts actually interact with viewers created a shared experience for all involved, which made viewers feel a personal connection to the show and drove them to continue watching each week. It will be interesting to see how other television shows – or even other forms of entertainment – follow suit in this level of engagement.

What are your thoughts on how The Voice implemented social media? What methods do you use to engage with your fans and followers?