From Its Charity Efforts, Aflac Learns What Works in Social Media

The Aflac holiday duck being sold at Macy's stores this year to raise money for pediatric cancer hospitals was designed by Monica Sandoval, a young cancer patient.

These are early days for marketers trying to figure out what role social media should play in their efforts to woo consumers. One major advertiser, the insurance company Aflac, is adjusting its strategies to generate a deeper emotional connection - and spur more donations - for its big annual holiday season charity fund-raiser.

“We're doing a lot of experimentation in social with our philanthropic efforts,” said Michael Zuna, chief marketing and sales officer at Aflac in Columbus, Ga. Using social media is worthwhile because it “helps us connect with people's personal passion points,” he added.

Each November, Aflac teams up with the Macy's division of Macy's Inc. to sell plush-toy versions of the Aflac duck brand mascot. The net proceeds from the sales of the toys - $10 for a six-inch duck and $15 for a 10-inch duck - are donated to pediatric cancer hospitals that are near Macy's stores.

The 2012 holiday duck went on sale this month. Promotional efforts include a Twitter party on Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern time, during which Aflac is to donate $2 for each comment that uses the hashtag “#AflacKids.”

Clearly, Aflac is a big believer in social media, with presences in places that, in addition to Twitter, include Facebook, Foursquare, GetGlue, Pinterest and YouTube. Nevertheless, a charitable effort that Aflac spo nsored in September, called Swim With Friends, fell short of its goal of raising $500,000.

In analyzing those results, Aflac executives have decided to make several changes in using social media to encourage purchases of the holiday ducks.

One step involves having Monica Sandoval, a 17-year-old cancer patient from Winder, Ga., who designed the 2012 duck, serve as the centerpiece of the social media initiative. She is featured in photographs posted to the Facebook fan page and is scheduled to take part in the Twitter party on Thursday night.

Asking Ms. Sandoval to be the face of the promotion was possible because “for the first year ever, a patient designed the duck,” Mr. Zuna said. (The holiday ducks date to 2000.)

Another change is the inclusion of so-called mom bloggers in the efforts to generate attention for the fund-raiser. Aflac learned about the bloggers after they participated in the Swim With Kids initiative.

A third change seems mi nor, but it could make a major difference in the Twitter aspects of the promotion.

During the Swim With Kids initiative, Aflac executives determined that comments posted to the Twitter feed should be no longer than 120 characters, rather than the  140-character Twitter maximum. The reason for keeping the messages shorter, said Laura Kane, a spokeswoman at Aflac, was “so that people could re-Tweet without going over” the maximum.

Aflac has set a goal of $1.5 million for the 2012 holiday duck. Last year, the goal was $1 million, and the total raised was slightly more than that.

Stuart Elliott has been the advertising columnist at The New York Times since 1991. Follow @stuartenyt on Twitter and sign up for In Advertising, his weekly e-mail newsletter.