When The Breaking News Network (BNN) mobilizes its 350 city Twitter feeds to tweet a message, it can often get the message up to Twitter trending topics according to @TrendsmapUSA. Using a recent example, through a single tweet distributed across 350 cities garnering an aggregate social reach of 600,000, the hashtag #infinityboxes and the Memorial Art Gallery Twitter feed @magur became trending topics across America:
First time a museum collaboratively #crowdfunding exhibit w/ artist @magur brings the #infinityboxes to their venue http://t.co/08LXWgSU2U — Breaking SF News (@breakingsfnews) July 29, 2014
#infinityboxes is now trending in United States http://t.co/7lWMpXddtS — Trendsmap USA (@TrendsmapUSA) July 29, 2014
Memorial Art Gallery, @magur is now trending in United States http://t.co/7lWMpXddtS — Trendsmap USA (@TrendsmapUSA) July 29, 2014
Other Twitter distribution systems like Thunderclap can blast out messages, but it requires every participating Twitter account to register for several weeks before all the tweets are distributed simultaneously. The BNN can deliver news massively in real time at levels comparable to Thunderclap, and it is effective for testing and evolving campaign messaging on the fly.
Massive media exposure is only stage one of social media influence
However, massive media distribution is only the first order of influence. It’s well documented that Twitter campaigns don’t generally lead to immediate results like a desired transaction (purchase, donation, share). Old school marketers still like the idea of a Thunderclap or a Twitter blast across 350 cities because they perform like a traditional advertising campaign with quantifiable social reach. But like advertising, the “blast” is about exposure of the message; the more valuable stage of social media influence is engaging the right people, the target group. This next stage of influence can be reached by coordinating amplification by specific organizations, individuals and stakeholders who have the mission and the social capital to engage the target group. Simply put, amplification creates the massive viral buzz that can make a campaign break out.
Coordinated amplification that creates viral buzz is stage two of social media influence
Social capital is the new influence marketing. One hurdle to extending the campaign message is in providing enough incentive for influencers to re-transmit the message via social media. One solution is to provide influencers a convenient, fast way to distribute the message (like Twitter), and to freely gift them with more social capital to exert their influence.
The BNN is unique in media by providing community newsmakers with a media voice through 400 city feeds. It amplifies authorized influencers by RTing their tweets to local readers when they use a designated hashtag like their city name (#Chicago). When influencers are locally amplified, campaigns can reach a granular, community audience with a stronger degree of engagement because their connection is more trusted.
Two examples that demonstrate how messages can be massively exposed and supported by coordinated amplification are:
1) With the #InfinityBoxes crowdfunding campaign (see tweet above), the BNN succeeds in exposing the artist and his work, the Infinity Boxes, nationally to the artist community, the arts media and museums nationally. Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester (@magur in the above example) is collaboratively promoting the #InfinityBoxes campaign down to their local member base. The larger plan is to extend the number of museums that promote the 
#InfinityBoxes campaign locally by leveraging the 300 museum media network that the BNN gives voice to.
2) On #GivingTuesday 2013, a national movement designating the Tuesday after Thanksgiving a day of online charity, the BNN amplified #Giving Tuesday tweets over 8,000 times in one day reaching over 30 million at a localized level. The viral buzz of the hashtag #GivingTuesday was enhanced by RTing the tweets of over 1,000 nonprofits across the country directly through the BNN’s local feeds, enabling these nonprofits to directly reach their local audience.
Massive media exposure and coordinated amplification can market crowdfunding campaigns effectively
BNN Funding is applying coordinated amplification to develop the first crowdfunding system that can get crowdfunding campaigns up to trending topics, and reach backers locally through established influencer networks. BNN has a mature media network and an influencer network of over 7,000 community newsmakers in place, they can create and launch timely campaigns in 24 hours with full marketing support. This can be a compelling opportunity for crowdfunding, which often involves months of campaign preparation for marketing and exposure.