Instagram/@bethennyfrankel
Bethenny seeks to have a one-word comment posted on her post from an audience in exchange for sharing with them a few of her favorite current products. The former “Real Housewives” star and entrepreneur had a very simple call to action: “Send her a certain comment, and she will DM the link to it.”
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The post was very bare-bones. Commenting “ZON” would trigger a DM sent to the user with all the links to everything she is loving lately. The slang-enabled sparkle and link emojis would usher in her recommendations. It is a very classic use of comment-gates for driving engagement and list-building; Frankel chose the route of direct messaging for her version.
Since Bethenny Frankel has made a business out of almost everything involving products, she became a reality tv star and turned that into a massive business empire, largely under the name Skinnygirl, dealing mainly with cocktails, food, apparel, and books. Her sharp business mind in tandem with her public persona is over years now; this new venture feels like a contemporary social media manifestation of that gut instinct-tugging her audience to what she knows-how to find the line to give it to them directly.
No hint is given as to what type of products or brands these links will list so as to stir curiosity and, in return, provoke many ZON comments. The comment box is left wide open for imagination: fashion, beauty, wellness, or home comforts? May be it’s all of these under the Skinnygirl lifestyle umbrella? The promise of a one-on-one DM offers a certain pretence of exclusivity, making every participating feel like they have gotten in on a secret tip from the mogul herself.
Therefore, all comments and replies are still hidden to the public at the time of writing, indicating that the comment-triggered on engagement happens on a private level under the direct messenger platform, just the way it was supposed to happen. Hence, however, it ceases to measure its success by the number of individuals out in the open chatting about it. Rather, it’s Track One for the huge masses flooding into private messages and the resulting click-through rate on the links dispatched. The most important data for Frankel is that both tell her a lot about her audience’s interests related to potential future collaborations.
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Hence, this is the type of engagement that is so very much a product of the digital age: You bridge the gap between a public announcement on one hand and personal contact on another-even if personal contact ends up being somewhat impersonal. But, perhaps, with Frankel, it’s just one more avenue in her already wide-ranging toolbox of keeping herself relevant and selling into the hands of a passionate few. This sort of activity quickly buckets a regular social feed into an instant communication- commerce conduit. Her recent morning coffee recipe is just one example of her unique product recommendations. This strategy was also evident during her time at Paris Fashion Week. Her strong opinions extend to travel, as seen in a recent airport clash over phone volume. She is also known for her discerning taste, famously rejecting one hundred dollar blueberries.