We all have a few guilty pleasures. One of mine is watching the soap opera General Hospital.

For those who are not aware, General Hospital is celebrating its 50th anniversary starting this week. It is the longest running scripted drama currently in production & the third longest in TV history.

Besides being a fan, I’ve been noticed they have incorporated great social media marketing strategies.

We may not have a TV show for a business but we can all learn from these strategies and develop creative ideas for our social media activities (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest).

The strategy I love the best was the use of Facebook. This platform was used visually. Lots of images and videos of past clips, flashbacks, behind the scenes and images from upcoming scenes.

General Hospital invited viewers to RSVP to the nurses ball on Facebook. I thought it was a great idea to treat the nurses ball as if it a “real” event and everyone was invited. At the time of writing this, 23,825 people have replied they will be attending.

There were lots of comments from viewers, but I think General Hospital could have really made this event even more exciting by incorporating a few updates such as the following:

• Dress code – let the viewers feel they are involved by telling them what they should wear to the nurses ball.

• Clothing options – why not let the fans see the different clothing ensembles stars of the show would be wearing and how viewers can get the same look.

• The menu – tantalize the viewers taste buds with food they would be enjoying when they attend the ball.

• Seating arrangements – wouldn’t it be exciting to reserve your seat next to your favorite star?

• Behind the scenes setting up the nurses ball – this helps build excitement?

But most importantly, I think General Hospital should have done the following and it would have made viewers happy:

• When the nurses ball was scheduled to start April 1st and it didn’t happen, General Hospital should have made it clear as to why it didn’t happen. Instead it turned out to be an April’s Fool joke.

Many times episodes are pre-empted for one reason or another and soap opera viewers accept this. (The Pope pre-empted the show in March) BUT when you create an event, no matter how big or small, and it doesn’t start on the date the audience was prepared for, this is a problem! Always deliver what you promise! General Hospital could have changed the date on their social media platforms and the viewers would have accepted that.

On April 2nd, General Hospital aired its 50th anniversary episode. It was a memorable episode paying tribute to the original characters. The one thing that was missing was the the nurses ball. Will it start tomorrow…two days after it was scheduled?

Have you ever been looking forward to an event to happen and it didn’t start on the scheduled date? How did that make you feel?