A new report from 360i shows that most brands are coming up short in their attempts to utilize Twitter as a marketing tool. But let’s be clear — it’s the brand’s use (or abuse) of the medium, rather than the medium itself, that is holding them back.
According to 360i, after a six month study, Twitter users barely know or care about brand presence on Twitter. When brands tweet and try to communicate with their followers, it’s mostly a one-way conversation. The study finds that only 1% of consumers who mention a brand in a tweet are in a conversation with that brand. The large majority of users’ tweets are on a personal level. They tweet about seemingly mundane details of their lives, such as meals, plans, and get-togethers. 360i reports that 94% of tweets are personal, with 85% being original content that is not re-tweeted. Instead of truly engaging and trying to become of this personal conversation, most brands have resorted using Twitter as a type of press release service.
“There is still a misperception that if brands show up, people will listen to them, kind of like Facebook a few years ago,” 360i Senior-VP Sarah Hofstetter told Advertising Age. “Twitter can be used as a promotional RSS feed, but that’s not going to establish a relationship with anybody.”
Modern communications isn’t simply about “eyeballs” anymore — it’s about engagement. And those brands that choose to use Twitter as a press release service are simply living in the past.
On the other hands, those brands that are engaging best are seeing the true benefits of this communications tool.
What’s the best way for them to engage? We’re fond of comparing Twitter to an “online cocktail reception.”
Why? Have you ever walked into a cocktail party where you don’t know anybody and everybody seems to be already be engaged in familiar conversation?
What do you do? Do you walk up to a stranger and start reciting your company’s latest press release? Of course not. You usually break into a conversation by making some small talk. Maybe you mention the weather, or the type of drink you’re consuming, or something about the drapes in the restaurant — let’s face it, small talk can be mundane.
But my point is that there are all these conversations going on, and you use some mundane, sometimes personal, detail to strike up conversation. Then that personal conversation may lead to a discussion of business, then an exchange of business cards, then perhaps a business deal.
So it goes with Twitter. Most “tweets” are people talking about what they’re watching on TV, or the kind of work day they had, or what food they’re cooking for dinner, or what they’re doing on their vacation. Those tweets can lead to conversations with other people who have the same interests. Sometimes — just like the cocktail party — that can lead to business.
So is Twitter merely a networking tool? Yes, but it’s much more.
- Frank Eliason was a customer service manager at Comcast who, in 2008, started Comcast’s first Twitter account: @comcastcares. A few years later, Frank was managing a full team of customer service “tweeters” and he tells us that (as of January 21, 2010) his team serviced a total of 160,000 people via social networking sites — more than 50,000 of them on Twitter. That’s just since February 2008. Frank’s team monitors Twitter to find out who is talking (or complaining) about Comcast and reaches out to them to help solve their problems. They also receive a good number of service requests by people who now know they will receive quick replies from Frank’s team via Twitter.
- Similar to Comcast, major brands monitor Twitter to find out who is a) Tweeting about their brands, b) Saying good things about their brands, and c) Who is complaining or “trashing” their brands. For example, according to a recent Forbes article (Daniel Adler, “Twenty-One Twitter Tips,” Forbes, July 31, 2009), there were 3.37 million mentions of “Starbucks” through May 2009. Starbucks follows those mentions like a hawk — using it as a real-time focus group.
- In Illinois, we have a fast food chain called “Culver’s” that has great burgers and custard. The local Culver’s franchise in my town has its own Twitter account (@culvers177) and provides daily tweets of their “flavor of the day.” Many times, these tweets are tempting enough to lure me and my family for dinner (or dessert.)
- In Los Angeles, the nightclub crowd is familiar with the “Kogi BBQ” mobile trucks that park outside the clubs late at night and sell Mexican tacos stuffed with Korean-style meat. The company has 52,000 Twitter followers and uses Twitter to send out alerts on the locations of its four mobile trucks. How successful is this marketing effort? The trucks regularly draw crowds in the hundreds — and they have been featured in publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the Wall Street Journal.
- K9Cuisine.com is an online purveyor of premium and organic dog food. They have a Twitter account managed by the company founder and president, Anthony Holloway (@k9cuisine). Anthony uses Twitter as a customer service tool — but also as a way to help answer questions and provide tips and advice to pet owners. Although they don’t overtly use it as a sales tool, Anthony tells us that Twitter is the third-largest source of traffic to the company Web site — very warm leads that could lead to hot sales.
So, you see, different organizations are using Twitter in different ways to communicate with their unique audiences.
The new report from 360i report may seem negative on Twitter on the surface. But further reading shows that it’s the message, not the medium, that makes the difference between success and failure.