In 2014, the question might have seemed silly. “Of course, yes,” the marketing experts would say, “Twitter is an integral component of any successful marketing campaign.”
In 2016, the tone changed. “Don’t waste the time and money, #RIPTwitter.” Share prices were way down and users were leaving along with the employees.
In 2018, Twitter is back. It shifted its focus off user content and onto news, no longer listed as a social networking application in the iOS App Store, but instead as a “News Application.”
Considering the cluster flop of headlines in the past two years, it seems like perfect timing.
So, is it time to unleash a tweet storm? I don’t think so. Rather a calculated effort employing the strengths of Twitter as a platform.
After all, Twitter is a just a platform; its successes and failures as such depend partially on the ability of you, the users, to identify and create cool content. No tweet exists in a vacuum. You can’t wait for Twitter because Twitter is waiting for you.
So, what’s the best way for brands to capitalize on the platform?
- Know what NOT to do. Don’t aggressively push products into people’s faces. You’re more likely to lose their interest that way. They’ll just look at some of the other 300,000,000+ pages instead.
- People go to Twitter to learn and be entertained. It’s a perfect opportunity for content marketing, whether that be posting and retweeting articles or a simple, yet relevant meme. Have a presence, but don’t abuse the access to consumers that the platform provides.
To put it simply, the key is gaining followers, and no one is going to follow if you keep posting promotions.
The most successful Twitter campaigns I’ve seen center on creating a nexus between company and consumer. Look how Wendy’s responds directly to customers. It’s like they’re talking to Wendy herself.
Jim Halpert would be so proud right now https://t.co/7imhrVbAvY
— Wendy’s (@Wendys) December 12, 2018
Twitter is literally customer service done easy. It’s a great way to gather a general consensus as well as individual opinions so a comprehensive sales strategy can take shape.
We call this pull marketing as opposed to push marketing (The aggressive promotion mentioned above). And it is exactly that: pulling buyers in instead of pushing from out.
