Hands up – who’s recently had a client say to them that they want to do something with Twitter?
It goes without saying that a strong online presence is high on the agenda for a growing number of brands these days. And it’s easy to see why; a strong presence in social media offers a huge opportunity to create a dialogue with consumers and offer a real human aspect to brands that may otherwise seem distant and faceless.
Whole Foods Market is an example of a brand getting its approach to social media spot on. The US supermarket chain has 150 Twitter accounts, each providing highly targeted content and offering a responsive customer service. As a result, the brand has received plaudits for being highly engaged with consumers and creating a strong customer service dialogue.
Starbucks has also been innovative in its approach to social media. The coffee brand offered people a free pastry with their drink for one day, which led to 600,000 fans confirming their ‘attendance’ of the event on the Facebook group, while Starbucks became the number one topic on Twitter. That indicates nearly 1 per cent of total tweets mentioned the brand – nearly 10 times the amount of mentions on a typical day.
Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford, said recently that 90 per cent of social media for brands is showing up, and that it’s the other 10 per cent that’s the hard part. It’s true that success requires creativity and innovation, but the opportunities social media gives to offer a personal touch to consumers (not to mention extended brand exposure) means that it’s something brands can no longer afford to ignore.
