It’s becoming an epidemic. More and more businesses are using social media as another mouthpiece for their promotions. They somehow skip over learning how to use it to connect with potential customers, or how to us it to earn customer loyalty from their existing customers. We don’t give big brands our loyalty nowadays. They have to earn it. Social media is their direct link to us.
Unfortunately, some brands insist on just using social media poorly to just promote and broadcast. The cartoon below is the result.
This is Especially True on Twitter.
For example, I’ve been watching Office Max waste their time on Twitter for nearly two years now. When they do Tweet, it’s usually just for a promotion or some special savings. There are often more than a hundred tweets a day that that mention “Office Max” in them. They just haven’t figured out how to use Twitter yet to get engaged in these conversations and talk to their customers. Instead they tweet promotions, asking these same customers for their money. Promotions once in a while are ok, but every tweet is annoying and a misuse of Twitter.
I happen to like Office Max, I just get annoyed with their behavior on Twitter. And they aren’t alone (e.g. Old Navy).
We tend to gravitate to those brands that ‘get it.’
Is it possible for the big brands to talk back to their customers on Twitter? Some notable big brands are proving it’s possible such as:
In all of these examples, they are talking back to their customers. They are engaging. They are conversing in real-time online. Think about it. If these big brands can find a way and the time to talk back to their customers (and they have thousands), any size business can and should.
Using social media for business isn’t rocket science, it’s human relations 101. [TWEET THIS]
What are your thoughts? Do you believe those brands that aren’t actively engaging with their customers on social media are going to suffer in the long-term and that it’s just a matter of time?
Love the examples … Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post with example.
I don’t know what’s so difficult for marketers or company leaders to understand about social media marketing but direct interaction is the ENTIRE POINT.
why did we all jump on board when twitter got big? because we could DIRECTLY INTERACT with celebrities and people who seem so far away to us.
Getting attention from someone in a big company who takes the time to reply to your comments makes business personal and not cold and robotic.
Tara, thanks for the comment and I’m equally as puzzled as you are. There are plenty of good examples from companies doing it right, for marketers to learn from if they would approach social media marketing with an open mind and learn how to engage their audience. – JS
Great article!
As marketers, we are getting just what we asked for. MORE ways to attract hopeful conversions and creative tactics to get clients for our clients.
Now, we are the victims of our own creative genius with follow up emails, TWEETS, posts and phone calls when WE ourselves click on the “CLICK HERE” button for more information or reading. We too are now being marketed by our own mad hatter ways disguised as “conversation” and LIKES and white papers and SEO.
It’s not that simple any more to search the WORLD WIDE WEB for information on what the hell the fair market value is of our daughter’s clarinet! Look towards Linkedin.com as a prime example of sales and marketing gone aerie.
Twitter is only a tool that has gotten into the wrong hands. The hands of senior marketing executives who hire young professional marketing people only to be told to KEEP BRANDING and be sure you do it every hour so we can justify your salary.
Good ideas for engagement in social media are being lost as soon as they are developed because of small minds and old ways. WE… are not ready to wield this power yet and it will be the youth coming up in the ranks that will finally be allowed to conduct true “conversation” over “conversion.” I may be wrong, though?
Hi, Joe-
I just happened upon your blog. Love this post — so much so that I quoted you in a recent post that I did today (http://blog.socialot.com). I couldn’t agree more: it’s all about human relations! Can’t wait to read more of your posts.
THANKS-
Erin Larson, Socialot.com