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?
