5 Business Twitter Best Practices From The Most Engaged Brands
June 13, 2014 - 4 minutes read - Blog, Infographic, Social MediaRoughly 5,700 tweets are sent out each second. But we mustn’t confuse quantity with quality. Inevitably, many of these tweets will be put out into the ether — and either largely ignored or promptly forgotten. Business tweets, in particular, have a tendency to veer off-course onto a track that no one is interested to follow. On the other hand, businesses that “get it right” enjoy the fruits of their labor in terms of consumer loyalty, free word-of-mouth advertising, and skyrocketing sales. So today, Mod Girl Marketing takes a look at what top brands on Twitter do to cultivate an engaged audience. Then you can apply these lessons to your own business Twitter strategy.
How can you get more engaged Twitter followers? This infographic sheds some light on the topic. Image Source: MediaBistro.com
1. Tap into what’s trending. – Arby’s
Everyone was talking about Pharrell’s crazy-looking hat at the 2014 Grammy’s. It had been linked to Canadian royal mounties, Smokey the Bear, the Berenstein Bears, and Curious George’s “Man in the Yellow Hat.” It wasn’t until Arby’s famous tweet — Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYS — that the hat really made sense. The clever message was retweeted 83,000 times and helped explain why the brand has 240,000 followers.
2. Make social media a priority. – W00t!
Woot has garnered 1.64 million followers since 2007 by making social media a priority. Dave Rutledge, president of the Woot Workshop, told Business Insider that they have a social media coordinator that replies non-stop to fans and followers, as well as staffers who publish site news and updates. “We’re on call at all times, so there’s procedures in place to get updates out any time they’re needed,” he explained.
Here are some more Twitter best practices to consider. Image Source: MediaBistro.com
3. Educate the masses with #FACTS. – History Channel
The History Channel’s Twitter feed is full of re-tweet-able goodies for its 870,000 followers. They create their own hashtags for fans to look forward to — for example, #TriviaTuesday, #TheWorldWars, and #ThisDayInHistory. They post videos, links and photos to change things up on their feed as well. Never a dull moment!
Maximize your tweets by posting on the weekends. Image Source: SocialMediaToday.com
4. Make people laugh. – Hamburger Helper
Hamburger Helper is one of those authentic brands that is guaranteed to make you chuckle with posts from their hamburger helper hand-shaped mascot. Recently they posted, “Dudes are always asking me to help them get a lady. I don’t think I can put this any simpler… Cook.Her.Dinner.” There are late-night tweets (Seriously, go to bed. Dinner was HOURS ago.) and tweets about giving in to forbidden pleasures (Look deep inside yourself and ask, ‘do I deserve the cheeseburger mac? ‘Hint: you do!) that amuse their 16.4 million fans. They received 294 re-tweets for this post: Hunger – the leading cause of all elevator fights.
5. Build your strategy around storytelling. – WWE
“We’re in the business of telling stories, 52 weeks a year,” said Perkins Miller, head of digital media for WWE. Whether it’s a Father’s Day trip to the dude ranch, a wrestler wedding, or reactions to the latest throwdown, the WWE Twitter feed is full of tales that appeal to their 4.36 million followers.
For more social media wisdom, contact Mod Girl Marketing for all your needs, whether it’s a quick strategic brainstorming session, help writing tweets, or full outsourcing.
Tags: best brands on twitter, business twitter, engaged twitter, Infographic, twitter best practices, twitter case studies, twitter case study, twitter engagement, twitter for business
