I follow a lot of brands on twitter. I like to see how each one utilizes the service. As I was cleaning my following list this weekend, I checked on several of them. More than a few have fallen to the wayside. Time and again, we’ve heard, “it’s worse for a brand to start and stop something than it is for them to never begin.”
Well, what about twitter?
Here’s just a handful of brands that started, engaged heavily and stopped the conversation as soon as their short term goal(s) was achieved:
- Pepsi via @PepSuber. I even DM’d several times with the persona behind this one. He told me it was more work than he envisioned and wasn’t sure if he’d continue. Looking back, he stopped shortly after their Superbowl commercials. Same deal with the majority of Sobe personas (i.e. @SobeChris and @SobeRami). In fairness, @SobeWorld still tweets.
- @MotrinMoms and @FakeMotrin. Yep, as soon as the Motrin Mom crisis died down they stopped. Basically, they tweeted for one day. @FakeMotrin’s last tweet even eludes to that fact – crisis over, time to peace out.
- @Campaigns2008, @barackobama and any other account having to do with the election. Don’t you feel used?
- @NewCastle. Not only have they stopped tweeting, but they set their account to private. I DM’d with them too. I have a feeling they never looked into the legal implications before starting
- @Whoppervirgins and @theBKLounge. These two actually had quite the interesting stream. @theBKLounge even sent a Cease and Desist via a tweet to @Whoppervirgins. After the initial campaign launch they’ve stopped.
- @MsProvocateur. This one makes me sad. I enjoyed the blog and the tweet stream. At least she told us she would no longer be tweeting or blogging.
And many more. Sad, huh? My comment about it on twitter got a few retweets, but I think most people missed my point. My point wasn’t about brands not participating, it was about this:
- If brands are going to participate socially, they need to think of it as a long term strategy.
- Participating requires a lot of work. People demand immediacy and attack if not provided with it. I think brands enter without realizing how much attention is really needed.
- Social media, as of yet, rarely provides the short term ROI brands want/need. If you’re Direct Response focused, send an eblast
And food for thought… does jumping into twitter for the short term (i.e. for a Superbowl campaign, for crisis, etc.) do more harm than good? Does it matter? Do short term tweeters get enough traction to even make an impact?
This and this were great posts about some fun and not so fun people to follow on twitter. Alas, I was a bit disappointed to see not as much conflict as I was hoping for So… below are a few of mine. I tried not to duplicate in less I felt very strongly. However, keep in mind this post/quote…
Twitter is inherently democratic. The voices you hear are the voices you want to hear… Every single decision to follow or not follow someone is purely subjective...
Silly People to Follow:
- @Pistachio. OMG. Maybe how she branded herself as an “expert” should be a case study in itself. If only I could make some of the “things” I market seem soooo cool.
- @tferris. Getting better, but I was hoping for more from the author of the ever popular book, Four Hour Work Week.
- @iJustine. Can someone explain why she has so many followers?
- @googlenews. Stick the RSS feed on your iGoogle, but don’t follow. They’ll take up two pages worth of tweets at a time. Someone needs to introduce this bot to TweetLater.
- @avinashkaushik. I LOVE his blog. I really want to love his tweets too.
- BONUS: @JessicaKnows. I started following because I had heard such great things. I guess this tweet stream is just not my cup of tea.
Favorites:
- @therules. Probably one of my favorite non-people. So much so that I have mobile alerts turned on for them. They send one a day very early in the morning. That SMS is one of my favorites to wake up to.
- @ashleyvaness. Insanely insightful, funny and shares a good link every so often.
- @dearjanesample. She rarely tweets, but I still love ‘em. She’s the inspiration for starting this blog.
- @adamkmiec. Kinda felt obligated. Just kidding Adam typically shares links that I haven’t seen elsewhere. As Steve Rubel references, he’s one of the few who has new or breaking content and doesn’t perpetuate the Lazysphere.
- @benleis. This one’s for bonus points. And to make @mleis jealous
- BONUS: I had a lot of trouble deciding who would be my bonus favorite, but I finally settled on @Gloson. He’s 10 (or so we’re led to believe). If he can provide value, can’t anyone?
Good for a Chuckle:
- @HolyGod. Can you really go wrong with tweets like, “Arm-wrestling Satan. 20 souls at stake”?
- @Satan. Doesn’t update much, but it sure is fun blaming @satan for things.
- @el_gato. This is @zappos’s cat. I think it was also one of the first “animals” to start tweeting.
- @TheOnion. Would a funny list really be complete without The Onion?
- @thebachelorguy. All the links go to his blog, but they’re still funny and things I don’t see elsewhere.
- BONUS: @ispenis. When you need a really stupid laugh.
Brands (the good, bad and ugly):
- @fairmonthotels and @MarriottIntl are my two favorite hotels. Marriott does a fantastic job in engagement marketing. I think @fairmonthotels is going to be equally as good.
- @barackobama. I feel so used.
- @viralblog. Twitter handle says it all.
- @vegasdouchebag. For the love of god, please tell me why Vegas.com continues to perpetuate this ad campaign. It really doesn’t excite me to go to Vegas.
- @CirqueLasVegas. Like all their social media efforts, they walk the perfect line between marketing, customer service and providing value.
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Themocracy