Happy Halloween! Just like a goodie bag, Twitter marketing can be filled with plenty of treats. And the rewards of thoughtful Twitter campaigns are delicious, indeed. Engaging followers in lively conversation about your brand and services is something Twitter does really well. Successes on Twitter can help search engine rankings, brand awareness and, most importantly, sales. But just as easily, Twitter marketing can go terribly awry. Bad photos, clumsy wording and tasteless jokes can turn Twitter into a real-life horror movie. Here are a few recent Twitastrophes and how to avoid them:
Nightmare on Tweet Street: We’ve all screamed in horror, turned our eyes away and even made the “about-to-barf” face over tweets with too much information. When you’re Kris Jenner and running a multi-media brand like the Kardashians, an empire built on TMI, a nip slip in a Wonder Woman costume is no big deal. Still, maybe it should be. A little caution, consideration and decency goes a long way with Twitter marketing and is still appreciated. Use the channel to show the best of your brand, not all of your brand.
Incredible Shrinking Personality: Target is usually spot-on with its digital branding. Yet the lack of soul and personality in its recent tweets is downright scary. Once chatty and interesting, Target has reverted back to some zombie robo-tweeting that makes us want to unfollow. There’s nothing in Target’s Twitterfeed you can’t get from the company’s mailers or TV ads, and that is problematic. Don’t be a zombie tweeter. We get it — you’re a business… but you’re also a brand. Have some zing, personality and character when you tweet or face the true horror of being ignored in the Twittersphere.
The Twitter Unfunny Massacre: It-girl and creator of HBO’s Girls Lena Dunham was recently nearly gnawed to death by angry tweeters. The reason for the assault? Dunham made a totally not funny joke about dressing up like famed murderers and rapists for Halloween. Twitter was not amused — and her insincere apology didn’t win her any fans, either. In general, we all know not to use Twitter to make rape and murder jokes, but when a young brand-in-the-making like Dunham makes such a fatal error, it bears repeating. Check yourself before you tweet. If you think it will make your brand look bad and it will upset people, you’re probably right.
Night of the Living Missed Opportunities: Really, KitKat? Not a single funny, clever Halloween hashtag or Twitter party or anything? While other candy brands are using Halloween as an exercise in who can out clever one another with social media campaigns, KitKat uses its Twitter page as a customer complaint department and little else. Don’t end up a Twitter travesty. Twitter is a virtually free channel just begging for hip, timely seasonal marketing… so take advantage of it!
Leave a Reply