There has been a lot of buzz earlier this year about how Twitter is probably going to die soon. Several things about Twitter make us almost want to believe that the time has come for this social media giant, but has it really?
At The White House Correspondents’ Dinner just a couple of days ago, US President Obama mentioned Kendall Jenner, the Kardashian sister with over 17 million Twitter followers, admitting “I’m not sure what she does but I’m told my Twitter mentions are about to go through the roof.” When the most powerful man on the planet cares about his Twitter status, it’s reason enough to think twice before shunning your own Twitter presence.
Twitter isn’t just a battleground for political parties and public figures, people like me, or millennials, mostly start using Twitter to keep a track on what their favourite brand, celebrity or influencer are saying – all in real-time.
Initially, I personally treated Twitter as a public diary of sorts, where I shared all articles (even videos) I read up on-line. This way my followers could see what I was interested in and have the option of initiating a conversation with me too. Over the years, I’ve realized that Twitter can be your morning newspaper, your copy of Cosmopolitan and so much more beyond that.
What does Twitter have that others don’t?
Apart from real-time updates, Twitter is more about organic reach than any of the social media giants out there (thanks for the next-to-zero-organic-impressions, Facebook). It is also one of the few platforms that gives the audience direct access to decision-makers and even intrude conversations taking place between strangers.
In fact, people can utilize this platform to connect with people who have similar interests and goals. For instance, early April I participated in a #PRGuru Twitter chat on gender balance in Public Relations. This was a great opportunity to engage with people in the industry I look up to and better yet, share my views with them – directly. Connecting with role models and people who are making a name for themselves in the same industry as yours, gives you the chance to network and make new links – quicker and smoother than ever before.
This brings me to the main question of this article – Are brands wasting their time on Twitter advertisements or is it worth it?
On Twitter, brands have the chance to:
- Create a one-on-one connection with the customer
- Understand the audience demographics and online personality
- Build a long-term relationship with its audience by welcoming feedback at any given point of time, personalized customer-care services, engagement through media campaigns and interest generation via social media contests, new product launches and more
Is trending everything?
Every brand, big or small, wants to be seen. One approach is to trend on Twitter. But how useful is a trending hashtag? There are several digital marketing companies that generate engagement through conversation between a group of people or ‘influencers’ on Twitter. They use the required hashtag in their tweets to increase hashtag visibility.
No doubt, there are some ridiculous hashtags out there. In fact, I encourage you to share some of the most absurd ones you’ve come across in the comment section below for entertainment purposes, of course. Having said that, trending does serve a purpose, if done right. There have been several noteworthy viral hashtags like Housing.com’s #LookUp campaign, Prime Minister Modi’s #SelfieWithDaughter campaign, and the much-celebrated #ShareTheLoad campaign by Ariel – which was even shared on her social media by Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg.
While trending might be the big prize in the end, it is important for brands to focus on the quality of content which prove to be the essence of media campaigns. As a brand, be sure to understand the audience contributing in creating your trending hashtag and the nature of the trending conversation.
Speaking of which, are you on Twitter? Show some love.
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