Brands on Social Media

If you have ever been on Social Media for any reasonable length of time, chances are you have come across a Brand Social Media Account. Modern branding theory has long promoted the need for an engaging social media presence, which can create a platform for engagement with consumers and generate valuable feedback to improve your company’s interactions with customers.

Part of social media branding is the desire to appear trendy or relatable to the audience to gain wider recognition. Marketers often do this by attempting to create viral content. On most platforms, viral content is engaging, emotional and high quality, such as the tear-jerking John Lewis Christmas Ads.

Twitter: The Wild West of Social Media

And then…there is Twitter. Twitter is the scruffy Black Sheep of Social Media platforms where the worst of Reddit, Tumblr, 4Chan and the angry men in bars who shout at the TV screen come together in a raucous Free-For-All akin to the Wild West. Twitter is not your ordinary Social Media platform, so normal practice for online branding does not apply.

…a raucous Free-For-All

The unique humour of Twitter is reflected in the type of content that goes viral on the site.  As Edgar Allen Poe said, “Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see”. This is very important for Twitter. Sarcasm, hyperbole, satire and outright lying are the cornerstone of popular content on Twitter. Therefore, high-quality content will simply not cut it. On Twitter, you have to “Sh*tpost”.

“Sh*tposting”

A Google search of the term “Sh*tposting” defines it as posting “aggressively, ironically and of trollishly poor quality” with the aim of attracting attention. As a result, much of the humour you will see on Twitter makes no sense unless you are a regular user, leading some users to take tweets literally. On Twitter the truth or explanation behind an idea is especially unimportant.

Ordinary attempts to woo customers on Social Media are particularly disliked on Twitter. Sincerity is not the norm on the platform and most users care little for corporations and advertising. For a company to gain a following and generate impressions on Twitter, they must harness the style of the platform. Some brands, such as Wendy’s Fast Food or many German football clubs, do this by engaging in humorous conversations with followers or tweeting like an ordinary person. Others go even further, as Weetabix did recently.  

Thinking outside the Box

Weetabix latched onto a niche internet meme where baked beans are put in strange places by posting an image of baked beans on Weetabix. It is simple, effortless, low quality content and despite this, extremely effective marketing all rolled into one. The post garnered 135,000 likes and lead to a pile on by other brand accounts attempting to cash in on the buzz with their own bean-related tweets.

Furthermore, the post was retweeted by users 38,000 times and received thousands of comments from posters praising the thread and the social media marketing behind it. In addition, even the biggest sceptics seemed won over by Weetabix’s stunt.

“I prefer to avoid corporate content, but some of the replies to this are very funny”

Reply to the Tweet

It is quite rare for corporate tweets to receive widespread praise for their attempts to appear trendy and up-to-date. Ordinarily, being inundated with replies is a very bad sign. In the weird and wacky world of Twitter, however, going viral is the ultimate goal of Brand social media teams, no matter what it takes. The only judge of content is impressions… 

If Facebook is more your cup of tea, this helpful article can help you get your Business’s Social Media Account up and running on Facebook