Rob Wolf, Nicole Taylor, Pam Moore, Tyler Anderson, and Eric Tung
What are brands doing to rise to the top of the Twitter stream? Marketers from Microsoft, BMC Software and Renaissance Hotels at Social Media Marketing World (#SMMW15) explained what has been working in their social media world.
Every Brand has Different Goal
Twitter is to inform, says Rob Wolf, social media manager, Microsoft. He manages the corporate Twitter account, which is used to break company news, along with some engagement with customers and influencers. They look to Facebook more as an engagement tool.
Renaissance Hotels, a division of Marriott International, looks to Twitter to distinguish themselves in a crowded brand market. Nicole Taylor, senior manager, digital marketing, says she is challenged to work with the local hotels to help them understand why Twitter is relevant.
The next generation of travelers is just as likely to use Twitter to comment or complain as they are to pick up the phone. In the end, they want to delight and engage their guests and try to go the extra mile through engagement.
Getting Employees to Tweet
Employees are your best advocates, but sometimes they are worried they are not allowed to share information.
BMC Software started a push to get a core group of executives to tweet says Eric Tung, social media manager. They worked with them to give them confidence in their tweeting ability through weekly sessions and individual coaching. For key executives, the social media team will help them share content through Buffer, a tool for scheduling posting.
Wolf says he needed to express to his CEO that it’s OK to share personal interests and behind the scenes insights. He pointed to John Legere, CEO, T-Mobile, who is great at sharing on Twitter.
Using the Marriott Careers Facebook Page as an example, Taylor says it gained a huge following because it was from the employee perspective. Pictures of happy employees really resonate with people.
How are brands using automation?
Microsoft does not use any automation. Wolf says he understands the need for it, especially with evergreen content. But, his reasoning is internal news can change (like a press release) and a breaking news event can make the brand seem insensitive for tweeting during a tragedy.
Both BMC and Renaissance brands have content calendars and schedule some posts ahead of time. They agreed there still needs to be the live engagement element to postings. Of course, there need to be processes in place to turn-off automated posts in the case of a crisis.
Key learnings for getting started on Twitter:
- Look to your audience, because a lot of the great content can come from them.
- Set up searches for key terms (including mis-spellings).
- Add visuals and multimedia.
- Have a point of view and know what your brand stands for.
- Experiment and use it for testing messages.
In the end, the panel encouraged the audience to help their customers or clients and make a community for them to feel comfortable participating.
How are using Twitter to enhance your brand? Please share your successes and questions.
