Mastering Twitter takes focus and the ability to create campaign slogans that are clear and concise and done in 140 characters or less. That leaves you with little to no room for error to occur. One wrong click of the button when there is a mistake in your message quickly sends the wrong brand awareness message to approximately 1.3 billion Twitter users. Here are ten ways that you can successfully run campaign on Twitter that will catch the eye of your target market and industry influencers.
1. Show Your Comical Side
Twitter is a great platform to share the funny, casual side of your business. Create a comical tweet that includes a current trending topic while also centering on your brand awareness message.
● Charmin
Charmin took a comical look at one of the most common activities that no one talks about, using your cell phone while in the bathroom. They presented a primary survey question to the Twitter world asking what users thought about streaming video content while in the bathroom. The tweet had a cartoon character bear looking at a cell phone while standing in front of the toilet.
2. Create a Hashtag Campaign
Few things will bring potential new customers through your virtual doorstep quicker than being the proud owner of a hashtag campaign. For that to happen, you need to stay on top of the campaign execution. You also need to make sure the campaign content remains relevant to your target market audience and highlights your brand.
● Charmin
Charmin saw success with a hashtag campaign that focuses on asking followers to tweet random thoughts from the toilet seat. Followers could share thoughts, ideas or anything else they wanted using #TweetFromTheSeat, and it quickly became a big hit.
● Red Bull
Red Bull challenged their followers to share pictures showing how creative they could be with cans of Red Bull. The challenge focused on the hashtag, #PutACanOnIt, and RedBull tweeted out images that followers sent in or tweeted themselves using that hashtag. The campaign featured fans of the energy drink coming out of a can of Red Bull with the caption ‘to infinity and beyond’ and the specific hashtag attached.
3. Personalize Trending Hashtags
An excellent way to gain new followers and engage with your current list of followers is to put your spin on a trending hashtag. By including the trending hashtag in your tweets, it places your messages in front of a new audience that has an interest in what other users are sharing about the trending topic. It also gives you the opportunity to find industry influencers that you might like to follow as well.
● DiGiorno Pizza
Two years ago when the Sound of Music aired in a live broadcast format, it didn’t take long for a relevant hashtag to start trending on Twitter. DiGiorno Pizza took advantage of this by sending out tweets with parody lyrics to some of the well-known songs from the musical like “Sixteen Going On Seventeen” and “Do-Re-Me,” that included the trending hashtag, #TheSoundofMusicLive. The Twitter world could not interact fast enough with this clever personalization hashtag.
● Clorox
When the phrase ‘Damn Daniel’ went viral, the relevant hashtag was born. Several companies created campaign messages around that hashtag but few saw the level of success that Clorox did. The company cleverly extended an offer to social media star, Daniel Lara, the focus of the popular ‘Damn Daniel’ slogan, to use their wipes to clean the dirt off of his shoes. A picture of white sneakers covered in dirt accompanied the tweet.
4. Make Humorous Replies to Customer Complaints
Receiving complaints about your product or service from customers is never an easy thing to face. Disgruntled customers often take to social media to air their grievances, making the situation even worse. Instead of making a formal response, try taking a more humorous approach with unhappy customers.
● Old Spice
Old Spice won the hearts of many Twitter users from one simple reply to a customer request. Upon being tagged in a tweet asking the company to love the individual, Old Spice gave a short yet comical response telling the user to try Tinder, the online matchup site, instead.
5. Practice Influencer Marketing
One of the most effective Twitter campaigns you can run calls for you to join forces with an influential user who has thousands of followers. When your campaign message pairs up with this type of user account, your brand awareness expands as that new audience begins to take notice.
● IMBD
Before the start of last year’s Oscars television event, the Academy of Arts and Sciences collaborated with Henry’s Hard Soda company. There was a simple tweet message that told followers to prepare for the upcoming awards show by binge watching movies featuring the nominees for that year.
● Corona
In celebration of summer arriving, the adult beverage company partnered with several influential accounts. Each of these accounts asked their followers to tweet creative pictures showing the famous Corona bottle on a summer vacation. It was called the Corona Fakecation, and users could not tweet their pictures fast enough.
6. Create a Personal Hashtag Emoji
There are two things that many people love about social media: hashtags and emoticons. Twitter gives you the opportunity to combine these two favorite items and create a hashtag emoji that represents your brand. At the present, Twitter only allows you to use a hashtag and emoji combination for a specific time frame. When that time ends, the emoji is no longer visible, and only the hashtag is left. While the combination remains, you can make a creative campaign that reaches new audience members.
● Coke
Coke was the first company to take advantage of the hashtag and emoji combination with the #ShareaCoke campaign that spread across Twitter like wildfire. When followers included the hashtag in their tweet, an emoji of two coke bottles clinking together appears.
● Samsung UK
Samsung took advantage of the creative opportunity to announce the upcoming release of their new Galaxy S7 phone with a Gear virtual reality accessory. The company used the hashtag, #TheNextGalaxy, to create curiosity about the product. When followers added that hashtag to their tweets, a smiley face wearing a virtual reality headset appeared.
7. Real-Time Customer Service
Modern technology makes it easy for customers to reach out to your business when they are happy, angry and every emotion in between. They will tag you in a tweet that centers on an issue or problem they experience without hesitation. When this happen, you need to provide a personal response and avoid using the cookie cutter format. Respond as quickly as possible to ensure the customer feels valued and appreciated by your company.
● Dell
The computer company has established a separate Twitter account that only handles customer service issues. Customers can send a tweet to the Dell Cares account and trust that a response working to resolve their issue will follow shortly.
8. Interactive Contests
Twitter users love when a company seeks out their participation and sends free products out in return for taking part in a contest. You will benefit from hosting contests by seeing an increase in account followers and higher levels of customer participation. A contest can take any focus that you want, it all depends on what activity you are looking to enhance. Send followers to your website for contest participation by including a site link in your tweet. Ask followers to retweet your message or create a new tweet using a hashtag that relates to your contest.
● Prismologie
The UK based cosmetic company encouraged individuals to follow their Twitter account and retweet the messages promoting the contest. As a result, they received over one-thousand retweets and gave away gift baskets of their products to each customer.
9. Harness the Power of Graphics
One of the greatest ways to get around Twitter’s 140 character presentation format is to use graphics. It captures the attention of your target market audience as they scroll through their news feed. Present images that stay true to your brand image. It helps your audience recognize your brand and encourages interaction with that audience.
● Forever 21
On Thanksgiving day, the company posted an image on their Twitter account showcasing Joey Tribbiani, a popular character from the hit TV show, “Friends,” coming to Thanksgiving dinner wearing his fat pants. It was an instant hit with their followers.
10. Pick the Perfect Cover Photo
Select an image that clearly represents your brand image. It should be the same cover photo that is on your website and across other social media channels to establish a consistent presence.
● Starbucks
The popular coffee company has a simple yet effective cover photo on their Twitter account. It is just a plain, hot brewing cup of coffee. Customers around the globe associate that image with Starbucks instantly.
You can find something relevant to your company in each of these ten Twitter campaigns that can energize the activity seen on your account. These suggestions are a great way to increase your following, find new users to follow and create a competitive advantage that makes you stand out in the Twitter crowd.