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How do you pitch your conversation tone on Social Media?
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Odimax
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Social Media
02 November 2012
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Social Media is all about interaction, but how do you decide what tone to take when engaging with your online audience?
O2 got the social channels buzzing, in October, with this Twitter exchange with a frustrated customer:
Next up was a “Tweet Off” between the Twitter teams at Tesco and O2, following a follower suggestion that the two should start some banter, and blogged about by Rachel Miller here: http://www.rachmiller.com/?p=3558
Responses to these exchanges were mixed, with many questioning whether the tone was right for the corporate accounts of these global brands, and whether the tweets risked alienating a lot of followers, even as they endeared the brands to younger clientèle.
With engagement the core currency for social media success, it’s essential that brands show some personality, but how much is too much?
Unfortunately there’s no definitive answer to this question, but the following tips for professional yet personable engagement should help you along the way to getting pitch perfect.
O2 got the social channels buzzing, in October, with this Twitter exchange with a frustrated customer:
Next up was a “Tweet Off” between the Twitter teams at Tesco and O2, following a follower suggestion that the two should start some banter, and blogged about by Rachel Miller here: http://www.rachmiller.com/?p=3558
Responses to these exchanges were mixed, with many questioning whether the tone was right for the corporate accounts of these global brands, and whether the tweets risked alienating a lot of followers, even as they endeared the brands to younger clientèle.
With engagement the core currency for social media success, it’s essential that brands show some personality, but how much is too much?
Unfortunately there’s no definitive answer to this question, but the following tips for professional yet personable engagement should help you along the way to getting pitch perfect.
- Be human. Even if your tweets are on behalf of a massive global corporation, it’s vital that followers can tell there is a human behind the corporate logo, rather than just an automated bot churning out marketing and promotional phrases.
- Join the conversation. If people are raising concerns, complaints or compliments, be sure to join the conversation and endeavour to contribute something of value with a solution, recommendation or a thank you.
- Be polite. On occasion, Twitter conversations can become heated and the temptation may be to lash out if someone directly criticises or abuses you and your brand. Take a breath, remain calm, and if necessary take the conversation to a more private channel either DM, email or telephone.
- Be positive. The company Twitter account is NOT the place to vent personal and company frustrations, or for slating your competitors. It’s not unusual for negative tweets from the company account to be shared and discussed for all the wrong reasons, potentially stirring up a social media PR storm. Similarly if you lash out at a critic, competitor, or public figure, such a message is likely to be grabbed onto by followers, critics and potentially the press, so keep it clean, calm and professional.
- Research. Find out what makes your followers tick, what sort of content they like to see and interact with, and when and where they’re active. Use this information to help shape your social media strategies and future postings, and show that you’re a genuinely interested member of their community.
- Use humour – but make sure it’s not offensive. If you can make your followers smile when they view your feed it boosts the sentiments they associate with your brand, and let’s face it, everyone feels better with a smile on their face.
- Build relationships. Talk to your active and engaged followers, get to know them, make an effort to follow aspect of their lives/businesses, and encourage them to engage with you in the real world, when possible – at expos and events, for example.
- Up the engagement. Once you know your audience and their limits, feel free to engage in some light-hearted banter and joking (Bodyform did this brilliantly, as documented by The Huffington Post) but be sure to remain polite and stay relevant to your brand message.
