WHEN TWITTER TWEETS BACK
Social Conversation Best Practices for Brands
Prepared by Sarah McFather | February 18, 2011
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WHEN TWITTER TWEETS BACK •
IQ
1
HP Official News
@hpnews
Palo Alto, CA
Official news from HP, edited by Ethan Bauley and theCorporate Communications team. For support, pls contact @ HPSupport . Press only: corpmediarelations@hp.com
http://www.hp.com/go/datacentral
Using social media like Twitter is an easy way tocommunicate directly with customers, so why aren’tmore companies using it or this purpose?To investigate, we ocused on the Fortune 50 list. Westarted by sending @ messages to each one askinginnocuous questions that were tailored to theirproduct and/or service. We veered rom really toughquestions that might appear to be rhetorical. We werenot seeking some groundbreaking inormation: wesimply wanted to know….
Who would write back?
O course, there were other data points we collectedbesides this, such as the number o tweets they’vewritten, the number o people who ollow them andthe number o people they themselves ollow. But mostimportantly, we wanted to know whether we would fnda timely response and i it would be inormative? Orwould we be let hanging orever?
KEy TAKEAWAyS fRom THE ExpERImENT
Based on this experiment, fve takeaways suraced thatshould be considered to help create the most positivecustomer communication via Twitter:
1. Clearly label your purpose
Make it abundantly clear what your Twitter account isintended or. I you have multiple Twitter accounts ordierent purposes, clearly present them on all your Twitteraccount pages to eliminate customer error. Be sure toinclude other helpul inormation like support numbers,links, etc.
Most companies have at least one Twitteraccount (whether they be ofcial or mapped toany sort o strategic goals). But is it being used toinitiate a dialogue with customers? Or is it simplya one-sided conversation?
THE ExpERImENT
WHEN TWITTER TWEETS BACK •
IQ
2
James (^JC) George (^GM)
Customer Service
@ChrisAtUPS @EvanAtUPS@JeanAtUPS @JenniferAtUPS@TennilleAtUPS @TeriAtUPS
2. Make it abundantly clear who you arewhen you reply
Keeping a riendly tone is important, but you still needto maintain a particular level o proessionalism soyour customer will not be conused when a seeminglyrandom person replies to the question. Either stick withthe logo o your company or use a photo that clearlyhelps defne the Twitter “team” as representatives o thecompany. I you do use a photo o the people answer thequestion, make sure the name is rom the company (e.g.HPSupport, instead o “Je”):It’s also not a bad idea to make it simple and clear whoto contact when a customer has questions. While UPS,or example, has several dierent Twitter accounts alldevoted to customer service, it may be conusing toknow which account they should use:
Misdirected message sent to @GMblogs is sent to@GMCustomerSvc with me tagged:Misdirected message sent to @WellsFargo is seamlesslyanswered by @Ask_WellsFargo.Responses rom seemingly random peoplecould spark conusion:
Wells Fargo
@mcfatherHi George here from@Ask_WellsFargo. Yes pls call our supportteam at (800) 869-3557 & inform them.Follow/msg us if u have ?s ^GM
Sarah McFather
@wellsfargoI’m travelling internationallysoon. Should I notify Wells Fargo in advanceso my credit card doesn’t get denied?
Wells Fargo
@mcfatherHi George here from@Ask_WellsFargo. Yes pls call our supportteam at (800) 869-3557 & inform them.Follow/msg us if u have ?s ^GM
GM Blog
@GMCustomerSvccan most certainly help uRT@mcfather:@GMblogsHow do I determine
if my GM has a recall on it?
GM Customer Service
@mcfatherHi Sarah! You can send me a DMwith your VIN and I’ll check for you! ^JS
Sarah McFather
@GMblogsHow do I determine if my GM hasa recall on it?
Jeff
@mcfatherHi Sarah. HP Tech support # is1-800-474-6836. Hope this helps.
I a tweet does come in that isn’t appropriateor the account, have a process in place wheretweets can either be orwarded, or quickly let thecustomer know who will be able to help.
Responses rom a person clearly identifed as a companyteam member is much clearer:UPS’s multiple Twitter accountsthat all do the same thing:Wells Fargo’s Twitter accountwith multiple contributors:
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