Which Brands Dominate Twitter and How do they Do It
Twitter has done as much as possible to level the playing field for marketers. Now nearly anyone can reach a new audience, anywhere on Earth, with nothing but creativity to propel them.
A few brands have excelled at Twitter marketing in particular, and they’re not who you may expect. The top three brands at this moment are:
Each one succeeds in a very, very different way. What I want you to learn by the end of this article is that your brand can carve out a unique place all its own on Twitter. The catch is that you have to do it yourself, and you have to do it consistently.
The three biggest brands on Twitter
How Starbucks rose to the top!
Starbucks runs their Twitter account the same way they run their stores: With lots of one-to-one interaction! Stopping by Starbucks for a morning drink is such a tradition for so many people that it’s no surprise that these same people also feel like they can tweet to Starbucks regularly too. Tweets like this are common:
Basically, someone random will say something equally random about Starbucks, the @Starbucks account will reply, and that will set off more discussion and maybe a retweet. This happens dozens of times a week. These one-to-one interactions have been a hallmark of Starbucks right from when they first started their account, and is a cornerstone of their customer service.
What you’re learning here is how you build a Twitter account one interaction at a time. Twitter users appreciate this type of personal touch more than anywhere else. Why? Because you’re not messaging them through something private like email, you’re right there (typically on their smartphone) in public for all their friends to see.
They also create content which is in tune with their audience. Selfies of drinks are common amongst their followers, and they follow their audience:
Caramelly sweet
Drizzly treat
Layers of joy
Each time we meet#IcedCaramelMacchiato pic.twitter.com/TunESDyTz4— Starbucks (@Starbucks) March 14, 2016
Samsung Mobile have incredible content
When you’re Samsung, and you pride yourself on the quality of your product, you use that product to create incredible content. Their Twitter feed is absolutely stuffed to the breaking point with a wide variety of visually appealing content. Check out how in the space of a few days they tweet out an image, a video, and a GIF:
Sync up your #GalaxyTabProS and Galaxy phone to turn your device into an authentication tool. pic.twitter.com/oYNalSyWBk
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) March 3, 2016
Outbid the competition with a twist on the wrist. Introducing the @eBay app for Samsung #GearS2. #BetterAtEveryTurnhttps://t.co/FFnht8WuAw
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) March 7, 2016
Efficiency. Fully-realized. The new #GalaxyTabProS, the first super AMOLED Windows tablet. pic.twitter.com/akb6F1aEhr
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) March 9, 2016
This gives their followers options. If you’re scrolling through their Timeline quickly while on break at work, with free WiFi, maybe you want a video. If you’re on the bus going home, maybe your mobile data would prefer a GIF, or a photo if you’re really tight on the ole data budget.
The key is that Samsung create a wide variety of content to give their followers a choice. You don’t always have to watch a video, and you’re not bored to death with photo after photo.
The other remarkable thing about their account right now is their partnerships. They work with prominent media people to show that their product is exceptional:
Have you seen our amazing 360 #ELLEStyleAwards video? Filmed on @samsungmobile's Gear 360 https://t.co/SlmReGiZtn pic.twitter.com/RhmayDsbbX
— ELLEUK (@ELLEUK) March 2, 2016
They’re not afraid to grab a quote from some guy named Mark and tweet it out:
"Gear VR is the best mobile VR experience." – Mark Zuckerberg pic.twitter.com/ujhABUDPNu
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) February 21, 2016
And they work with paid celebrities to keep their influencer marketing game on point:
#Snoopy meets #GearS2. #Samsung #CES2016 pic.twitter.com/4PqqWNp5Zn
— Samsung Mobile (@SamsungMobile) January 6, 2016
In all seriousness, their work with familiar names and brands has helped them gain legitimacy, stay on the minds of their followers, and get more retweets with valuable content. Who else out there is working with Snoopy? These are all memorable brand moments, and everyone needs to create them to stay on top.
Chanel is, simply, Chanel
The name of Chanel alone conjures up images of highly fashionable clothes, perfect-bodied models, and opulent locations. Their Twitter account takes this and runs with it, almost to the point where it’s a tongue in cheek joke!
They routinely work with celebrities:
A day with @Pharrell Williams at the #ChanelFallWinter2017 show #FrontRowOnlyhttps://t.co/KqjxYkKHOV
— CHANEL (@CHANEL) March 14, 2016
They dress their models in absurdly extravagant clothing. Seriously, how much do all these pearls weigh and how are these ladies standing up:
Pearl Necklaces: Karl Lagerfeld accessorized the silhouettes of the #ChanelFallWinter2017 show with layers of pearls pic.twitter.com/eUbaTzfKOb
— CHANEL (@CHANEL) March 9, 2016
And, just to show us how common we all are in our private moments, they tweet out behind-the-scenes content which still looks like this:
Riding Hats: the #ChanelFallWinter2017 collection hats feature straps with Byzantine crosses, pearls or camellias. pic.twitter.com/m2oHt4INCG
— CHANEL (@CHANEL) March 9, 2016
Just three supermodels hanging out backstage, super casual…
Chanel’s strategy in Twitter marketing is the same as their strategy in the clothing they sell: Everything is incredibly high-value. They tweet very seldomly, but when they do it’s an incredible piece of content. From days spent with Skateboard P (sorry, just join the party? You know him as Pharrell Williams), to models backstage, on stage and everywhere else, to showcasing their high-end product: Everything is the highest of quality.
Not every Twitter account can get away with tweeting so seldom and maintain such a huge following, but what you can learn here is the true value of great content. You can get a few followers by tweeting whatever comes to mind at any given moment, but planned content with a high value to your audience will always pull the biggest follower numbers.
What we learn from the biggest brands on Twitter
There are many ways which you can succeed on Twitter. This was shown you very clearly how three titans of Twitter marketing succeed:
- Starbucks: Showed us the value of personal interactions, and creating content that your fans can easily relate to.
- Samsung Mobile: Showed us how valuable it is to create a wide variety of content using GIFs, images, and video to satisfy their audience’s changing content needs.
- Chanel: Simply continue their offline marketing to their Twitter marketing by creating incredibly high-value content on a less-frequent basis.
Which of these tactics you focus on is up to your brand’s voice. What I can say for certain is that everyone should follow Starbuck’s example and be personal. Whether you choose to go low-key with your content, or extravagant, is up to the goals of your brand’s overall voice. Either way, the voice of your fans must be acknowledged and replied to if you want to build an audience on Twitter.
Bio:
Ernest is a digital marketer with a slight video marketing obsession. You can read more about him over on the Social Media Marketing Guide website at the link. His favorite Twitter account will probably always be Katy Perry. But that’s his business…
