Beware of the Doughnut Scavengers on Twitter
In primary school, I had a friend that I was friends with because his Mum used to pack him doughnuts for lunch. He got doughnuts everyday. Doughnuts weren’t a big deal for him. But I loved doughnuts. Loved ‘em! And he knew this. So every lunch he would share his doughnuts with me. This meant that I spent fifteen minutes with him at little lunch every day. There wasn’t much talk during this time, just doughnut eating. That was it.
I never hung out with him in class, on weekends, after school or on excursions. I never invited him over when I could choose one person to come over to our place for a sleep over. He wasn’t my first choice to swap footy cards with. Basically, if he didn’t have doughnuts, I wasn’t around. Kids are cruel.
Needless to say it wasn’t a long lasting friendship. I have no idea where he is now and can’t even remember his last name. I fear some companies may be making the same mistakes on Twitter…
It’s great to have a network to talk to but you have to earn their respect. You can’t buy it. Dominos and Wofit actually have a strong presence on Twitter and don’t need to resort to such tactics to lure more followers. If people are following or retweeting purely for the chance to grab free stuff then these aren’t your real brand advocates and influencers. These are your little lunch consumers.
Your after school and weekend consumers are the ones that find you, talk about you without prompting and open to having a good chat. In order to create long lasting relationships, focus on these guys and leave the doughnut scavengers alone.
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You make a really good point here. It’s much like price promotions at the supermarket, customers switch for a while but as soon as the promotion is over they go back to their normal (favourite) products.
I’ve been using Twitter for @greystonebar a bar and bottleshop in South Bank for a couple of weeks now and while I haven’t resorted to such tactics as Myers Car Park and Domino’s I admit that figuring out how best to use Twitter for business is challenging.
Mostly I am trying to engage with people in a meaningful way, more conversations than broadcasting, as well as provide value in some way or another.
What are your thoughts on how best to use Twitter in business?
I agree with Laura’s comment but I also think that it can be used to at least spark a trial of a product. If the consumer switches back then it tells you that something is wrong in the marketing mix.
Brands talk about creating meaningful relationships with their customers but then tell people who aren’t their customers that they will get something special if they follow them on Twitter. HELLO! What about the loyal followers already there! How do you think that makes them feel?
I think that a better approach would have been to give current followers something of value/discount and then publicise this so that non-followers thought “geez, I wouldn’t mind getting that … I better join so that next time I can receive the benefit”
However, I would like a free donut.
Oh….i was only following you in the hope that you would post me some doughnuts…
I’ll go back to my real friends now
Really fascinating post Nathan.
But I think there is a solid argument that sometimes I don’t want a brand to engage with me, I just want them to give me free stuff. I don’t care if you have a wanky iPhone App, but if you can give me a free sample of your product you’ve one me over.
Dominoes might be one of these brands, or at least to me. I suppose it’s about finding the right balance between “how many” and “who”. Big ups on the post.
Thanks for the discussion guys.
@Laura – I think the Oyster hits the nail right on the head here with rewarding loyal followers rather than rewarding ring ins. And as Zac says, everyone loves free stuff and will talk about it. But it’s where you direct this product that makes the difference. If you focus on those that are likely to continue a relationship you’ll get the long term gain.
I was actually one of the people that got a free pizza from Dominos. While I’m pretty happy about this – I only did it because it was free. I didn’t go out and tell anyone (except for now) about it and when it comes to Saturday night, I’m more likely to go down and order from a more authentic Italian shop rather than consider Dominos. Those free pizzas would have been more effective going to Domino’s lovers (eg. first 25 people to send in a photo eating Dominos wins a free pizza).
So, there’s definitely merit in rewarding followers- just make sure it’s for the right reasons and the right ones with the right intentions (unlike Zoe).
Bully…
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Another Advertising Wanker
Nathan Bush
Interactive Strategist, BCM
Brisbane, Australia
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