Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have made it easier than ever for popular brands to get widespread exposure.
Twitter has been especially useful, letting businesses interact with customers and potential customers in real time. What companies have come to realize is that Twitter trends, the site’s way of tracking and displaying the hot topics across the globe, are great for instant brand exposure.
The problem is that this spotlight can come at a heavy price when a company jumps into the wrong Twitter trend at the worst possible time.
Learn From DiGiorno Pizza’s Embarrassing Example
Every so often there is a social issue that not only makes it to the top of Twitter’s trending list, but it also becomes headline news for major news organizations. With that much light on certain events and topics, it seems ideal for companies to participate in conversations with twitter comments.
However, a professional business must realize that not all conversations welcome advertising or off-color remarks.
The #WhyIStayed Twitter trend is a recent example. The Twitter trend became popular following the Ray Rice domestic-violence scandal as a direct response to criticism of Janay Rice.
The person or persons responsible for the DiGiorno Pizza Twitter account saw the popularity of the trend and decided to write “You Had Pizza.”
Shortly after the criticism started, the offending tweet was deleted and an apology was made. “[I] did not read what the hashtag was about before posting,” was the excuse given. The person also personally apologized to outraged individuals that tweeted at the account.
While the regret seems genuine, it must be pointed out that the situation could have been avoided if the individual read the tweets within the tag before commenting.
Taking the Topic Into Consideration Is Very Important
While the previous example could have been avoided if the person running DiGiorno’s Twitter account had read the associated tweets, some businesses will participate in topics in an inappropriate way.
A different example was the SpaghettiOs Pearl Harbor controversy that occurred in December 2013.
On the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor (the event credited with bringing the United States into World War II), SpaghettiOs’ Twitter account posted an image of their cheerful mascot holding an American flag.
While it appeared that the company was fully aware of the event and had the best intentions, it was greatly underestimated how upsetting the tweet would be.
Pearl Harbor was a very traumatic event in our nation’s history. It is something that is in stark contrast to a cute animated mascot, not to mention the anger generated over using one of the gravest events in American history for advertising purposes.
The negative response demonstrates fully that even if a company is aware of a Twitter trend’s purpose and has prepared ahead of time to share information, it can still get into trouble for problematic content.
Follow These Positive Examples to Avoid Trouble
It is very possible for a company to talk about serious topics and not only avoid controversy, but be held as a positive example for other businesses to follow.
HydroWorx, a popular aquatic therapy company, understands the power of using Twitter to reach out to individuals in a compassionate and tactful manner. As you can see, HydroWorx frequently participates in Twitter trends and interacts with various individuals. It also provides links to its blog as well as helpful articles.
All of this is accomplished by both paying attention to the relevance of the tag as well as using the appropriate tone.
While HydroWorx finds that a kind and personable tone to tweets works, some company twitters prefer humor and jokes. While this has landed some companies in hot water, if used the right way, the joke can go viral and even earn positive attention.
Arby’s Twitter account pointed out that there was a great deal of similarity between the brand’s logo and the hat worn by popular recording artist Pharrell Williams. The response from Williams made the situation even more hilarious.
The timing and nature of the tweet will set the gold standard for many years in terms of a company knowing how and when to react to a pop culture moment.
There are a few takeaways that you must strongly consider when choosing to interact on Twitter and use trending topic tags.
Of course the more serious and upsetting the topic, the less likely that it will be right for a company to enter the discussion. Even if intentions are well meant, onlookers will still view it as an advertising ploy. Unfortunately, much of the time this view is accurate.
The exception is if the serious or offending situation somehow involves the company or companies in question. Then it is essential that the business speak up.
Companies are usually encouraged to be sure that the person running their Twitter account knows how to navigate popular trending topics. Reading the trends should be mandatory and the individual should be encouraged to only tweet about relevant topics of obvious humorous situations.
Too often, businesses have far more to lose by jumping into serious discussions at all.