This is the third in our installment of best-in-class digital brands from this post on my internship work.
Twitter is probably one of the best social media platforms for businesses, but it’s often overlooked – especially by larger firms. The best brands on Twitter still seem to be smaller, local companies who do a great job of creating a personality and message that followers find relevant. Keeping this up as the organization gets larger is incredibly difficult, but Benefit has done a great job of doing just that.
Listen Up!
Their first lesson for us is that consumers want to be heard on the web and even more so on Twitter. Tweeps want someone who will listen & talk back. They don’t want a celebrity that won’t converse. This is why people like Kim Kardashian are able to get so many followers: they engage. Benefit does this too, responding quickly to questions from followers and retweeting what others say.
Leak Insider Information
The second thing Benefit focuses on is using Twitter to leak information. Countless stories have ‘broken’ on Twitter because it’s easy to get information out there. You just have to have 140 characters of a story ready, not necessarily the entire idea blown out. Benefit uses these ideas when launching new products by giving hints as to what’s coming well before the product hits stores. This helps to build excitement & prepares customers to find the product on shelf.
They also create identities for new products – like their HonestLeah character for their new They’re Real mascara. These accounts can be more campaign driven and allow them to change their message style without diluting the voice of their corporate account.
The other way that companies Benefit leaks information is by talking about what it’s like to work there. Many people are passionate about companies and would love an insider’s look at being an employee there. This is great for HR and recruiting as well as creating an emotional bond between your customers and your brand. Plus, when you personalized the brand, customers are less likely to switch.
Know the Limits
Finally, Benefit knows it’s important to remember Twitter’s limitations. It’s only a 140 character message so they use links to drive traffic around their web properties whenever they can deliver a richer experience on another site. They push traffic to Facebook, other Twitter accounts, their blog, website and microsites — pretty good for a 5-second task.
