Humor comments have had a long reign on social media, but Twitter’s new survey suggested that brands are used to come off as indistinct and outdated to users when humoristic tone is part of their messaging strategy on Twitter. Before explaining users’ concern around the lack of relevant, fresh, or entertained information, here are some important considerations taken from Twitter’s #RealTalk report:
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According to Twitter’s survey, the expectations among users are high
– When brands increase attention on the world’s reality, the expectations of people rise over brands Twitter and the way they communicate.
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Brands that rely on “jokes and fun stuff”, can feel outdated
– Younger users agreed that “brands need to evolve their tone with the times” due to current situations; not all the times are appropriate for a “LOL”.
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“Distinction is everything a brand needs to succeed on Twitter,”
Per Twitter’s #RealTalk report. “Revisit what seems right for your brand, not just what topics are trending or what other people are jumping on.”
Twitter’s new survey says that companies frequently come off as outdated to their consumers when their content is based on comedy, so it is fundamental for brands to change their messaging strategy on Twitter.
According to an analysis done by Marketing Dive from Twitter #RealTalk report, in a blind test of several tweets from important brands around the world, Twitter removed any identifiable branding element such as logotype, names, keywords, and hashtags. Then, they asked people to guess which brand was the author of that tweet. Only one in three guessed the correct brand from a list of five options.
All this suggest it is time for brands to change their messaging strategy on Twitter and avoid relying mostly on humor. As such, Brands should aim to add true value to their followers. Commenting on social and cultural issues is one approach brands can take, A 56% of survey respondents, said that brands could comment about social and cultural issues, and 37% thinks they should. A small percentage of 7%, said marketers should not tweet about social and cultural issues.
The survey results also shown that Twitter users want brands to comment about sensitive political situations. When brands dive into sensitive topics, they need to do so meaningfully and in an authentic way. Summarizing the results, we can say that a different approach from will bring more benefits for brands to get better positioning. They summed it up with a Shakespearean quote: “To thine own self be true.”
