The beauty of today’s internet is that conversation with anyone, anywhere can be possible at anytime. A two-way conversation can happen instantaneously with just about anyone. And social networks have made just about anyone accessible to converse with. As usual, businesses and organizations have jumped on the ever-growing bandwagon. But how does a business become social? Organizations and business now have to define not only the products and services they offer, but also a personality their followers want to follow.
The London Eye tweets. The London Eye is a large Ferris wheel type attraction that allows you to take in the London skyline. And it has a Twitter account. What does a Ferris wheel tweet about? Well, it tweets about the weather, promotions, events, and various fun facts, of course.
What makes @TheLondonEye has done that make its profile worth following:
The conversations is two-ways.
Visitors are able to share thoughts, photos, and questions and receive a response back. This gives followers a chance to participate.
Allowing followers to share their excitement is free promotion for the attraction and an exciting way for visitors to be seen.
In a few tweets, I also saw @TheLondonEye respond to followers who questioned a fake photograph they saw about the London Eye on fire. Responding to a tweet is so much more intimate than making your followers search for a newspaper article or wait for a press conference. Instead, they receive a personal response via Twitter.
Ways to improve its profile:
The London Eye isn’t just about The London Eye
Even though the profile is dedicated to getting followers excited about it’s attraction, The London Eye shouldn’t be afraid to talk about nearby attractions or events as well. If @TheLondonEye were to tweet about St James Park, Big Ben, or the Thames River Festival they may reach people they wouldn’t normally reach, and they may get more followers. My theory is that the more respect you put out, the more respect you get back. So, instead of tweeting “Tomorrow we're going sparkling rainbow colours to mark the Thames Festival on the south bank and bankside. Come and see us sparkle!” You might instead Tweet about the dates and times of the events at the stage that The Eye overlooks during the Thames Festival and link all references to @ThamesFestival.
It’s a difficult task to make a social profile for a business or organization. Yes, you want to give your profile a personality, but it has to be a personality people like. Would you have a conversation with someone who always talked about themselves? Probably not for very long. So, then why would you follow a twitter account that didn’t have a two-way conversation? Likewise, wouldn’t you give more respect to the twitter profile that promotes surrounding events, organizations or businesses? Just like you give more respect for someone who volunteers his or her time at a soup kitchen.
What I take away from this is that a successful Twitter account has to have the following:
1) Personable personality
2) Relevant and timely information that is convenient and worthwhile for followers.
3) Active two-way conversation
4) External linkable promotions
You wrote sound advice for capturing followers and impactful content on Twitter.
ReplyDeleteWas there a reason you didn’t review a social campaign that focused on the social aspects of food? While I was researching social campaigns for my niche it was very difficult to find something close, but finally found a few that touched on pieces.
The city of Philadelphia partnered with Foodspotting and embarked on a social media campaign earlier this year to promote tourism and its food (http://marcisinteractive.com/themarcisreport/social-media-marketing/city-of-philadelphia-kicking-off-new-ad-campaign). Take a look and see what you think.
I also found a social media “cheat sheet” that can help you with your future social media campaign.
http://travel2dot0.com/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/SocialTourismCheatSheet_Travel2dot0_Consulting.pdf
Good luck on your future endeavors!
Also wanted to mention to be careful using the word "they" versus "it" - see my changes in CAPS
ReplyDeleteIf @TheLondonEye were to tweet about St James Park, Big Ben, or the Thames River Festival IT may reach people IT wouldn’t normally reach, and (REMOVE THEY) may get more followers.
First I would be remiss if I didn't mention the redundancy of today's internet. Is that in comparison to our parent's internet? So be careful of cliches.
ReplyDeleteAlso the opening statement is general and obvious. This doesn't get me excited and doesn't cause me to want to keep reading. Give me examples. Give me your passion. Give me a sunny day boating down the Thames River.
The social media plan would meet your objectives but you might want to explore more options. I think video reviews, less than 1 minute, posted to YouTube and then linked to out of Facebook and Twitter could be the best way to gain a following and define your voice.
Twitter is great for breaking news and advertising but it falls short in giving detail examples that might enhance your profile.
Sorry to be so critical but I believe this project has great potential.
There are some good comments here. I’ll single out jumping on the bandwagon as too cliché and the reoccurring “just about anyone” as too vague, but your entire opening is pretty generic. You wrote this too fast.
ReplyDeleteYour topic is good. You have to love anthropomorphized Twitter accounts. The AMNH Whale, the Mars Rover and Space Shuttle Endeavor, and the Marlboro Man are all alive and tweeting. These accounts, along with fake accounts and hashtags, are examples of individual mutations recreating the Twitter format.
That is what I try to get across with this assignment. A social media campaign is not just opening a Facebook and Twitter account. A good campaign takes its thesis and then selects and uses the best social media for it. It uses social media. The best campaigns abuse and transform social media.
Selecting the London Eye is a good idea for your purposes, but not just for the knowledge you gleaned from the account. The London Eye is a tourist attraction and your thesis rejects tourist attractions. Foodies says go find the authentic travel experience, not the tourist trap, right?
Maybe you could create a fake object account –The Rude Eiffel Tower– and make fun of Eiffel Tower snow globes, themed restaurants, cruise ships, and the entire tourist industry. In making fun of tourism, you could push authentic travel and the Foodies website.
Again, use social media. Don’t just employ it, but exploit it.
Good work.