From previous chapters in the Groundswell, we learned how important Twitter is for companies in engaging with the groundswell. That is no surprise since Twitter is a HUGE player on the social media scene and has some clear benefits, such as:
Clearly, Twitter is in a league all its own when it comes to a social media power play. However, like most things in life, the power of Twitter comes from what you do with it: listening to it and talking through it. These are two of the five groundswell objectives, and their close partnership enables the other three objectives (supporting with Twitter, embracing with Twitter, and energizing with Twitter) to come to fruition.
Okay, but let's break this down. By listening, we mean of course monitoring. Companies need to do their best to keep abs on what their constituents are saying. What is trending? Is one particular person or group stirring up the most action (whether positive or negative)? Depending on the size of the company--and the energy of the groundswell-- a company may need an army to keep track of their Twitter feed (which can be aided by technological listening tools) or just a few employees doing a daily scroll-through.
As we all know, Twitter is meant to facilitate conversation. So, with listening must come response. Cue the next part of engagement: talking with Twitter. Now, we don't just mean any type of input. No way! The way a company responds to what they read (ahem, listen to) is very important. Why? Well the whole point of a company using Twitter--the real end goal-- is to energize the groundswell, and you can only support, embrace, and energize the groundswell with what (and how) you give back to it.
Okay, so what is a good example of how a company should talk back to their followers, their consumers? Well, Jet Blue is one such example.
Jet Blue has been known for their incredible commitment to engaging with customers through social media, and with 1,500 to 1,600 mentions of the company daily on platforms such as Twitter it is clear that the company is committed to utilizing social media as a way to both listen and talk to their consumers. What is their over-all goal for their engagement with social media? Well, the company is all about framing their social media conversations to make it feel more like two neighbors talking, thusly making the experience personal: "Jet Blue's social media goal is for a truly organic experience, people talking to people".
How do they do this? Well, Jet Blue first sees Twitter as a customer service platform. They listen to what their 1.7 million followers are Tweeting about and then they talk to their consumers, quickly handling questions, complaints, or applauding compliments. For them its all about speed and depth of response:
They do not stop there though! Jet Blue also keeps followers interested by recognizing trends and posting about discount trips, promotions, or even travel ideas and tips.
What do you think about how Jet Blue uses Twitter? What other companies that you know are pros at talking back to customers?
I liked the breakdown you included of how Twitter compares with Facebook, Pinterest, and Linked In---it was helpful for understanding the specific advantages of Twitter. I don’t use twitter, so it’s still new to me, but I think it’s great that Jet Blue posts discounts and travel ideas. That would make me want to follow it
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeleteI should have read your blog before posting mine as I also talked about JetBlue! They really are an impressive company with how they use Twitter. Their response times and ability to address almost every comment with sincerity is very impressive. Li and Bernoff mention in the book that when a company begins engaging the groundswell with Twitter that they set the tone in how they will use it going forward. JetBlue's consistency with Twitter I think has been a major source of their success.