Purpose of Report:
The 22 Laws of marketing identified by Ries and Trout are considered the fundamental principles of marketing. To devise and produce a successful marketing strategy, understanding and obeying the Laws is vital. The use of online social media platform Twitter in the modern marketing strategy indicates new, modern Laws have been established and followed. These Laws are to be demonstrated by examining five companies/services/businesses and monitor the tweets they produce as part of their marketing strategy to engage with customers, both current and potential via an online medium.
The purposes of this report are:
1) To determine the primary ‘Five Immutable Laws of Twitter’;
2) Using these identified Laws;
i) To analyse the strategy of each Law
ii) To analyse the execution of each strategy by the selected monitored company/business/service
iii) To determine the success/effectiveness of the company/business/service in their execution of the Laws.
The report will reiterate the importance of understanding and adhering to the identified Laws of Twitter. The result of this report will be to confirm that effectiveness of Twitter use is proportional to the successful understanding and obeying of the Laws.
Appendix I – List of followed Twitter accounts used to collect analysed data and a brief company/business/ service description.
Allen & Overy Graduate Recruitment
Twitter handle: @AllenOveryGrads
The Graduate Recruitment team of international ‘Magic Circle’ commercial law firm Allen & Overy run this account to engage with prospective employees and students interested in pursuing a legal career.
Kerrang! Magazine
Twitter handle: @KerrangMagazine
A UK-based rock magazine which during the 2000s became the best-selling British music newspaper.
Motelrocks.com
Twitter handle: @MotelRocks
A vintage-inspired fashion independent retailer operating exclusively online.
Ulster Rugby
Twitter handle: @UlsterRugby
A Professional Irish Provincial Rugby Club which is based at Kingspan Stadium, Belfast and competes in the Guinness PRO12 and European Rugby Champions Cup.
Waterstones
Twitter handle: @Waterstones
A popular and well-established British book retailer that operates approximately 275 stores and employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe as of February 2014.
N.B. A variety of accounts were followed to ensure the identified Twitter Laws could be as broadly applied as possible and not restricted to one business sector, etc.
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Introduction to Report
Twitter is a popular social media platform launched in July 2006, enabling users to network by creating and posting 140 character limited text messages, known as ‘tweets’ to other users. Tweets remain on the user’s account unless deleted, and accounts may be public or private at the discretion of the user.
Twitter was devised to act as a free online platform for quick mass communication, allowing users to interact with each other via use of the website interface, SMS or the Twitter app. It has since been recognized as a valuable marketing tool in business. This is especially true considering that as of July 2014, Twitter has more than 500 million users, out of which more than 271 million are active users.1 It was also one of the ten most visited websites in 2013.2 Companies can communicate and promote for free, they can engage directly with both current and potential new consumers, develop and maintain customer relationships and obtain feedback on their products and services in real time. It is also an effective tool to ensure brand recognition and to gain and maintain brand loyalty
However, traditional marketing strategies tend not to succeed on Twitter due to its unique ‘tweet’ medium with a restriction on word limit. As an online user, personality, casual engagement and genuine interest and respect for your audience, or ‘followers’ is important. In order to reap such benefits from Twitter, companies must ensure they adhere to relevant marketing laws. The following have been identified as the necessary five laws to ensure an effective Twitter marketing campaign.
1) The Law of Engagement
- A presence on social media needs be just that: social. To successfully utilise Twitter, you must engage with potential customers.
Twitter is a social media platform. It is a thriving network of active users – in 2012 alone 340 million tweets on average were posted daily.3 In order for a company to fully utilise Twitter as a marketing tool and therefore gain the benefits of an online presence, the company must ensure it actually uses the account. An effective marketing strategy cannot be successfully executed on Twitter by simply posting tweets and hoping that followers read them. Followers should be engaged with, and this can be done via a number of different ways.
Firstly, the company should tweet regularly. Doing so demonstrates to followers and potential customers the company’s Twitter profile is active and they are guaranteed to be able to interact with real people, and not a machine. An active Twitter account creates the perception of good customer service and genuine attention to detail, both of which are essential to creating long-lasting relationships between a company and its customers. Infrequent tweeting, for example once a week or once a month may result in followers ‘forgetting’ about the company4 or unfollowing the company, which will therefore lose online presence and a potential audience.
Secondly, companies should fully utilise the number of opportunities to interact with followers. There is the opportunity to directly reply to tweets sent to the company’s account, to reply privately and personally through ‘DM’ or ‘Direct Message’. Companies can also ‘retweet’ (publish a tweet that it not their own to their profile) or ‘favourite’ tweets mentioning them. The aforementioned opportunities can also be used by followers and/or potential customers. Retweets and comments are an informative way to determine how effectively your content is resonating with your audience. The more compelled readers are to engage and share material, the more on-point that company’s message is with their targeted audience.5 It is essential to ensure that any material tweeted is relevant or useful information, content your followers will read, click on, retweet and/or favorite.
An example of an effective marketing strategy being successfully executed through following the Law of Engagement is evidenced in by @MotelRocks. This company tweets on a daily basis, taking care in creating the perception of a close relationship between itself and its customers – this is essential to the success of the company as it is strictly online based and so needs to maintain an active and engaging online presence. @MotelRocks will answer any question tweeted at it, for example as posted on 3rd November: ‘Hey @(username omitted for privacy) Our email is: [email protected] :) x’. The reply is engaging through the suggestion of a personal relationship.
In addition, the company will demonstrated engagement through exemplary customer service, as posted on 13th November: ‘Your tweet has been favourited so a member of our Customer Service team can be in touch x’ and also by publically apologizing, see 3rd December: ‘I'm really sorry to hear that! If you drop us an email we can help out further! :)’. @MotelRocks will also favourite or retweet complimentary tweets from satisfied customers; by adhering to the Law of Engagement the company builds brand loyalty and brand equity.
In contrast, @UlsterRugby does not follow the Law as closely as @MotelRocks, which is potentially damaging to the company’s brand equity and marketing strategy as being a sport’s team account, it needs to be engaging with fans. Whilst the company will frequently retweet relevant and interesting information, for example live match updates and commentary for fans without television access, the personal touch mastered by @MotelRocks is lacking with @UlsterRugby, who will not post replies as frequently as @MotelRocks. For example, in reply to a disappointed fan seeking tickets to the next match on 11th November the company could only tweet: ‘Sold out. Sorry.’ This bland apology mars the developing relationship between the customer and the company, especially when contrasted to @MotelRocks’s use of emoticons to convey personal emotion.
2) The Law of Variety
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with the style of your tweets.
Running an account on a busy and crowded social media platform such as Twitter requires creativity and variety in order to enable a company’s tweets to stand out, especially from competitors. In addition, a marketing strategy cannot be successfully realised if there is nothing to allow it to be unique. For a marketing strategy to be successful, potential customers must have their attention seized and their interest heightened. This is obtainable on Twitter; a company must simply follow the Law of Variety, which will require the company to consider every aspect of its interaction and presence on the website.6
In order to cultivate variety, a company can use different mediums to promote its message and therefore execute its marketing strategy. It may consider integrating visual content, for example tweeting photographs of its products, or videos which provides a richer experience for its followers and new viewers of its account. It could also tweet links to its main website, or to websites containing interesting news and relevant information, for example a news story about a recorded increase in sales which creates the perception of a strong reputation and increases brand equity.
The Law of Variety has been carefully followed by @Waterstones. @Waterstones, a company currently struggling to increase sales post-recession, relies heavily on Twitter to promote its products. It has recognised that the Law of Variety will ensure a sustained interest in its products and also aid in maintaining much-needed customer relationships, as it presents itself as ‘different’ from competitors by posting tweets in a variety of styles.
For example, the company will regularly post photographs of newly released books, such as on 3rd November. @Waterstones also incorporates the Law of Variety with the Law of Engagement by running weekly interactive sessions, such as ‘#WednesdayStory’ in which followers are encouraged to create their own story one sentence at a time, starting from a sentence posted by @Waterstones. The company will also tweet quotations, for example on 13th November: ‘Me, poor man. My library was dukedom large enough’. (Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest, A1S2).
In contrast, @UlsterRugby does not follow the Law of Variety as closely as @Waterstones. The company will post tweets relating to competitions, such as on 1st December and will also post videos or vines, as demonstrated on 6th December. However, apart from match days or competitions, videos and photographs are more likely to be retweeted from another account than posted personally. The tweet format remains consistent; the company also does not post as frequently as @Waterstones even when it attempts to inject variety into tweets. A lack of variety would perhaps frustrate followers, maybe to the point of unfollowing. It is interesting to note the difference in follower count of both accounts, with @Waterstones having over 109 thousand followers whereas @UlsterRugby has 68.9 thousand. This may be due to the nature of their respective businesses, but it is submitted that @UlsterRugby could increase its follower count and therefore prospective customers by abiding by the Law of Variety.
3) The Law of Personality
- No one wants to be hounded by generic promotion on a social media platform. Develop a unique personality and let it shine through.
As previously discussed with the Law of Variety, it is vital that an account seek to differentiate itself from competitive accounts on Twitter. Another means of ensuring differentiation is by encouraging the desired target audience to perceive the account as having its own distinct personality to be associated with the company. This has the benefit of creating a personal bond between the follower and the account and therefore a consequential strengthening of the customer-company relationship. A potential customer will find it easier to engage with a company Twitter account if they perceive it has having its own unique personality.7
This can be achieved by having a bold and visible company logo, a ‘quirky’ Twitter handle or a vivid, colourful background for the profile page. This also has the effect of promoting your brand and therefore promoting brand equity. 8 The ‘bio’ on the profile can also include a link to the company’s main website, or be written in a different style for example a humorous tone or less formal language.
The Law of Personality can be demonstrated by visiting the profile page of @KerrangMagazine. The ‘header’ is stark and bold and swearing is sometimes present in tweets.
@KerrangMagazine also hosts ‘Band Take Over Days’ whereby musicians tweet under the company for a day, ensuring interesting personalities are a regular feature of the account.
The company has therefore cleverly created an almost rebel-esque personality to fit with the musical groups it specializes in; it also enables potential customers to relate to the magazine as ‘being like them’ and therefore creates new relationships through a successful marketing strategy.
Contrastingly, the Law of Personality can be demonstrated in a different manner by @AllenOveryGrads. As the Graduate Recruitment page of a leading international law firm, the profile page is extremely professional and tame. The company logo is prominent as the profile picture and the company name used in the twitter handle. Tweets, especially when answering questions from graduates, are respectful, mannerly but also hint at care and attention eg 20th November, ‘We are looking forward to it too, the festive season is always a great excuse to get everyone together!’. The Law of Personality is thus successfully adopted in a different manner, reflecting the professional quality expected of a law firm.
4) The Law of Limit
- You are confined to 140 characters. Each must count.
Twitter is immediately associated with its distinguishing feature, that of its character limit. As such, when being used as a marketing tool this limit must be kept in mind. It requires the company to think carefully about what it should post and how it should organise its tweets.9 However, such a restriction can be utilized to the advantage of the company by ensuring it posts creative tweets and executes its marketing strategy in an innovative manner. This means followers will not be inundated with lengthy and dull tweets that will frustrate them. Instead, concise and carefully planned tweets that are aware of the character limit can instead sustain interest and maintain relationships.
Careful planning is consistently evident in @AllenOveryGrads tweets. For example, they understand that as Graduate Recruitment, Law students look to their Twitter account for advice regarding the application process. @AllenOveryGrads successfully meet customer expectations and therefore secure their brand equity by providing advice in a concise, understandable manner whilst abiding by the 140 character limit. For example, their ‘Top Five’ tweet series are always eagerly awaited by students; e.g. on 27th November:‘Top 5 application research tips – 4. Dig deep on firm websites: press releases, research, awards are all useful #notjustthebrochure #high5’. Useful information is conveyed in an accessible manner and the use of hashtags ensures the advice is searchable; it also ensures the character limit is met.
5) The Law of Amalgamation
- Just like a bird-table feeds multiple species of birds simultaneously and with ease, Twitter should be used as a platform to incorporate other marketing strategies.
Twitter may be a useful marketing tool and aid in the execution of a successful marketing strategy, but it must be acknowledged that it is simply that - an aid. It cannot be solely relied upon for the entire success of the marketing strategy. Companies which understand this are the companies with the largest target audience as they spread their presence and message across various marketing mediums. 10
Twitter is at its most useful when used alongside other social media websites. It can be used to initially attract the interest or increase the interest of consumers, or to act as a ‘signpost’ referral mechanism to point interested customers or potential customers in the right direction.
For example, @MotelRocks satisfies its fashion-loving customers by posting photographs of its products to Instagram, then will subsequently will post the Instagram link to Twitter for example on 17th November. @MotelRocks – as previously mentioned, an online only retailer - also includes a link to its online store within its Twitter ‘bio’, completing the collective incorporation of websites. This also allows for user-accessibility, which will endear the company to interested customers.
Including a link to the company’s main website is also used in the ‘bio’ of @Waterstones, demonstrating that even as a physical store, it understands that online shopping is an important market to acknowledge and compete in.
Conclusion
As evidenced in this report, the identified Twitter Laws are important rules which if adhered to provide for an effective execution of a company’s marketing strategy via this unique social media platform. The data collected and analysed from the followed companies confirms that effectiveness of Twitter use is proportional to the successful understanding and obeying of the Laws.
However, it should be considered that merely abiding by the rules will not guaranteed the increasing of brand loyalty or equity, nor can the laws ensure Twitter popularity. For example, a newly created company may run a Twitter account for a year before an older, established popular company joins the website. Regardless of having the longer Twitter presence, it is likely the newer company will not be as popular as it is not as well-known. It would be submitted however that should the newer company adhere to the Laws, for example maintain an active and engaging presence and cultivate an unique personality, in the absence of the same from the older and popular company, the follower count of the newer company should increase.
In sum, Twitter is a powerful tool. It must be accepted however that social media is generally limited in its usefulness as a marketing tool, and Twitter may be further restricted through its limited character limit per tweet, etc.
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Footnote citations:
1 ‘Twitter Reports Second Quarter 2014 Results’. Twitter. (29/07/2014). Accessed 20/11/2014.
2 ‘Twitter.com Site Info’. Alexa Internet. (01/04/2014) . Accessed 18/11/2014.
3 http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/30/
4 http://www.cio.com/article/2380667/twitter/14-ways-to-use-twitter-to-market-your-business.html
5 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/04/01/how-to-build-a-winning-twitter-strategy-in-2014
6 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/04/01/how-to-build-a-winning-twitter-strategy-in-2014/
7 https://blog.kissmetrics.com/2013-twitter-marketing-guide/
8 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226149
9 http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/5steps-twitter-marketing-strategy/
10 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226149
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References
Alexa Internet - ‘Twitter.com Site Info’ (01/04/2014). Accessed 18/11/2014.
DeMers, J. – ‘How to Build a Winning Twitter Strategy in 2014’ (Forbes, 01/04/2014) http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/04/01/how-to-build-a-winning-twitter-strategy-in-2014/ Accessed 18/11/2014
KISSMetrics - ‘The 2013 Twitter Marketing Guide’ https://blog.kissmetrics.com/2013-twitter-marketing-guide/ Accessed 16/11/2014
Lunden, I. – ‘Analyst: Twitter Passed 500M Users In June 2012, 140M Of Them In US; Jakarta ‘Biggest Tweeting’ City’ (TechCrunch.Com, 30/07/2012) Accessed 01/12/2014
Oden, L. – ‘Five Steps to Build a Twitter Marketing Strategy’ http://www.toprankblog.com/2010/05/5steps-twitter-marketing-strategy/ (Top Rank Online Marketing Blog, 2009) Accessed 19/11/2014
Prodromou, T. – ‘Using Twitter for Sales and Marketing’ (Entrepreneur, 21/03/2014) http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226149 Accessed 19/11/2014
Ries, A. and Trout, J., The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing (Harper Collins, 1993)
Schiff, J. – ’14 Ways to Use Twitter to Market Your Business’ (CIO, 25/11/2013) http://www.cio.com/article/2380667/twitter/14-ways-to-use-twitter-to-market-your-business.html Accessed 16/11/2014
Twitter - ‘Twitter Reports Second Quarter 2014 Results’ (29/07/2014). Accessed 19/11/2014.