Kelley Smith

I follow a variety of brands on Twitter. They mostly consist of food related companies (@wholefoods and @foodnetwork), going green products (@sodastreamUSA), environment news outlets (@grist and @treehugger), up and coming science fiction novelists (@dahgmahn and @jonfmerz), fictional characters (@Lord_Voldemort7) and some of my favorite brands (@cococola, @NickelodenTV, and @nookBN).

But the Twitter feed that I find the most  interesting belongs to Tom Felton (@tomfelton). Felton tells me about his day, funny stories about his friends, and posts amusing pictures.  To an outsider, Felton looks like one of my closest friends tweeting to no more than a 50 people about his daily life. On the contrary, over 1 million people read these tweets everyday. It would probably be safe to assume that Felton has not even met over 80% of them. Because Tom Felton is Draco Malfoy from the movie adaptations of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter.

The young wizard still tells me about awards he has been nominated for, other movies he is in, and interacts with fans. Sometimes he points out that he is off to play golf with “The Wealseys,” Harry Potter co-stars Rupert Grint and James and Olive Phelps. Despite this, promoting his personal brand is not his main focus. Or is it?

Whether he realizes it or not, Felton is a textbook example how companies (and people) should be using Twitter to promote brand awareness. Food Network and Whole Foods give me recipes, Sodastream tells me how to make cocktails, Nickeloden tells me to turn off the TV to get some exercise, Barnes and Noble reminds me to download my free NOOK book on #FreeFriday, and Coca Cola gives me warm fuzzies by telling me to #ShakeUpTheHappiness at Christmas time. Many of these brands also reminded me to vote several times during election day.

But wait! I don’t have to buy anything from these companies to take advantage of these things!

No, but just like free samples of cheese at the grocery store incise you to buy something (even if its not the cheese), free information on the internet incises you to remain loyal to the company that provided it. By finding something to be passionate about (outside increasing sales), a company seems more like a friend. Whether it’s going green, promoting  social change, staying healthy, supporting community arts, or donating to a charity, being passionate about the community can create brand awareness without ever directly promoting the brand.

In addition, company transparency has become a huge factor in consumer trust.  By engaging in corporate responsibility and speaking to consumers like a friend through social media, consumers are less likely to be skeptical.

So whether there is a product to sell or you are simply promoting your personal brand, ask yourself what is really important to your buyers the next time  you log on to a social media site. Because tweeting about what is really important might make all the difference.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 16th, 2011 at 4:30 pm and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.