The beauty of social media from a brand standpoint is the ease in which a community can be created. But all too often I see the company fail without knowing they failed. Let me explain in example form:
If you go to a convention, a meet & greet, a seminar, networking event or any other physical meeting with companies, do the booth representatives magically talk from a megaphone while hiding behind a huge logo? Hopefully no. But rather they have name badges on and are pressing palms with the folks. They’re answering questions and chatting with everyone they can, even the competition. To put in other words, they are being human.
So if this is how representatives act while on location, why are so many brands sitting faceless on a podium when it comes to Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and other social network websites? It makes no sense.
But lucky for us, there are also many brands who understand the power of social media. That it’s a two-way conversation and that listening is as powerful, if not more powerful, than speaking. Below are 15 examples of brands I adore. Nor just because they have an excellent company, but because they get the idea of being social. Here we go:
First let’s look at a few companies that are rocking their Twitter following:
Dogfish Head Brewery
Besides having extremely tasty beer and an entertaining show on TV, Dogfish Head Brewery is the essence of a solid social media strategy. They interact with their fans and tweet nothing but valuable information.
SyFy
Craig does a wonderful job in promoting the SyFy brand on twitter. He frequently has Q&A sessions as well as many fun contests and giveaways.
Research in Motion (Blackberry)
If you have a Blackberry (& a Twitter account) and you are not following these guys, you’re missing out. They are on top of the ball when it comes to customer service and fan interaction. Have a question or concern about your Blackberry? Tweet it to them and you’ll quickly have your answer.
Foursquare
There’s not much to say other than the folks at Foursquare cannot shut up on Twitter. But I say this in a lovingly good way. They regularly chat with their followers.
Craftsman
I love Craftsman’s Twitter account almost as much as I love their tools. They do a great job in keeping strong brand recognition. A personal example: I once tweeted I wanted to bust out the power tools to make my desk. Twenty minutes later Rich from Craftsman kindly sent me a tweet to post a pic when I was done. No sales pitch or anything, just two guys chatting about power tools. (lesson: set a search query to alert you of keywords in your industry)
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