Social media marketing tells us to engage with customers; to reply to @ mentions on Twitter and carefully manage each interaction with users. But often, brands ignore the ‘hidden’ conversations, the tweets which comment on a company without including its Twitter username. Tom Mason, Delineo’s social media campaign manager, offers four reasons why organisations should hunt down and reply to these comments on the social network.
Increase brand awareness
Monitoring the social web for references to your brand name, gives you the opportunity to extend your online brand awareness. Replying to tweets that do not include the Twitter handle for instance, raises the company’s profile on that particular social media channel; educating users that the brand operates across that platform. This tactic also increases the potential that the users in question will follow the account, engage with it in the future and help raise awareness of the company’s Twitter handle within their own online social circle.
Complaints are still complaints
Just because an angry tweet doesn’t reference a company’s Twitter handle, doesn’t particularly mean that you should ignore it. Any tweet, regardless of whether it includes the username, has the potential to damage a brand. A negative comment should still be managed appropriately.
Praise is still praise
Similarly, advocates on Twitter, regardless of whether they know the correct Twitter handle or not, should be acknowledged at every opportunity. Thank users for their feedback; it’s only polite.
Monitor shared content
Another nice way to track references on Twitter is to search for links to your website. Often users will post a link to a blog or a piece of advertising work without referencing the brand. By monitoring these tweets (using the top domain i.e. www.delineo.com/), you will pull in any social media comments which reference a page on a website. This technique gives brands the opportunity to monitor and engage with users who are specifically interested in one particular piece of content.
