I know a bit about Twitter. I can now even say that I have an award for Social Media. I don’t do it on a professional basis, but I do follow a number of businesses and know that when using it professionally you need to be professional. And if you are company who doesn’t really understand social media, you employ an outside company to do it for you.
You sit down and you discuss the tone of the Tweet, do you want general banter? Do you want to answer queries? Do you want to to just advertise your products? Etc Etc.
You have some idea what you are doing.
Yesterday I came across Tweets that showed me a company who had no idea what they were doing. Other than causing distress. It appeared they had bought a list of bloggers names from an agency or had typed “mummy” into the search facility on Twitter and were then blindly tweeting them to advertise their new product.
A product to help with fertility.
Now in itself that is a good thing. Infertility is a very sad topic. Heart breaking in fact. So you can imagine how upsetting it would be to suddenly get a Tweet from a company you haven’t invited into your time line that says
Coming soon. The Zestica Conception kit for couples — TTC. We love our new video. Check it our here
If you have just given birth, three days before
You have just miscarried
You are a single parent
Your wife died from a brain hemorrhage in December
Your darling nine month old died earlier this year, suddenly, in the middle of the night.
Can you imagine the hurt and pain this thoughtless Tweet generates? The last two are very common knowledge and it wouldn’t have taken two seconds to read the bio to find this out.
On who’s planet is a marketing strategy “send the same Tweet to 100 people” . How do they think that is going to generate sales?
Not only does it not creates sales now, it puts people off ever wanting to use the product.
Companies need to think carefully about their social media strategy and get it right before they are having put things right before they have even started.
Don’t you think?
I got this tweet and it made me angry. Although I have my girls now, it took 14 yrs failed IVF the late loss of our son and an early miscarriage.
Having this stuff thrust at me as the answer to everything, when I’d already tried everything just annoys me. Had they read my Bio they would have known.
Having said that it took me a year to get Bounty to stop emailing me “your baby’s development stage” emails. He even got a happy 1st birthday one.
Oh Nichola.
I am so sorry about your loss and the pain you have been through with IVF. I can’t imagine.
This is what makes this “advertising campaign” so damned wrong.
And a tweeted apology after the event is just crap.
As for Bounty that is just disgusting. Unforgivable in fact.
I am guessing this sort of thing is similar to some of those spam emails you get nowadays. Same uninvited email to everyone regardless of whether the product is wanted or not. Who knows if it is even a proper company sending out these tweets, could be someone after making a fast buck hoping somebody will be desperate enough to bite.
I must admit, if I find tweets like the ones pictured above in my stream I block without any further ado, especially if that is all the interaction there ever is. I get equally annoyed if anyone who I have decided to follow, immediately sends me a direct message advertising this or that or asking me to follow on half a dozen other social media.
People and companies often seem to think that just because it is the internet and they don’t have to look the recipient in the eye, they don’t need to employ their good manners. If indeed they have any in the first place.
Just awful. When I saw on your screengrab above who they had tweeted, I felt like crying. Awful.
Don’t get me started on this, I fear I’d not stop!
I’m with Annie. Appalling!
It doesn’t really send out the right message does it, can’t stand it when companies do this.
I’m still absolutely disgusted by their behaviour. They should be ashamed of themselves and as I’ve said before, a simple ‘sorry’ is just not good enough in my eyes.
Makes me so angry! You can’t tweet random people. They obviously don’t understand their business either as trying for a baby in itself is emotional.
Another who is with Annie. Disgusting.
Oh this makes me cross. It’s not just spam, you can set a filter on your email so you don’t have to see stupid hurtful spam, this is knocking on your virtual world front door and shouting it at you. Not good PR, not good.
Ugh. That’s so awful. All in the name of generating business and interest. Well, sadly for them they’ve generated THE WRONG interest. K
Completely with you on this one. Absolutely disgustingly thoughtless marketing tactic!