Maintaining a social media account can be a bit of a minefield. Everything you post has the potential to either brighten up your customer’s day, or give those pesky keyboard warriors something new to have a go at.
Being topical and reactive only adds to this risk, but also can heighten the reward. Posting consistently great content can make customers fall in love with your brand, while being too creative can leave you with egg on your face if there’s a chink in your armour.
Your brand perception is a big part of your defences, and can be the difference between going viral and calling in the crisis management team.
Take, for example, SpecSavers and Ryanair. Two household names who recently poked fun at British Airways after one of their Dusseldorf-bound flights mistakenly landed at the wrong airport.
Hey @British_Airways, we have a present for you 👀 pic.twitter.com/m3K9ZNk0Ew
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) March 25, 2019
Should’ve gone to Düsseldorf? #Shouldve https://t.co/XXSCbZou3R
— Specsavers (@Specsavers) March 25, 2019
Specsavers centred their messaging around their “Should’ve” proposition – a long-running, brilliantly executed and well received campaign. It was an immediate hit, with comments universally praising SpecSavers’ humour and timely response:
Whoever runs marketing at Specsavers needs a pay rise! 😂
— Tim Hoggarth (@TimHoggarth) March 25, 2019
Ryanair, on the other hand, didn’t get much love. After a bunch of negative press in recent months about its own operational failings, almost all of the responses to their post felt they weren’t in a position to throw stones:
Think I’d rather go British airways to the wrong destination than Ryanair to the right one!
— Mark Robertson (@ammark82) March 25, 2019
Really? Ryanair landed in Timisoara, RO instead of Thessaloniki, GR in January… and you left the passengers there without any info!
— Zoumpourlou (@Zoumpourlou1) March 25, 2019
The backlash was so strong that it became one of the most-read articles on BBC News, which isn’t the type of PR we imagine Ryanair were hoping for!
So two brands, both of whom created similar type of content, but with two very different outcomes. Crucially, the difference maker was each brand’s reputation at the time of posting. We’re experts in transforming the way customers feel about your brand, so if you want to strengthen your armour and help your content reach new heights, drop us a line.
