Of all the promoted tweets I’ve seen in my feed I’ve never felt sorry for BlackBerry (or is it) one of South Africa’s campaigns.
#BlackBerry #Z10 #Q10 or #Q5? Which one do you have your eye on? http://t.co/hXokQ4zlis
— BlackBerry SA (@BlackBerry_ZA) September 13, 2013
For the most part there isn’t a problem with that promoted tweet right? Well, the problem was that I just couldn’t help it but had to hit back.
None. Just iPhone // @BlackBerry_ZA: #BlackBerry #Z10 #Q10 or #Q5? Which one do you have your eye on?
— Blessing Mpofu (@blessingmpofu) September 17, 2013
I think Twitter and Blackberry made mistakes, and there are lessons for either as well as us all.
I saw and responded to the promoted tweet on September 17. Ironically a week before I tweeted about liking the new iPhone and how happy I was with the iPhone iOS7. Clearly this could have suggested to Twitter that I was fanatic about iPhone.
#5S looking sweet. liking the “64bitness” of it too…
— Blessing Mpofu (@blessingmpofu) September 10, 2013
Happy with the #iOS7 on iPhone 5 for now…
— Blessing Mpofu (@blessingmpofu) September 10, 2013
Thus, the next frontier for Twitter is determining which promoted tweets will be best for each person. That is, customise promoted tweets per individual. Sounding like Facebook? Maybe, but the greatest value for advertisers would be getting people who are likely to engage in the way they’d like them to.
I hated promoted tweets when the started but if they can add great value to me I don’t think I’d mind them much, as long as they aren’t spam. I would be more than happy be put in contact with things that matter to me.
@BlackBerry_ZA
Don’t get me wrong I’m not slamming BlackBerry, in the sense of hating on them. @BlackBerry_ZA is just not my preferred device. As my response suggests my an Apple fanatic.
So, if I were BlackBerry what would I have done? Perhaps a further disclaimer is appropriate here: it is a difficult thing to completely anticipate the outcome of every campaign. There are more than enough case studies of campaigns organizations thought were great but turned to nightmares.
Back to this campaign. The first thing I would’ve done is not bundle all the products in one promoted tweet. It could’ve been an attempt to manage the campaign costs. I would’ve chosen one product and highlighted a feature, with the intent of making the device desirable. After all, that is the point of campaigns; to raise awareness and ultimately buy-in.
The promoted tweet works off the assumption that I am a BlackBerry fan and have checked out the devices and I can’t wait to get one of them in my hands.
Before launching any campaign it is important to revisit it and ask, “what assumptions have we made?”. You may not do that with every tweet but if you are going to spend money. Although you can never completely anticipate outcomes it may be worth your while.
Your take?