Big brands fail at social networking

It seems that even some of the biggest brands in Australia aren’t using social networks to their full potential (or even at all).

What it appears to come down to is a lack of preparation and thought before launching into a social media strategy. Big brands are hearing the word ‘Twitter’ and knowing the hype surrounding it are setting up a presence and all but abandoning it.

Simon Canning (The Australian) says that in some research conducted, 40% of the top 20 Australian brands have a twitter account and 44% of those lay dormant.

It is not enough to sign up for an account, hoards of ‘followers’ will not automatically flock to your account and add you, you have to work at it!

Twitterers are becoming more savvy, dropping follows when they aren’t getting anything from them is as common as ‘de-friending’ on Facebook.

Telstra and Billabong have woven social media into their marketing strategies, Billabong are engaging their audience with conversations about issues related to products (such as surfing) but not necessarily about the products themselves.

Starting a conversation with your audience will see your list of followers grow, along with your brand awareness.

The Webber Shandwick research Canning sites in his article sums it up perfectly:

"If you are going to get involved you need to do some deep thinking about what are your objectives, the best-practice examples are leveraging social media in an integrated fashion to deepen relationships, personalise their brands and provide customer service."