There’s little question that for many companies, Twitter is good for business. With more than 300 million user accounts and about 13% of online adults in the U.S. using Twitter (Pew Internet, June 2011), there is increasing potential for companies to connect and build relationships with customers, and increase brand awareness and revenue. Twitter has become a hotspot for social media-savvy brands, and the best-of-the-best use creativity and a customer-centric focus to engage their audiences and cultivate true brand ambassadors. But for a brand to truly succeed on Twitter, they must look beyond the number of followers and retweets, and instead focus on the level of engagement they have with the stakeholders who can – and do – impact their bottom line. Take a look at ten brands that are doing it right.
Leverage Zilliz Serverless - Up to 50X Saving for Your Vector Storage Cost
10 Engaged Brands on Twitter
1.
2. TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged
Brands on Twitter
We love Twitter. It’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s a hotspot of social media-savvy brands. The
top brands truly engaging on the #1 micro-blogging site are being innovative,
imaginative, and seriously customer centric. What we found in researching leading
brands by Twitter engagement was impressive—and we believe the best practices
exhibited by our top picks will impress you, too.
Rather than just pull a list of leading brands by number of Twitter followers from
existing tools, we dug deeper for a sampling of companies across industries ranging
from sports and retail, to media and more. We were happy to find more than a few
B2B leaders in the mix. We then reviewed these picks by Twitter engagement and
an assortment of metrics, including online sentiment, using the Sysomos MAP
(Media Analysis Platform). Finally, we threw in a few surprises. No matter the
industry, they are all world-class winners!
3. 1. Cisco Systems
B2B Twitterer of 2010 Returns
The numbers may not seem atmospheric,
but 90k+ is nothing to turn your nose up at—
especially for a B2B brand. What we like
most about @CiscoSystems is that it’s
completely connected and engaging across
all possible social media channels. The
company has multiple Twitter accounts,
uses a conversational voice, and can work a
mean hashtag conversation.
As a communication and network devices
company, Cisco interacts on all levels—and
an online favorable sentiment rating of 93%
this month is its reward. Its Twitter account
holders reply instantly to comments, upload
videos, and always retweet. Making it to
Mashable’s Top Brand list doesn’t hurt its
place in the spotlight, either. Cisco is a B2B
winner, and we need more of those!
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
4. 2. NBA
Taking it to the “Net”
@NBA is ranked #3 on Tweetgrader’s Top
100 Most Powerful Brands on Twitter. Three
million followers? Check. Engagement?
Check. We saw an impressive volume of
retweets, thank you’s, and answering of
questions. High listed percentage? Yep. The
NBA is on 23k+ group lists, created by
Twitter users who want to stay in touch with
their favorite brands and peeps.
Of course, we had to look at the rest of the
NBA’s social profile, as well. The league is
certainly scoring big on Facebook. We saw
almost 11 million fans on its page and tons
of pictures, videos, mentions of charitable
activities and requests for engagement.
Instead of going dark during the ongoing
lockout, the NBA is doing a full court social
media press—and we like that spirit.
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
5. 3. Mashable
Representing the Geeks
Let’s face it: 2.5+ million followers, a #9 listing
on Tweetgrader, and a totally integrated
social media web presence are tough to beat.
Mashable is also rocking the Google+ scene
and its Facebook page is overrun with fans.
We saw over 688k on one account, with
several additional accounts falling under the
same brand umbrella.
Mashable unfortunately doesn’t engage that
much on its stream, which can come across
more like a news ticker tape. But the tech
media site is completely social and engaging
is the way it makes it easy for fans to share
its stellar content. You are faced with
amazing breaking news links and a massive
library of 100% sharable information
everywhere you turn on the site and its social
channels. Sharing is caring!
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
6. 4. E! Online
Taking the Oscar in Tinseltown Tweets
E! Online enjoys 3.5 million followers and is
#12 on Tweetgrader’s list. We like the
entertainment media group for its
humorous banter. It shares personality-
fueled comments and keeps us updated on
the latest fashionistas with a fresh, cheeky
approach. It’s a style junkie’s RSS feed that
just keeps giving. If it’s happening, rest
assured that E! Online is tweeting, posting
and commenting about it. We give it points
for being so well connected.
Other stats bear mentioning, too: E! Online
enjoys an 88% female audience, a high
33% of which is over 30, and the
overwhelming majority of its followers
comes from the U.S., specifically California.
For captivating an oft-neglected audience
online, @EOnline takes the Oscar.
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
7. 5. Breaking News
Worldwide Mobile Connection
@Breakingnews features instant news
updates from all over the world, and is
pretty enticing. The fact that it enables
users to grab live updates via social feeds
and AP sources on their mobile devices is
even more awesome. At #16 on
Tweetgrader’s list, with over 3.2 million
fans, this site is marrying mobile with
social in a way that epitomizes what
engagement is all about.
Most traditional news sites tend to focus
more on presenting volumes of content
and less on one-on-one engagement. We
like the brand’s use of high-powered
retweets to share the spotlight. Add in a
decent following of 70k on Facebook and
a global focus, and we’ve got a winner.
We like the whole package, especially its
real-time, on-the-go mojo!
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
8. 6. Whole Foods Market
Organic and Connected
We’re fans of landing pages. When you click
Whole Foods Market’s Tweetgrader listing
(at #20, with 2 million followers), you are
taken to its Twitter social media landing
page. Every Whole Foods Twitter account
you could ever want to find across
departments and across the United States is
there for your engaging pleasure! We think
that’s really cool, and super user-friendly.
We especially think it’s impressive that
Whole Foods actively engages with
customers, too. Sure, its peeps tweet out
“fresh now” specials. But they also discuss
micro-niche foodie concepts with a mad
passion. Best of all, they enthusiastically
respond to people talking about, around,
and to the brand. Whole Foods Market
walks its talk about being “real and fresh”—
both in its store aisles and on Twitter!
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
9. 7. Etsy
Crafty Community Fun
Before you dismiss this massive, largely
female, community of homemade crafters
and artisans as niche, realize that @Etsy
ranks #30 on Tweetgrader’s list with 1.5+
million followers. And, according to its Twitter
reach and engagement numbers, it also gets
shared by dedicated retweeting grassroots
fans. No PR army here. Just real women
sharing their crafting passion.
Here’s what we love best: Nearly all of Etsy’s
tweets are direct responses to its fans and
followers! The sense of an online, homey
gathering place for crafters to sell their wares
and goods is a big part of what works on the
site and via its Twitter handle. It’s definitely
not your grandma’s crafting corner, so we’re
hoping you’ll join us in engaging with this
marketplace that reconnects producers and
consumers online.
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
10. 8. Ustream
Video Power to the People
The social media revolution has turned
traditional media on its ear. You may not
like the run-n-gun amateur style of some
people’s live-streaming video work, but
millions of social media users are fans.
Exhibit A: @Ustream. You can’t really get
more engaged than your entire content
funnel consisting of live, crowdsourced and
community-created material, can you?
With 1.5 million followers and the #31
position on Tweetgrader’s Top Brands list,
Ustream is just getting started. Its Twitter
feed announces live shows to engage
followers, and it constantly retweets live
updates from Twitter followers about being
citizen journalists and moviemakers. We
love the grit, the live action, and the digital-
savvy evident here.
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
11. 9. Lennar
Homebuilder for the Twitterverse
We peeked at NetProspex’s 4th annual
Social Business list for an overview of the
companies with the highest number of
employees plugged into social media tools
like Twitter and LinkedIn. That’s where we
found @Lennar, a surprising gem of social
media engagement.
You wouldn’t really expect a homebuilder to
have 100k Twitter followers. Nor would you
expect it to rank #2 on the NetProspex list
—but there they are at the top. A leading
Fortune 500 company, Lennar is engaging
on all cylinders. Its Twitter handle actively
thanks followers for Klout adds, makes and
posts videos, hosts interactive contests,
and offers frequent shoutouts. This brand is
doing it right. Sign us up!
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
12. 10. Solazyme
Engagement with a Sense of Mission
A Twitter following of 10k is respectable
for a niche manufacturer—especially
when you consider that many B2B
manufacturers aren’t even on social
media. Add in the fact that the majority of
Solazyme online followers are digitally
connected males under 30 expressing a
94% positive sentiment rating about the
brand, and it becomes clear that
@Solazyme is an innovative contender.
Solazyme turns plant sugars into
renewable oil and is the #2 manufacturer
on the Inc. 500, with $38 million in
revenues. Its tweets eschew marketing
hype and instead offer frequent updates,
strong interaction and worthwhile videos.
A surprising choice, but we’re glad to
feature Solazyme for its foray into social
as a B2B brand. Leadership counts.
TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged Brands on Twitter
13. TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged
Brands on Twitter
Brand Engagement Beyond the Numbers
It’s easy to get blinded by the big numbers you see on Twitter. Automatic follow
programs and RSS feeds allow for a lot of online “presence”—but not necessarily a lot of
engagement. That’s why we like to find companies like the ones here that are really
leading the social media charge in their respective industries and having two-way
conversations with their Twitter followers.
We like it when brands engage. We like it when they talk to us, or better yet, with us. We
like it when we can feel the personal connection. Those are the brands that make us
want to be their fans. We’ve shared some solid examples here, but we’d also love to
hear your suggestions. Which brand engages you the best? Shout it out—we’re
listening!
14. TWITTER WINNERS
10 Picks for Most Engaged
Brands on Twitter
Next on “The Pulse”:
Show Me the Money:
10 Leading Cities for Marketing Jobs and Salaries
THE PULSE:
Delivering shareable and shareworthy content with a twist
so integrated marketing and communications professionals can work smarter, succeed and enjoy.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
www.marketwire.com
www.sysomos.com
Follow us on Twitter: @Marketwire, @Sysomos
www.commpro.biz
Follow us on Twitter: @Commprobiz
www.smartwomanguides.com
Follow us on Twitter: @smartwoman