Promotional Twitter “hacks” have been in the news a lot recently. What began as brands truly getting hacked by strangers turned into a frenzy of companies trying to imitate the same thing. Why?
Because it enhances their social presence, gives them attention and can even help their promotions! All businesses want to increase the number of followers they gain in a day, and the possibility of your tweets going viral is tempting for anyone.
But aren’t traditional marketing tactics safer than a risky fake “hack” that could potentially damage your reputation and credibility? Chipotle, MTV, Jeep and Burger King are a few of the companies that have been hacked – either by themselves or by someone else – in the last year.
Learn from their mistakes and successes to see if Twitter “hacks” can really be promotional for your business!
“Hacks” That Can Benefit Your Business Promotions
Chipotle is a company that was open about the fact that they faked their own hack in July 2013.After posting a bunch of bizarre tweets, such as “twitter friends search bar”, “twitter Find avocado store in Arv” and “Hi sweetie, can you please pick up some lime, salt, and onions? Twitter”, let’s examine how Chipotle thought their “hack” through:
- They weren’t controversial. A Chipotle representative named Chris Arnold told Mashable “it was definitely thought out: we didn’t want it to be harmful or hateful or controversial.” While the tweets were bizarre, nobody was offended or upset.
- The tweets coincided with their 20th anniversary promotion. Since their most recent promotion involved putting clues in various places, they figured adding complex clues to their social media presence would aid the promotion. People might rest easier knowing the “hack” was part of an overall promotional effort to engage with customers.
- They wanted to get people talking. By tweeting non-controversial, mysterious phrases, they hoped their followers would pay attention and try to figure it out.
And because of these reasons, Chipotle’s “hack” may have been a success. They added about 4,000 followers the day of the “hack” when they typically only add about 250 followers a day.
The “hack” received mostly positive reactions, and this could be because of the careful, non-controversial way they approached it. It’s not a stunt they are likely to repeat frequently, but it gave them a moment of blaring attention and assisted their promotional efforts.
They’re even considering releasing a t-shirt with words from one of the most viral tweets during the “hack.” In this case, Chipotle seems to be using the attention they received from the “hack” in brilliant, marketable ways.
“Hacks” That Can Cause Negative Publicity
MTV is another brand that told followers their “hack” was a prank, by tweeting that users had been “Catfish-ed.” The hack was apparently an effort to promote their sister network, BET Experience.
They approached their “hack” differently than Chipotle by tweeting things about celebrities, using capital letters and asking followers questions. Here are the ways MTV’s “hack” differed from Chipotle’s:
- They were raunchy. One tweet that may have provoked criticism was raunchy and directed at three celebrities. It said “Wowz. @SelenaGomez, @AshBenzo + @VanessaHudgens showed major skin n’ sideboob at the #SpringBreakers premiere.” While their intention for tweets like this is unclear, it could easily make followers upset and cause an uproar.
- They seemed to follow the motto of “all news is good news.” This motto might work for some companies trying to gain publicity, but in MTV’s case, there was a lot of controversy surrounding their “hack” because they didn’t seem to think about the effects of what they were posting.
Even though MTV’s hack has been more widely-criticized than Chipotle’s, they’re still getting a lot of free coverage and attention. The question is, do they really want a bad track record? It’s up to you to weigh the costs and see if a marketing stunt like this is worth it.
You Don’t Have to “Hack” to Gain Followers
Once followers realized MTV’s “hack” was a hoax, Denny’s Diner quickly posted a tweet that cleverly made fun of MTV.
They tweeted “OMG we hacked ourselves because it’s the cool thing to do!” with a picture of pancakes. Their tweet went viral and proved that Denny’s didn’t have to hack their account to gain publicity.
They stayed on top of the Twitter stunt and used humor and timing to release a tweet that got the world talking. This type of social media tactic can also give you just as much, if not more, attention and followers!
What Happens if You Actually Get Hacked?
Burger King and Jeep are two companies that actually had their accounts hacked by strangers – and many believe the same person may have hacked both accounts.
The hackers posted offensive, controversial tweets about Jeep employees doing drugs and selling their company to Cadillac. For Burger King, their images and background were changed to McDonald’s logos – their biggest competitor.
Jeep dealt with the hack by removing the tweets and not publicly acknowledging the hack on Twitter. By being quiet and composed, followers could possibly feel sympathetic towards Jeep, and the backlash from the hack might not be as strong.
Either way, the hacks brought Burger King and Jeep’s names to the center of the media’s attention. If you can handle a devastating nightmare like getting hacked in a professional way, there’s a chance you can actually turn the table around and use the attention in positive ways.
Clearly, hacking your own account is a risky, controversial marketing tactic. It’s not for everyone, especially since the larger brands seem to be the only ones bold enough to try it.
However, it’s definitely food for thought for large and small businesses alike. You may have a bunch of social media accounts, but are you thinking outside of the box to find creative Social Media Marketing solutions that can help your promotions?
http://www.sitepronews.com/2013/08/16/hacking-your-twitter-account-to-go-viral/comment-page-1/#comment-89516
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