Like most Twitter users (89.4%, according to a new study by eMarketer and Lab42), I follow a number of corporate brands. The only brand to immediately follow me back? Huggies. That’s how you build brand loyalty. Opening up a two-way communication with your consumers is crucial, and Huggies is the only brand I follow that did so.
They produce more content, and solicit more responses from their followers, than all of the other brands, and they recognize the value in engagement. People like feeling as though they matter, they (we) collect Twitter followers like baseball cards, and each new one is a tip of a cap. Humans are social animals, and the desire to feel liked is strong. I am not particularly social at all, but seeing that Huggies went out of their way to follow me gave me the same endorphin kick as anyone else.
The result is a blog post like this, and it is the perfect example of earned media. Suddenly, by doing something as simple as following a twitter account that was already following them, they get free advertising. This isn’t much of an authority site, but maybe 5 or 10 people will see this. I will mention it on twitter and the other people who follow me will see it, and I will throw a link up back to the brand website (diapers, and a full baby resource!)
Studies have shown that one of the strongest incentives for consumers to purchase is the opinion of online friends. All the commercials and banner ads in the world won’t trump the words of people you know and trust. Brands need to recognize this, and leverage every piece of media at their disposal to not only reach their audience, but turn that audience into a legion of goodwill ambassadors.
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