Twitter is a potent tool in any marketer’s arsenal. Occasionally too potent. Recent blunders by celebrities have proved that hashtags can be as damaging to reputation as they can be enhancing of it. Zayn Malik of the pop band One Direction discovered at his expense that employing the politically laden ‘#freepalestine’ can rub some people up the wrong way and result in significant backlash including death threats. Meanwhile, professional footballer Jesus Navas of Manchester City Football Club suffered a predictable blow to his pride when using ‘#AskJesus’ during a Twitter based question and answer session with fans. It soon became clear that even loyal fans could not resist the opportunity to tweet jokes like such as: ‘Who’s God’s preferred winger, you or Moses?’
These are only the most recent examples of hashtags used without thought to the consequences. There have been plenty of other cringe worthy examples, many of which have been unforgivably employed by well respected corporations. Twitter is a fundamental part of any content marketing campaign but its use must be exercised with caution – the anonymity of social media is one of its greatest advantages for users but also one of its greatest dangers. Similarly to the above examples, social media users are not afraid to joke at the expense of a business or damage a business’s hard earned reputation. If you’re afraid of making a mess of your business’s content marketing campaign, including outreach via social media platforms, then let Crowdbait take over. We have worked with a broad range of businesses to deliver content marketing with panache.