A combination of Twitterville and a C-Net News article titled "Netflix soars as Blockbuster plans bankruptcy" inspired me to take a glance at both of their Twitter accounts. After reading Twitterville, I have become very curious about the correlation between the current success of a company and the content/quality of their tweets and overall presence on Twitter. I am beginning to understand that it's no coincidence that Southwest Airlines and JetBlue are the current superstars of air travel and they have the best Twitter accounts in the industry. In most industries, the companies with the best Twitter accounts are the ones who are successful right now because it means they are understanding the modern landscape of technology and social media while engaging with their customers on a more personal level than ever before.
These corporate giants that used to seem so far removed from individual customers can now personally interact through Twitter and it's changing the way people see these large companies. The question is- is this personal interaction changing the way customers see companies for the better? For Netflix, it's a yes. For Blockbuster, it's a serious no. Let's look at @Netflix and @Blockbuster and see if the interaction they have with their customers is indicative of their current situations:
Tweets from @Netflix cover a wide variety of topics that cover all things entertainment that engage followers and prompt a response. Almost every tweet ends in a question that asks followers to tell them their favorite movie, show, performance, song, thoughts, etc. Tweets are about box office results, current events (Fashion Week, VMAs, Emmys, film festivals), movie castings, and announcements. @Netflix rarely tweets about the actual company business of Netflix and instead chooses to focus on asserting itself as an authority for entertainment and movie industry news.
It is also clear that @Netflix has a true understanding of the Twitter community: they respond to personal tweets and add an engaging question to make it applicable to all their followers, they retweet, use hashtags and brilliantly incorporate current events and celebrity tweets. Examples:
- Toronto Int’l Film Festival buzz: The Town, Black Swan, 127 Hours & Never Let Me Go. Which are you most excited to see? #TIFF
- #dontarguejustacceptit: __________ is the greatest movie ever made.
- Sept. 1st - the first day of school at Hogwarts for Harry Potter & Friends! What house would you be sorted into?
- What film makes you want to pack your bags @TravelChannel? For us, it’s The Motorcycle Diaries.
Tweets from @Blockbuster are much simpler to explain- 99% of tweets are customer service responses to problems or complaints about service/availability. Although it is good to see Blockbuster trying to individually assist customers over Twitter, it makes it seem as if Blockbuster only has problems. Examples:
- @LivingontheBlock: Sorry for the delay. I talked with a buyer who said we're working with the studio to get Dexter and other titles in ASAP.
- @Pharrel1: Please make sure you're reporting them in your Queue so we can pull them for inspection.
- @indiestace: Yeah, it's very long wait due to the high demand. I don't have a date yet, sorry.
I think the Twitter accounts are indicative of the two companies as a whole- Netflix is modern and has a true understanding of what their customers are looking for in a movie rental service as well as the experience they are looking for from a company. Blockbuster has shown that they are unable to adapt to the current industry and aren't doing a great job impressing the few customers they have left. Because of this, Netflix is on its way up while Blockbuster is headed for bankruptcy.
The way a company interacts with customers and the overall tone and message of their Twitter account can really impact the way people view the company. Netflix is positive, informative, and entertaining, while Blockbuster only further highlights the misfortunes and difficulties their company is currently facing. The bottom line is that while Twitter can be used to enhance customer service, it is not a platform for addressing problems and apologizing; it is a tool to engage positively and personally with customers while keeping them informed and entertained. Netflix understands that, Blockbuster does not. Nice knowin' ya Blockbuster.
It's nice to see that these two companies are being active in the social media space and respond to comments. However, I feel they do not do a good job at actually following back people who follow them. I have been told a good cardinal rule is to have around the same numbers and followers. It helps you be more credible.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you're basing the whole crux of your article on the timeline on each account's page. So you're measuring the Blockbuster feed by the tweets that don't go out to everybody.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, that means Netflix isn't responding to customer issues, complaints, and questions. Which you'll see they're getting plenty of if you search for @netflix.
Blockbuster does send out tweets about movies, TV shows, and games, plus links to their blog, which has more in-depth entries on the same topics. Granted, if you look at the timeline, most of the posts are responses to customers, but it's not as if most people look at Twitter pages. They see what pops up in their own timelines from users they follow. So the majority of people aren't even seeing those tweets.
And both Southwest and JetBlue, two companies you lauded at the start of your article for being paragons of Twitter use, respond to customer complaints and questions regularly.
So is it better to tweet only inane comments based on current events with questions to "engage" users, or to actually help users while also talking about entertainment?
Hey afrosheen37- thanks very much for your comment, I like hearing what people think about these kinds of topics! I love that using and analyzing Twitter is so open to interpretation and opinion, it makes it far more interesting to discuss. Your analysis is totally spot on and might influence me to add a big part that I left out of my post (in an attempt to keep it at a reasonable length):
ReplyDeleteOne of the main reasons I criticized Blockbuster's excessive customer service responses from @Blockbuster is because they have a completely separate Twitter handle for customer service- @BlockbusterCC. Netflix does the same thing (@NetflixHelps)in order to keep their main handle free of customer service inquiries and be able to focus on more engaging content. I think I was mostly just surprised that Blockbuster did not understand the value of keeping those two Twitter accounts very separate to protect their image on their main handle.
I think Twitter has evolved into a platform for more personal customer service (proof- Zappos.com) and helping users is a great tool both companies are utilizing. I just think Blockbuster should consider keeping that on their Customer Service handle so that it doesn't look like all they do is have problems and apologies.
I think that for me it comes down to the question "why would I want to follow this company?" and I don't want to see an endless stream of blatant company promos, company business tweets and customer service issues; if I wanted to see that, I would follow their Customer Service handle. I want to follow people and companies who entertain and inform me, and Netflix just did a much better job of that than Blockbuster did.
Totally agree that Blockbuster could use their customer service account better and foster more interaction with followers on their main account.
ReplyDeleteI still don't think you're really seeing the customer service issues as a follower, though, unless you happen to follow others BB is tweeting to.
Thanks for the reply!