IN-DEPTH CASE STUDIES
JONATHAN O’BRIEN, CREATOR OF @WSTONESOXFORDST
BUY THE BOOK The advantage of a highly engaging social media presence is obvious to any commercial organisation. But how does O’Brien quantify the specific benefits of the account to the Waterstones brand? “When it started I was working on the shop floor and one of the aims was to bring booksellers to the front of the business again,” he says. “I think it’s done that, and really personalised the whole operation. With a lot of companies, what you get on their Twitter feeds are offers and promotions. It’s like a newsletter. With ours it’s very obvious that it’s created and run by just one person who’s completely dedicated to it. That reflects well on the business and makes us look human in a way that a lot of companies are finding it very hard to do.
“In terms of actual
measurable results, we see loads of traffic going from @WaterstonesOxfordst to the blog and product pages when we link to them. We also get people coming into the store to say ‘hello’ and ask to meet me, which is quite weird. Though when that happens I always try and make sure people buy a book! It has been strange though, to see people really react to it.” Waterstones isn’t the only brand
I DIDN’T
offers and promotions there.”
THE SOCIAL MEDIA SPIRIT ANIMAL Nevertheless, the approach clearly works. Brand Republic has covered the account and named O’Brien one of 2014’s rising stars. It’s been on MetaFilter, made reddit’s frontpage three times and last year the mighty BuzzFeed ran 21 reasons to follow Waterstones. The Mirror, meanwhile, picked up on the shop’s cheerfully cheap remake of John Lewis’ 2013 bear and hare Christmas ad, which replaced lavish animation with cardboard boxes and a couple of books. One volume which
FOLLOW ANY RULES OR PROTOCOLS. I JUST DID IT”
conducting experiments with Twitter’s form and scope. Betfair Poker and Arena Flowers have also created their own very distinctive and consistent voices. But doesn’t the nature of accounts like these mean that it can be tricky to incorporate actual promotions and offers without upsetting the carefully maintained tone? “Yes,” says O’Brien. “It can be. But
there are ways to do it. We had a 20 per cent off offer and the Tweets got a bit more straightforward during that. I pulled back on some of the more over-the-top aspects of the voice. But it’s true – it can be harder to do conventional
definitely isn’t on his shelf is The Big Book of Social Media Rules. In fact, he took a gentle pop at social ninjas with a series of Tweets in which the narrator went on a course in engagement and was encouraged to locate his ‘social media spirit animal.’ It turned out to be an octopus. How does O’Brien plan his Tweets and ensure he’s
always got something worthwhile to say? “The drafts folder on my phone is
usually full,” he says. “I’ll probably have 10 separate ideas for Tweets on the go, but they’re never finished. Stories often change on the day, but they’ll have been in my head for a week or two while I refine them and work out what goes where. Every Tweet needs to have something Retweetable in it, otherwise there’s no point. But everything also has to stand alone. I came to work on World Book Day having absolutely nothing. I’d been worrying about it for two weeks but just hadn’t had time to sit down and think about it. So everything that day was entirely off the cuff.”
55 issue 21 july 2014
WANT READERS? HIRE A WRITER Of course, the sort of rapid, irreverent response that’s made the account so popular isn’t open to all brands. What advice does O’Brien have for marketers working in social media who think
there’s an opportunity to do
something more innovative or engaging with their company’s
Twitter accounts? “I’m the worst person to ask!” he says. “I didn’t follow any rules or protocols. I just did it. So that would be my advice, really. Just do it. If it works, you’ll have the proof right there.” And more generally, how does he
suggest marketing managers make the most of their Twitter accounts? “My advice is to not hire an agency or someone who describes themselves as working in social media,” he says. “Hire a writer - someone who can write and have ideas everyday. Not someone who’s thinking about an ‘audience’ or a target, because that’s when you get a bunch of people just looking at each other’s work and copying it. Find someone with a good personal account or project on the go and just let them do what they do, but under the voice of your company. Twitter is a very weird, specific skill. It’s hard to do right. Anyone can write three sentences and put them on the internet. But you need to know which three sentences. My feeling is that if you’ve got something good, it will spread.” @WstonesOxfordSt
The Big Book of Social Media Rules
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
