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Writer's pictureLucas Petropoulos
Sep 25, 20224 min read

How to (legally) Hack Twitter: A Social Media Marketing Guide

Information in this blog post was obtained from Hootsuite, Twitter, Sprout Social, and BBC News.

Fingers typing on a laptop keyboard
Consider this legalised hacking! (Image courtesy of Wix)

"Help me please! A man needs his nuggs!"

Remarked Twitter (and chicken nugget) enthusiast Carter Wilkerson on a blustery spring afternoon in California.


The mission?


To convince fast food chain Wendy's he deserved a year's worth of free nuggets.


Chicken nuggets in a bowl
Carter's claim to fame (Image courtesy of Wix)

3 million retweets (and counting) later, Carter gained overnight internet fame as his tweet became the then-most RT'd tweet ever, having been endorsed by major brands such as Apple, Microsoft and Google, and whilst one can only hope that Carter satisfied his craving, the real winner was Wendy's.


This form of marketing is commonly known in the PR world as 'brand-jacking', and in being timely with their response to a follower, whilst also incorporating humor, Wendy's enjoyed huge social media goodwill, in large part thanks to their tone. Taking an educated guess, this probably worked wonders for their organic impressions and User-Generated Content (UGC) too, a metric Sprout Social's Chloe West highlights as the holy grail for Twitter marketing users.


However, for every success story like Wendy's, cultivating an audience can seem daunting to most. Want to be relevant? Forget only adding images, sprinkling a couple of hashtags, and hoping for the best.


But, can you really (legally) hack Twitter? Let's explore...


Count with me - One, two, three. In those paltry three seconds, roughly 18,000 tweets were just posted. How do you, a budding social media manager, cut through the noise and reach your target audience? Even more so, how do you achieve this if you are saddled with a shoestring budget? Not all company's social media marketing teams are blessed with six-figure budgets, but with the right tactics, you can still be successful.


Tip #1: Be proactive, not passive

Twitter, and social media users as a whole, typically respond better to unbuttoned content - that is, content that is not too formal, and addresses the user on a more, personal, friendly level. This stems from the core of consumer psychology; people do not want to feel they are interacting with a bot, but with a human. Think back to our Wendy's example; they challenged Carter to reach 18 million tweets to win a year's supply of nuggets, displaying a refreshingly human side to the brand.


By being mindful of tweeting proactively (and at the right time), you can help ensure your tweets align better with consumer habits, stay up-to-date with the latest trends by monitoring hashtags and - if you have the budget - using social media listening tools. Lilach Bullock highlights the effectiveness of involving your followers with brand decisions such as naming a new product line, or designing a new product; it can help foster a feeling of community, and an impression that the company genuinely cares about the opinions of its customers.


Think about it this way: a proactive tweet is one carefully crafted to address a consumer need, to provide awareness in a digestible and informative way that allows for the space provided (280 characters), and is written in a way that sparks attention from the user, ultimately leading to more sales. Fellow SMMU blogger James Budge talks in depth about content creation and the 80/20 rule here.


A person using Twitter on their phone
Twitter has a real-time impact on our daily lives (Image courtesy of Wix)

On the other hand, a passive tweet is generic, with little attention to detail and thought for the platform and audience. People don't necessarily want to hear about your latest product as a hard sell; they may be interested in the story behind it, or the company's Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) instead.


Tip #2: Be vocal about your wins

Cast yourself back to high school, and was there that one kid who seemed to win everything? Literally every Sports Day? Users spend an average of six minutes per day on Twitter, and in amongst being inundated with thousands of messages, a tweet can easily be drowned out if it doesn't hit the sweet spot with its audience. To create brand equity, therefore, what better way to display your credibility than by keeping it top of mind, such as by including it in your Twitter biography!


Users love (and trust) user-generated content because it comes from them. If your company won a recent poll amongst competitors, or maybe a customer left a particularly glowing review the other day, do not hesitate to share it! This can be encouraged by making polls, reviews, and even giveaways easily accessible to users. When complimented with a unique hashtag relating to the content, this not only allows followers to view existing responses to the campaign (more interaction can validate a campaign's credibility), but allows the social media manager to readily monitor their success.


Back to that high school champion. Ah yes, that kid. Maybe you weren't that 3x All-American at track, or that straight-A student, but there is no excuse to not bring your A-game to every social media interaction on Twitter with your audience.


So, fellow social media manager. The baton has now been passed to you, and how you perform is entirely up to your wit, understanding of your audience, and willingness to engage.


A track sprinter with a baton
Your race to mastering Twitter begins today (Image courtesy of Wix)

Resources

Beveridge. (2022, March 16). 33 Twitter statistics that matter to marketers in 2022. Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard. https://blog.hootsuite.com/twitter-statistics/


Bullock. (n.d.). How to encourage user-generated content for your brand on Twitter. Twitter for Business | Twitter tips, tools, and best practices. https://business.twitter.com/en/blog/how-to-encourage-user-generated-content.html


Chloe West, C. (2022, June 3). Social proof: How to use psychology in digital marketing. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-proof/


Smith, S. (2017, May 9). Chicken nugget tweet breaks Twitter record. BBC News. Retrieved September 19, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39653811


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