What’s the one thing more than 500 million Twitter accounts have in common? Love of the RT, of course! The retweet is more than a basic mechanism for engaging in conversation on Twitter – being retweeted is one of the thrills of participating in the micro-blogging platform.
Many Twitter users are able to leverage it as currency. In fact, we’ve noticed many retailers using retweets in their brand-building efforts. A cursory look at apparel brands on our Retail Social Juice Index over the last day or so reveals a number of opportunities retailers are seizing via the retweet, including influencer marketing.
1. Complement influencer marketing efforts
Lucky enough to have influencers tweeting about your brand? Retweet them. Not only does it flatter influencers when you take notice, but also it gives you extra mileage from the buzz they’re creating around the brand and its products. In these examples, @Anthropologie and @EileenFisher retweet fashion bloggers, and @GUESS retweets an associate editor from Allure Magazine.
2. Share lifestyle stories
Consumers are out there every day living with your products. What does your brand make possible in their lives? Use the retweet to curate story-rich, lifestyle content from your customers. Here are examples from @OrvisFlyFishing and @NewBalance:
3. Have fun
Remember that lots of people on social networks are there for leisure. Be playful. Be interesting. Curate content that’s just plain entertaining, like these retweets by @Saks and @JuicyCouture (this one also involves an influencer).
4. Talk with customers
Problem-solving is only one aspect of customer service. Much like the brands here – @VSPINK, @NeimanMarcus and @shopbop – your brand can interact with customers to encourage purchases and answer questions.
5. Publicize brand efforts
Instead of the brand delivering news of every effort directly, it can use the retweet to interact with brand news that already exists. @Stuart_Weitzman promotes a branded asset (a sort of thanks for the venue), @Aeropostale shares a photo of Olympic gymnast @McKaylaMaroney wearing anti-bullying bracelets and @Nordstrom accepts accolades from an advocacy group.
6. Showcase praise of employees
Influencers aren’t limited to bloggers and customers; all brands want good employees to be their ambassadors. Sharing positive feedback about stores and team members, like these retweets from @DSWShoeLovers and @JosABank_Brand, lets employees know they’re appreciated and tells consumers good things are happening offline.
So, six brand-building activities as easy as a RT? Absolutely! Then everyone must be doing it, right? Not really. While some brands reweet all day long (take a look at the streams for @CharlotteRusse and @Jockey), others don’t seem to take advantage.
We haven’t seen one RT all week from @ExpressLife, @AmericanApparel, @jcpenney and many others. Don’t follow their example: missed retweets are missed opportunities for brand-building. All that’s required is a solid brand voice and some good monitoring: Look for keywords, mentions and hashtags. Sample follower tweets. Curate tweets via tools like Twitter lists, which can organize your influencers and other resources.