Does Twitter Bring the Human Touch to Copywriting?
Social media is powerful and none more so than the mighty Twitter. Copywriters were quick off the mark to jump on the social media platform as a mode of free (literally) expression and advertising. And why not? The rapid rise of Facebook, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon and others make it really easy for advertisers to lay out their wares completely free of charge, hoping that the marketing process is carried out by consumers themselves in the form of sharing, retweeting etc. A decade ago this audacity would have been perceived as a very cheeky notion on the part of the seller. What? Get consumers to give free advertising? Unheard of. Not no more ma’am. Social media is here to stay and even the most traditional companies have been forced to take up the QWERTY and have a go themselves.
Twitter as an art form
However like any art form, the art of social media should be carefully considered before one embarks on one’s first tweet. Twitter, the one-liner of the social media world, offers rapid-fire links, tips and commentary and as such ensures not one single word (or even character, given that Twitter offers a max of 140) is wasted.
Twitter allows pictures and media links too so the writer can offer potential consumers a glimpse into the human side of the company. For example the Twitterite (new word – just rolled out by the writer) can offer customers insight into their daily lives by tweeting a picture of the family dog, a celebration cake, the latest book they are reading or even what they had for dinner last night. Small potatoes (not literally) you may think and while this is true the fact remains that people like small potatoes, they enjoy detail, sharing opinions and knowing that the member of the Whatever Company with whom they are interacting is a down to earth human being. This of course goes a long, long way to accelerating marketplace awareness.
The corner shop lasted so long because people liked them. People buy from people and when faceless organisations show their human side people cannot help but respond in the form of sharing product information leading to increased sales.
