Insights

Twitter launches #RealTalk — Data-driven insights for UK brands and agencies

Engagement with brand Tweets has increased significantly over the past three years. We saw an increase of 19.8% in users quoting brand tweets and a 21.6% increase in replies. However, with that increase in attention, comes a high expectation for brands to speak in a genuine way. Today, we’re publishing new research to help brands get it right and uncover their true and real voice on Twitter. 

Twitter Next and partners are using three years of research across eight countries to develop a best practice approach to brand behaviour and tone on the platform. The team at Twitter Next partnered with Pulsar Platform and Sparkler Consulting to look at brand data over a three-year period, supplemented with qualitative and quantitative surveys across eight countries.

The report dissected the behaviour patterns of 20 global brands like Playstation UK (@PlayStationUK), Netflix UK (@NetflixUK), and KFC UK (@KFC_UKI). Key findings and recommendations were presented at Twitter HQ London last week to an audience of more than 100 strategists and creatives from across the UK.

The study looked to understand why certain brands were successful at mastering conversation on the platform and why some weren’t. In an analysis of 5,000 organic Tweets from UK users who had spontaneously commented on how brands behave, it became abundantly clear that audiences are far more cynical than they used to be in relation to brands.

A second insight was in relation to Tweet composition and structure. Over a three-year period, structure, keyword, and tone for all major brands analysed showed a broad trend towards ‘sameness,’ making it difficult for those surveyed to differentiate between major brands. The study highlighted the risk of homogenization of brand voice and tone on the platform. It found that when the brand names of Tweets were covered, only 1 in 3 people surveyed was unable to identify the brand, even when they had a list of five brand options to choose from.

Our research has shown that there are three critical areas for brands to work harder on; these are tone, topics, and community. We’ve put together best-in-class examples of brands that have nailed an authentic tone of voice. We also work with customers to know what topics and when topics are right to engage with, and how to understand and connect with communities in a way that truly reflects the nuances of their customer base. Brands that get tone, topics, and community right, have a significant competitive edge, with measurable ROI across all channels.

Sources:
1. Sparkler Custom Research, commissioned by Twitter, #RealTalk Study 2021, Fieldwork May–June 2021, n=2,000 Twitter users per market (US,UK,CA,FR,BR,JP,ES,MX).
2. Pulsar Custom Research, commissioned by Twitter, #RealTalk Study 2021, Fieldwork March-April 2021, based on Tweets from January 1, 2018 to March 31, 2021 from 20 selected brand accounts.
3. Twitter internal data. 1 January 2019–31 December 2020. UK Tweets and users.

You can download the report below and agencies can also request a #RealTalk Twitter creative session for their teams by emailing TwitterNextUK@twitter.com.

Twitter Next is an award-winning team of brand strategists, creatives, and technologists at Twitter that create ideas worth talking about, helping the world’s top brands to develop custom campaigns on the platform.

May 11, 2022
Tags
  • Research
  • Europe, Middle East, and Africa
  • Listen and React in Real Time

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