I was recently asked by Mobile Marketer to provide commentary about the recent Google and Twitter alliance that now integrates certain Twitter updates directly into Google mobile search results.
(Mobile Marketer) What have been the implications of this program for marketers, especially auto dealers ad other retailers with similar consumer-buying experiences when a customer is in-store and receives a tweet in search results?
The goal with integrating twitter cards into the mobile search experience is to add additional context to the consumers search results thus making the experience more dynamic for the in-store consumer.
This can be a positive if a brand has closely aligned their social communication strategy to deliver a highly relevant message through the reach of Google that has local context.
(Mobile Marketer) Could you please describe cases where the tweet could have negative impact? Positive impact?
The key to consider for brands is that mobile search results that are directly tied to the brand will most likely pull their recent tweets. The other use case is having consumer search based topics beyond the brand show as well. These tweets are tied to popularity of a tweet vs. a firehouse of all tweets.
This provides some level of built in protection for direct brand queries, but the potential negative can be associated with trending topics that may be loosely tied to the brand and lean negative. This is where monitoring and having a real-time response strategy can play a key role in mitigating negative sentiment.
(Mobile Marketer) What are the general implications of the Twitter-Google tie-up for reputation management on mobile social?
It is important for brands to have a consistent content strategy that aligns the essence of the brand as well as the behavior of the consumer to deliver a very clear, concise and relevant message. By integrating and extending tweets beyond the Twitter ecosystem, context will be key as now it is not enough to just consider conversations on the platform, but those conversations will also become relevant in the consumer discovery process.
This is not new, as brands that created communication plans on Google+ experienced a similar experience with content mapping to search results. The key will be to closely monitor topics that may also align with real-time consumer search behavior and add mobile twitter card monitoring to the list of areas to keep a watchful eye on what content is being associated with the brand.
(Mobile Marketer) To what extent could a bad tweet spoil the buying experience for consumers? How far reaching could the damage be?
It is difficult to quantify the impact of a negative tweet with a broad statement, but if a consumer is moving from intent to purchase and their is evidence of a negative experience that is gaining velocity through engagement and shows as a popular tweet tied to the brand, this can have an adverse impact. That’s why it is important to align your communication strategy and customer support to closely align the real-time reputation of the brand with the consumer discovery process through Google.
Follow Tom Edwards @BlackFin360
