“Rules were made to be broken” - a saying that everyone has heard once in their life and one which usually leads to questionable decisions. So when it comes to social media, where there are very clear rules and best practices accepted by the industry, it’s uncommon to see someone really rip up the rule book. Well today we’re looking at those who have ripped up the rule book, set fire to it and then buried it deep in the ground.
Lots of companies have broken the accepted rules on social media, and paid the price for it - just look at some of these - so today we’re not looking at the losers; we’re looking at the winners. The little guys who have larger follower numbers than any of their competitors could dream of and the accounts that have engagement rates that would make most social media managers dance around the office.
Whatever you do, don’t see these success stories and think that you can just do the same. There are many great posts from people like Social Media Examiner and Steam Feed who lay out the rules and best practices that are proven to work. These people who break the rules are taking a risk. Many of them are the business owners who run the accounts so won’t get fired- most of us don’t have this luxury. Use these accounts as inspiration to think about how you can be more adventurous and entertaining, but it’s probably best to leave the political incorrectness and knife edge humour to these guys. Be warned, there is some NSFW language from here on in.
Barbarians Rugby @Barbarian_FC -45,000 Followers
We’ll start with an account that doesn’t break the rules as much as some of the others but is still one of the most entertaining sports accounts around. Run by ex-Bath Rugby player Nick Morris, the Barbarians Twitter account can sometimes look like every other rugby team in the world with standard team updates, news and a look behind the scenes at the players training.
Nothing too special I hear you say? Just wait until game day. As the players warm up to go on the pitch, the social media team warm up their Twitter fingers and get their best jokes out of the locker room. Just look at some of these brilliant updates from a recent game against Worcester.
Even if you have no idea about rugby, the pop culture reference provides entertainment and comedy which is likely to get shared. The Barbarians' Farage tweet received 7 retweets and 7 favourites. While that’s not huge numbers, it is considerably better than their opponent Worcester who struggled to get a single retweet or favourite on most of their match updates. A win both on and off the pitch for the Barbarians. So what can social media marketers learn from this invitational rugby team? Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and be different. Think of the usual in-game updates as product descriptions - useful, but boring. By adding that extra bit of entertainment and comedy, it becomes something that people want to share.
Sticky Walnut @StickyWalnut – 11,000 followers
The Twitter account for this award winning restaurant is probably my favourite social media account to ever be created and it shows just how powerful social media can be. Sticky Walnut raised over £100,000 in 30 days to open a second restaurant - promoting the campaign almost exclusively through Twitter. The account had been run by owner Gary Usher, but after recent “Twitter meltdowns” he handed control over to manager Adam. It now looks like Gary is back in control - whilst Adam did a great job, Gary is a Twitter master who’s personality really is key to the account.
The first thing that the account does right is sharing the delicious food that the chefs produce. It’s easy to see why they won the AA restaurant of the year award - just look at some of this.
Pretty standard stuff for a restaurant so far, but that’s where it stops. If you ever wanted a behind the scenes look at how a restaurant works, this is the place to be. You get an in-depth look at the day to day running of the restaurant as well as learning about the staff, their nicknames and some of their personal lives (like how Brad’s tattoo is coming on!).
You also get an insight into the produce that they use.
One thing that nearly everyone who works in marketing will agree with is that correct spelling is a must. Sticky Walnut’s spelling and interesting use of language has got to the point where his followers regularly reply using “words” that Gary has created including the likes of totes and bantz. I’m sure it was the only place on the internet where you could still see regular use of the word emoticon - until someone pledged £1000 to the kickstarter campaign for him to never say it again.
Sticky Walnut has also been in the news for their entertaining responses to negative Trip Advisor reviews. Some of them are comedy gold, like the one about the “cancer carrots.” When somebody wrote a negative review for his new restaurant, his community of loyal followers quickly shot them down- proving just how popular Gary had become. And this is what we can all learn from Sticky Walnut- personality will help build you a loyal community that will share your content and engage with you- this is the goal for anyone working in social media and the team at Sticky Walnut have achieved it perfectly.
Mangal 2 @Mangal2 20,000 followers
“Actual restaurant.” The first line from the Twitter account of possibly London’s most famous Kebab shop should show you how far from Kebabs the conversation can get. And that is why it’s so popular. Their no mercy approach and sometimes dark humour is like the comedian who you know you shouldn’t laugh at, but you can’t stop yourself. Their use of NSFW language would leave most social media managers sobbing, but it fits so well with their tone of voice, it almost goes unnoticed. No one is safe from their jokes and kebab references mixed with pop culture.
Here’s how not to respond to positive feedback from customers
And they’re also brilliant at conversations. They’ve had many conversations with London’s most famous pub @The_Dolphin_Pub. You can read what has been called the “Second greatest ever Twitter conversation” here. Beware that some of these Tweets are very NSFW.
What makes this account succeed, and more importantly why does it make a man who doesn’t like kebabs, want to travel to London to get one? I believe it’s the entertainment. This account has made me actually laugh, including multiple times while writing this post. It helps form a connection with the brand and makes me a loyal fan before ever buying one of the products.
So what can we all take away from these rule breakers? Like I said at the beginning, many people have broken the rules on social media and things have gone very badly, so don’t go out there and start trying crazy new things on a client’s account. But the thing is even though these accounts break lots of rules, whether they mean to or not, they get the fundamental that everyone should be aiming for right. All of these brands have a very definite, very individual voice that their communities engage well with. Some of their tone is obviously inappropriate for many accounts, but you can still work on your own tone and take tips from these accounts. Sticky Walnut takes this up a level by using misspelling of words - but because they have such a strong community they have started using them too. This is proof that a tone of voice is working.
Another lesson that we can all take from these brilliant accounts is that people enjoy seeing something different. Instead of just showing the consumers what they would normally see in their interactions with your business, give them a behind the scenes look and let them get to know you on a personal level. Get your staff involved if they are happy to be in social media and show that your business is more than a faceless company.
