#Habitat

As the hype and frenzy surrounding the micro-blogging site twitter continues to escalate, increasing numbers of people and businesses are looking to take the plunge.

It’s therefore quite interesting to see that there are still plenty of warnings that, brands in particular, must adhere to and be wary of. While still in it’s relative infancy, Social media and the way marketers use it, require probably more thought and planning than any other form of marketing we undertake. We all know the obvious pitfalls that accompany a product launch, an ad campaign or a media event, but do we truly understand the do’s and don’ts of social media, and more importantly the consequences of failure.

One brand that got a recent lesson, is Habitat.

Habitat were using their Twitter profile to offer promotions, capture data, and keep followers up to date with news from the brand – nothing wrong with that I hear you cry. However the mistake Habitat made, was in their abuse of hash tags (#). Hash tags signify topics within a tweet, so people searching Twitter for a specific topic get relevant posts. And so in their infinite wisdom, Habitat decided to attach things like #Iran and #iPhone to tweets about a gift card promotion. Bad Idea.

Not only did Twitter users slam Habitat, but also the story broke across mainstream news as a result.

So beware, there are fantastic rewards on offer for brands that effectively use social media, just don’t dive in without proper planning expertise. The results can be catastrophic.