In this article:
- Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat went down on October 4, 2021
- Twitter and brands agile enough to be responsive on that platform used that to their advantage.
“You had me at ‘hello,’” could have been applied to Twitter in the middle of a Monday when Facebook was down.
It’s a seminal tweet that wished “hello” to everyone while free of competition from the Facebook-owned platforms. But Twitter was not the only brand quick enough on the trigger, others took this opportunity to play and draw attention to themselves, too.
Fast-food behemoths McDonald’s and Burger King were among them, though the former got a better response than the latter, as you can see below.
Oscar Mayer also won a Twitter response. Even WhatsApp and Instagram came to play to prove that they may be down, but they were not out. That didn’t work out so well for Instagram, though, judging from the response to its tweet shown below:
Still, taking the heat was the right move by FB+IG+WA’s community managers. Putting yourself out there when you’re vulnerable bodes well with today’s customers.
Lowe’s used the opportunity somewhat creatively to advise people what to do with their newfound free time while being socially aware enough to mock itself.
However, Starbucks had a different idea about what one could use the time for:
There was also some interplay between brands across different forms of business, as you can see below:
The more creatively opportunistic they were, the better the brands did — so long as audiences love them enough to be receptive to seeing their shout-outs. Jumping into the Twitter windfall in a fun way works because it comes across as “human”, engaging and authentic in the way only spur-of-the-moment activities can be.
Being there for your communities in times of (any kind of) crisis is a staple of good relationship marketing. Yesterday gave everyone a chance to test that out.
