Even though Twitter recently celebrated its fifth birthday and there are now some 200 million users of this micro-blogging site, there’s still plenty of skepticism among marketers regarding its viability as a sales channel.
I understand. After all, those who are most successful on Twitter are those who are listening intently, sharing great content and engaging with others, not pitching their own products and services. And all that, well, socializing requires an investment of time and resources that many businesses have trouble justifying.
But apparently not The Quaker Oats Company. Let me explain…
One of the people I follow on Twitter is Dianna Huff, a very talented web marketing expert in the B2B world and someone I know quite well from my involvement in the New England Direct Marketing Association. After reading her March 27 blog post, Three Things Cap’n Crunch Taught Me About Facebook Engagement, I thought it would be something my followers on Twitter would be interested in reading, too — so I went ahead and tweeted about it. About six minutes later, I was surprised to hear from @RealCapnCrunch himself, asking me if I enjoyed Cap’n Crunch or had any good memories of it.
Not only was I impressed that The Quaker Oats Company was listening to what people were saying about one of its products, but I was also glad to have the opportunity to exchange a couple of tweets with the Cap’n Crunch persona. And the next time I was at the grocery store? Yup, I was quick to buy a box of this cereal that for anyone with a sweet tooth — like me — is almost impossible to resist.
So while Dianna was impressed with how Quaker Oats was working its Cap’n Crunch Facebook page, I’m here to sing the praises of this famous cereal’s voice on Twitter. Clearly, the folks behind the scenes are listening to who’s saying what online about Cap’n Crunch and going to great lengths to engage with that constituency accordingly.
Yes, whether you like the cereal or not, you have to give @RealCapnCrunch a lot of credit for working the crowd. That’s how not just Twitter, but every other channel in social media is supposed to work — whatever you have to say, whatever you have to sell.
To read Dianna Huff’s “Three Things Cap’n Crunch Taught Me About Facebook Engagement” in its entirety, click here.
To follow @RealCapnCrunch on Twitter, click here.
To like Cap’n Crunch on Facebook, click here.
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Bob, I love the whole Cap’n Crunch thing — the cereal, the FB page, and the Twitter feed. You are absolutely right, the brand is doing a great job engaging people on social media.
Hope you enjoyed your cereal and thanks for featuring my post!