By Avril Chua, Brand Strategist, Twitter Next, Southeast Asia, Preathvee Asohan, Marketing Manager, SEA, Httpool, and Thresa Thian, Associate Partner Director, Httpool official partner of Twitter in Malaysia
2021 was a year filled with uncertainty but many brands in Southeast Asia rose above the challenge and delivered stellar campaigns that were recognised by Twitter during the #BestOfTweets award ceremony. The event celebrated these brands and their tenacity to continue to push limits during challenging times.
Before we learn the techniques to win the arena, let’s take a look and give a round of applause to the winning brands of #BestOfTweets 2021 Malaysia Awards.
You may be the brand that plans to use Twitter for joining the conversation, driving the vision that people and the planet can co-exist in balance @axiata’s #AdvancingToZero campaign that just won Best Campaign for Driving Positive Change in Society.
At Axiata, we believe we can make a difference. And with Advancing to Zero, our commitment to achieving net-zero carbon, we are changing the way we operate and live. Follow us on our journey. #AdvancingToZero #ItBeginsWithUs #AxiataSustainability pic.twitter.com/Z7tfPGRLjj
— Axiata (@axiata) May 20, 2021
You may plan to push norms and boundaries through a brand representative that reflects a brand’s history like @MiloMalaysia’s #TimeforMilo that nailed the fight for Best Brand Voice Award.
Ada yang sebut Meelo, ada yang kata Mailo, dah 2021 pun tak habis lagi isu sebutan ni ? Chill la geng, benda simple, tak kisah korang sebut apa pun, MILO tetap jadi feveret kan ? So korang team yang mana? ?
— MILO MALAYSIA (@MiloMalaysia) August 31, 2021
You may be a newbie on Twitter but aim for launching a big splash that converts Twitter fans like @AikenMalaysia’s #AikenAcneFreeSkin that owned Best Campaign from a Newcomer Award.
Jerawat tidak berhenti-henti??#Aiken diformulasikan dengan Tea Tree Oil ?dari Australia ?? untuk merawat jerawat secara berkesan ? Tweet untuk memenangi trial kit for FREE ?.
Jom cuba #AikenTeaTreeOil untuk #AikenAcneFreeSkin
— AikenMY (@AikenMalaysia) May 6, 2021
If you are a brand or agency looking to join the arena, this one’s for you. The Southeast Asia Twitter Next team studied winning works across the region and distilled them into 4 tips that will help you deliver a knockout campaign.
1) Prepare for the Arena
Understanding the Value of Twitter
The first and most important step to take while preparing for a fight is to understand what you have signed up for. Likewise, when you are planning for Twitter, it is crucial to understand the medium and how to best use it to your advantage. When we observe brands that won #BestOfTweets this year, they have a good understanding of the value of Twitter and how to best use the platform to get the most for their campaigns.
Understanding that Twitter is a broadcast medium.
Things scale quickly on Twitter because of the public nature of the platform. Tweets are viewable, searchable and shareable by anyone. To which we saw winning brands coming to Twitter to scale their message to a wider audience.
Understanding that Twitter is conversational.
Conversations are Twitter’s currency. We observed winning brands using conversations to plan for their campaign or to inform marketing decisions. Twitter was used as a litmus test to understand consumers’ preferences and reactions before, during and after campaigns.
Understanding that communities gather on Twitter.
We have seen communities on Twitter growing stronger through the years, such as K-pop, local entertainments, gaming and sports. Fans gather on Twitter to discuss what’s happening and to talk to one another. Winning brands were able to tap on fans’ passion for their communities to fuel conversations.
Tapping on the value of Twitter and understanding how your audiences use the platform will allow you to plan well and get the most out of your campaigns.
2) Enter the Right Game
Developing a campaign that aims to win!
Every year, Twitter’s #BestOfTweets awards brands in many categories and each category is unique. The best way to win the fight is knowing which category you are competing in.
While the award categories may vary each year, you can aim to select the suitable arena and strive for your best campaign grounded from:
Leveraging Twitter to Launch something new
In this route, the winning brand must demonstrate how it strategically designs a campaign based on Twitter Launch Formula, sequencing a series of Twitter creative formats to perform impact.
Leveraging Twitter to Connect with cultural moments
Understanding and finding tune among the cultural moments (event, trend, occasion), the audience, and the brand’s topic of connection for your brand’s campaign are the essential keys to winning this arena. You can find the Connect Moments in this marketing calendar
Using Twitter as a purpose-driven marketing tool
A spotlighted brand must leverage the strong belief, authentic voice and use Twitter to take a stand for societal issues and drive impact consistently through the combination of the paid and organic campaign.
Leveraging video solutions on Twitter at its best
A shortlisted campaign must demonstrate how you embrace the best practice of using a video solution, while also diversifying a mix of video formats to drive an ultimate campaign impact.
Ideate the campaign that extracts a unique creative value of Twitter
A selected brand can go deep into human-centric insight through conversation and turn the finding into creative ideation that starts on Twitter and becomes worth talking about.
3) Practise the Fight and Leave No Tips Behind
Leveraging Twitter best practice
After you know the game you anticipate entering, do not forget to embrace the best practice in using Twitter for your campaign. Twitter has the best practice whether you plan for Launch or Connect, including tips to Tweet like a pro for video, image, or even going live.
While the award categories are diverse and there is no fixed formula to success depending on your marketing objectives, there are some elemental best practice and tips centred around the value of Twitter for your brands – Launch, Connect, and creative pro tips when Tweeting.
Best Practice for Launch
Whether the campaign launch is a new brand, product, feature, positioning, or promotion, super charge it with these following tips:
- Do not launch and forget. Launch and continue by dividing your campaign phase and maximising results by following a Twitter Launch Formula – Tease, Reveal, Reinforce.
- Feature 3-5 video creatives to drive a bigger launch impact in your launch.
- Aim for a campaign of at least 7-10 weeks to drive higher intent and Favourability.
Best Practice for Connect
If you aim for performing the best of using Twitter to connect with cultural moments, here are some notable thoughts you should embody:
- Select the rightful connection moment that resonates with your brand voice, whether an event, occasion, or trend.
- For a moment that you are trying to connect, tell a compelling story with three types of content – hype, participate, and react.
- Drive purchase intent by having multiple formats in your Connect campaign.
Creative Pro Tips when Tweeting
While there are customised tips for each creative format – image, video, and text, the universal recommendation to help you win the arena is based on these mindsets:
- Be short and focused
- Win with strong visuals
- Be explicit with your branding
These are the brands that championed innovation, creativity, and purpose on Twitter.
Learn and be inspired by the winners of the #BestOfTweets 2021 Southeast Asia Awards here.
4) Find the Right Coach
Tapping on the Twitter experts to refine your campaign
You would not be confident if you entered the arena without a coach. Similarly, when planning a campaign on Twitter, relying on our teams will help you become more efficient and effective in delivering against your campaign objectives.
On top of account teams, Twitter has cross-functional teams such as Arthouse, Global Content Partnerships, Research and Twitter Next, that can contribute to the success of your campaign whether it is planning for launch, connecting with cultural moments, utilising influencers, leveraging a creative canvas or devising a creative strategy that taps on audience behaviours.
Twitter Next
Twitter Next is the internal brand strategy team. The purpose of the team is to partner with brands and their agency partners to create campaigns that are human-centric and worth talking about. The foundational approach to our partnership is being core to our audience, and exploring beyond the limits of our platform to produce innovative solutions for our clients.
In 2021, we had the privilege to work with a few winning brands that include:
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