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One celebrity. One tweet. One mistake. Three lessons
learned. This blog entry is dedicated to every Social Media Community Manager
out there trying to do their job to the best of their ability. Mistakes happen,
and I lived to tell the story…
Backstory:
It was February 2014 and I was the Community Manager for the brand White Castle on Twitter. White Castle is a well-known, established brand, that has a loyal fan following. Their competitors included McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc.
My job was to respond to any and all (@) mentions for White Castle, search for “White Castle” conversations for surprise and delight opportunities and engage with fans when appropriate. Additionally, utilize social listening tools to identify key influencers that I could potentially engage with as the brand.
At the time, White Castle’s tone of voice on Twitter was lighthearted and playful. Witty with a heavy sprinkle of sarcasm was the goal. Thus, engaging with fans was a lot of fun – especially when you get a celebrity interaction.
The Initial Tweet:
On this particular day, I had made it a personal goal to
interact with a well-known celebrity. I’m sure every Community Manager has had
the same goal at some point. Yet, the likelihood of a celebrity mentioning a brand
back then was still relatively by chance. Lucky for me, Chrissy Teigen happened
to be tweeting about food that day and I saw an opportunity. So, I went for it.
Here was the initial tweet….
The Mistake Tweet:
SHE HAD TWEETED BACK! I was thrilled. Ecstatic! This was
going to be a big win for the month and for our team. "I had to keep the
conversation going" I screamed internally! In the spur of the moment, I replied
back with what I thought was a good response and hit SEND. Here was the tweet…
I didn’t even think twice. I was so excited that Chrissy had
responded that I didn’t realize what I had done. Then, it happened.
The Aftermath:
Taco Bell. Fuckin' Taco Bell with the grammar burn. Once Taco Bell called White Castle (aka me) out, the Retweets
and Likes (favorites at the time) on their tweet went nuts. I don’t want to use
the word viral because it wasn’t to that level but from my vantage point, it
felt like that.
As the engagement skyrocketed with people making fun of the error
I had made, I told my boss what was going on. He immediately checked the conversations
that were occurring and noticed the high level of traction this was receiving.
Keep in mind, Taco Bell had a very large following on Twitter at the time, so
this wasn’t going to go away quietly.
To his credit, my boss didn’t panic but I could sense his
anxiety level rising. We immediately brainstormed ways to try and spin this
error in our favor but we struggled for a solution. Ten minutes had passed, and
the conversation was only getting louder. We decided to bring in another team
member to try and come up with a solution. Another ten minutes had passed, the
conversation online still going.
At this point, some of you may be wondering, “Why were you
so worried?” To start, this was my first real mistake with White Castle and
with the level of influencers involved (i.e. Chrissy and Taco Bell), my mistake
was amplified greatly. Second, if mistakes created enough noise, major advertising publications
would pick it up and showcase the mistakes in articles such as “Twitter Brand
Fails of the Week” etc. No one wanted to be part of that! Lastly, our internal White
Castle social team had made a few large-scale mistakes in the past and I was
brought on the team to help ensure those didn’t happen again. Would this
mistake be the tipping point to costing us the account? Would this cost me my
job?!?! Thus, we didn’t want to bring it up to the client.
After approximately 30 minutes, we came up with a plan to
respond on Twitter and hopefully quiet the chatter. Here was the response…
Was it the best response? No. But, it was the best idea we could come up with
at the time.
As the day went on, the conversations around the mistake
continued and we realized the client needed to be notified. So, my boss and I
crafted an email outlining what had happened and crossed our fingers that the
client would understand. Thankfully for us, the client responded that it was an
honest mistake and that they were happy with the initial effort to jump into a
conversation with Chrissy. A deep sigh of relief ensued.
The Lessons Learned:
Thankfully, we didn’t lose the account and I didn’t lose my
job because of my mistake. However, with any mistake, there are lessons to be
learned. So, what did I learn?
Lesson 1: The Value of Social Listening
Had I not been in tune with the conversations occurring on Twitter and checking Chrissy Teigen's account, I may have missed this opportunity. I was able to see an opportunity to jump into a conversation and capitalize on Chrissy's tweet. With that said...
Lesson 2: Double check your work
People who work in social media, particularly Community Managers, work in a very fast paced environment. If you manage a large scale brand and are constantly engaging in conversations online, be sure to check your work before hitting "SEND." Especially when you are engaging with a key influencer.
Lesson 3: Own your mistakes
There was a moment after I had made my mistake that I thought, maybe it will just go away. Maybe I wouldn't have to tell my boss. Well, thank God I did. Not only did the mistake intensify throughout the day but I also needed him and others to help come up with a solution as well as navigate the conversation with the client. In hindsight, I was happy I owned up to my mistake because had I not, it may have cost me my job.
Conclusion:
It has been over 4 years since this incident but not a day goes by that I don't remember that tweet. I use this example in interviews. I use it when I'm training new Community Managers. I use it as a reminder to move quickly but hit SEND slowly. Most of all, I use it as a reminder of the joy I have in working in social media. I can say I had an interaction with Chrissy Teigen, who is now in my opinion, Queen of Twitter. So Chrissy, if you read this, thank you for this memory.
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