The top 5 worst brands on "Twitter"

Revolutionmagazine recently blogged on "Twitter FAIL! The 8 worst brands on the world's hottest microblog Twitter" about how Brands are using twitter to engage with their customers. While most brands would ideally want to use twitter as a extension of their brand image in the online space and engage with their prospects to provide a real time interface for communication,Some brands merely use twitter as an extension of their RSS feeds

Clearly, there is huge potential for advertisers wishing to engage with consumers via Twitter provided, that is, they don't completely forget their branding value and uses this platform as a tool to influence,educate and enable interaction with their brand.

Revolution commissioned i-level's social media unit, Jam, to track down Twitter's biggest offenders. Here are eight big-name brands with microblogging strategies you'll want to avoid and learn from them on how companies and brands should not to use twitter.

AMAZON

@amazon

Amazon's approach to Twitter is disappointing according to the study by Jam. Amazon uses uses a 'Twitter bot' to automatically publish excerpts from its US blog. These tweets clutter the user's homepage and add little value beyond that of a standard RSS feed. This is the reason the huge number of mentions the brand receives on Twitter is not matched by its followers. According to Jam, by allowing users to integrate its recommendation engine into their Twitter accounts it could suggest products and reviews based on what individual consumers are tweeting about.

1,206 - Followers

245,760 - Mentions

HEWLETT PACKARD

@hpnews

HP is another example of a brand that simply uses Twitter as an additional outlet for its RSS feedAccording to Jam, the brand could utilise Twitter as a customer-service channel, offering consumers a valuable mix of aftercare and technical support. It could then make @hpnews more conversational, engaging the huge number of consumers that use Twitter to keep up to date with the latest tech and gadget news.

1,832 - Followers

56,720 - Mentions

eBAY

@ebayuk
The brand uses the microblogging service to offer consumers news about the auction site and the odd product recommendation. This provides users with nothing they don't already get from eBay's promotional emails, hence its relatively small following. Research commissioned by Revolutionmagazine shows that by integrating Twitter more closely into its core business offering, eBay could allow users to tweet bids into its site or receive notifications through Twitter's direct message functionality, helping them to manage their eBay account.

1,532 - Followers

107,000 - Mentions

MCDONALD'S

@monopolyatmcd

The fast-food giant uses the microblogging service to raise awareness of its Monopoly promotion, which gives consumers the chance to win 34 million prizes. Users are bombarded with advertising messages about how they can take part in the competition and the winners are notified by @replies to, which appear on the homepages of all 236 followers. Beyond this, McDonald's makes no attempt to engage Twitter users or build a community around its brand. Mc Donald could also use twitter to announce new offerings along with special offerings for every 1000th customer who books or orders via Twitter.

236 - Followers

45,340 - Mentions"

read the original post about the worst Brands on twitter here