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"When you first hear the phrase \"two-way conversation,\" you probably think, \"Well, what other kind of conversation is there?\" But when it comes to brands, this phrase embodies a very specific marketing strategy: personification.\nEver since the advent of social media, brands have been trying to engage consumers in ways that make them seem more like people, rather than large corporations trying like hell to sell you products or ideas.\nSEE ALSO: If You Use the Web, You Are a 'Curator'\nInstead of the age-old press releases and ads that need to go through rounds of approval, social media-savvy employees (often from an ad agency) run a brand's social accounts without much regulation from the powers-that-be.\nConsumers have an endless number of choices in today's markets, so brands use two-way conversation to get their attention, engage with and learn about them and personalize the online experience.\nThe result is a stream of highly personable and almost natural interactions, so much so that you might even forget that it's a fast food giant you're talking to, not a friend.\nTerminology: Two Ways Are Better Than One\nWhy \"two-way conversation\"? This buzzword-y phrase is a way to distinguish the strategy from the equally buzzword-y phrase \"one-way conversation\" (sometimes referred to as one-way manipulation), in which a brand dominates the conversation or outputs information without really engaging.\nTwo-way conversation, then, is a strategy that a brand uses to exude a human quality, showing (or pretending to show) that they care about what you have to say. Instead of broadcasting, they're engaging.\nEven though the phrase is used widely, there are even some marketers who hate it. Tyler Fonda, strategy director at integrated communications agency Gotham Inc. (which works with brands such as Denny's), told Fast Company earlier this year, \"I think the term two-way conversation is insane. A brand is just some abstraction that ad people have created.\"\nBut as social media evolves the way individuals communicate, it also opens doors for brands to interact with consumers in a direct and responsive way, with brand loyalty as the major goal.\nWhy Brands Started Two-Way Conversations\nSocial media has proved to be a useful marketing tool, but it isn't a surefire path to positive engagement. In fact, there have been a number of social media disasters that have taught brands \u2014 the ones involved, as well as ones that weren't \u2014 a lesson about social media and public relations.\nThink of the guitarist in 2009 who made a viral YouTube video about how United Airlines broke his guitar and refused to pay for it, or Kenneth Cole's #Cairo tweet during the Arab Spring. And who could forget KitchenAid USA's anti-Obama Twitter mishap, or CelebBoutique's oblivious tweet after the shooting in Aurora, Colo.?\nSocial media disasters are bound to keep happening, but by utilizing two-way conversation \u2014 and, in turn, paying close attention to what consumers are saying \u2014 brands have found it easier to avoid them.\n\n\nBiggest Social Media Disasters of 2012\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. McDonald's Promoted Trend Goes Wrong\n\nBack in January, McDonald's tried to promote its brand and engage with customers through two promoted trends: #meetthefarmers and #mcdstories. Unfortunately for McDonald's, many Twitter users decided to post their horror stories at the fast food chain using the second of those hashtags. In essence, McDonald's paid to promote a trend that showered the company in bad publicity. McDonald's later admitted that \"#mcdstories did not go as planned.\"\n\nImage: Flickr, Brilith\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Snickers Investigated for Paying Celebs to Tweet\n\n\nEarly this year, Snickers paid several celebs in the UK to tweet pictures of themselves eating Snickers bars. \nThe ad campaign didn't sit well with the UK's Office of Fair Trading, which requires companies to explicitly spell out when a product is being endorsed. The OFT launched an investigation into the Twitter ads, but eventually cleared Snickers of wrongdoing. \nImage courtesy of @rioferdy5\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. NRA Posts Pro-Gun Tweet After Aurora Shooting\n\n\nTalk about bad timing. American Rifleman, a journal affiliated with the National Rifle Association, posted a pro-gun tweet as the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo. was unfolding. \nThe tweet itself appeared to have been pre-scheduled through Hootsuite, but needless to say, it struck a nerve. The tweet was deleted several hours later and the account was deleted later that day, as well. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. CelebBoutique Ignites Firestorm With Aurora Tweet\n\nThe NRA wasn't the only organization to ignite a firestorm on Twitter following the Aurora shooting. CelebBoutique, an online store, posted a promotional tweet with the Aurora hashtag to take advantage of a trending topic. Unfortunately, the company's PR apparently did not take the time to read up on why Aurora was trending, so the tweet came off as incredibly insensitive. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Chick-Fil-A's Back-to-Back Controversies\n\n\nChick-Fil-A endured two back-to-back social media controversies in the middle of 2012. The first and arguably more serious of the two emerged after the company's founder spoke out firmly against same-sex marriage. Critics blasted Chick-Fil-A on various social networks, and the company's Facebook page was briefly taken over by posts that had nothing to do with chicken.  \nShortly afterwards, Chick-Fil-A was accused of creating a fake Facebook account to come to the company's defense. This time, it pertained to a related controversy: whether a particular Chick-Fil-A location had recalled Jim Hensen's Creature Shop Puppet toys after Hensen's organization came out against Chick-Fil-A's stance on gay marriage. Chick-Fil-A later denied that it created the account. \n\n\nImage: iStockphoto,  rhythmbehavior\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Microsoft Disses Ann Coulter\n\nMicrosoft briefly got political in September, when one of the people who manages its Twitter account dissed conservative talking head Ann Coulter from the Microsoft account, rather than from his personal account. Microsoft replied to a tweet from former U.S. labor secretary Robert Reich with the following post: \"@RBReich your granddaughter\u2019s level of discourse and policy &gt; those of Ann Coulter.\" Ouch.\n\nImage: Flickr, Gage Skidmore\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. KitchenAid Anti-Obama Tweet\n\n\nWhen it comes to offensive tweets, KitchenAid takes the cake. After President Obama mentioned his grandmother during the first presidential debate in October, the kitchen appliance manufacturer responded by posting the following tweet to its 24,000 followers: \"Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! She died 3 days b4 he became president. #nbcpolitics\"\nTo the company's credit, it quickly removed the tweet and issued an apology, explaining that a member of the KitchenAid team had mistakenly posted it from the company account instead of from a personal handle. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. StubHub Drops the F-Bomb\n\nShortly after the KitchenAid incident, StubHub had its own social media snafu. Someone posted a vulgar tweet from StubHub's account, calling the ticket sales website a \"stubsucking hell hole.\" The tweet was up for about an hour before the company finally deleted it and issued an apology. It's unclear whether the tweet came from an unhappy StubHub employee or if the account was hacked. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. American Apparel Teases Hurricane Sandy Promotion\n\nWord to the wise: Think twice before you try to turn a natural disaster into a promotional opportunity. American Apparel offered 20% off for those in states affected by Hurricane Sandy, in case they were \"bored\" by the storm. Customers quickly took to Twitter and other social networks to criticize the ad.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. Gap Angers Storm Victims With Hurricane Sandy Tweet\n\nAmerican Apparel wasn't the only retailer to frustrate those affected by Hurricane Sandy. As the storm made its way up the East Coast, The Gap seemed to encourage those hunkering down for the storm to do some online shopping. The company eventually took down the tweet and offered a semi-apology.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n11. Macy's Blasted for Relationship With Donald Trump\n\n\nEarlier this month, Macy's was pressured to drop spokesman Donald Trump after Trump's publicity stunt, in which he offered to donate $5 million in exchange for President Obama's college records and passport application.  \nMore than half a million people signed an online petition asking Macy's to sever its relationship with Trump, and the retailer's Facebook and Twitter pages were bombarded with anti-Trump comments.\n\n\nImage: Flickr, Gage Skidmore\n\n\n\n\n\n\nShining Examples\nDespite many debacles, there are plenty of brands using two-way conversation successfully. Check out a few examples below:\n\n\nOreo:\n\n@rachelmcduffee Hmm . . . It will be our little secret. Go for it! #twistlickdunk\n\u2014 Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) May 6, 2013\n\n\u00A0\n\n\nTaco Bell:\n\nWe're on @snapchat. Username: tacobell. Add us. We\u2019re sending all of our friends a secret announcement tomorrow! #Shhh\n\u2014 Taco Bell (@TacoBell) May 1, 2013\n\n\u00A0\n\n\nDenny's\n\n@thecimo Twerk so hard you're hungry for Denny's\n\u2014 Denny's (@DennysDiner) May 8, 2013\n\n\n\nJetBlue\n\n@mstonenh Awesome! So we'll just assume that means we'll be seeing you again soon!?\n\u2014 JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) May 9, 2013\n\n\u00A0\nThe Last Word\nIf you're speaking with a friend who has nothing valuable to contribute to the conversation, it's not really a successful conversation, is it?\nThe same goes for brands. Using social media itself isn't enough \u2014 ultimately, it all depends on how a brand interacts with its target audience. Brands should constantly think about how they're representing themselves on social media, while consumers should remind themselves that they're speaking to someone who is paid to represent the brand, rather than the brand itself.\nMashable composite; image via iStockphoto, csheezio\n\n\n      window._msla=window.loadScriptAsync||function(src,id){if(document.getElementById(id))return;var js=document.createElement('script');js.id=id;js.src=src;document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0].parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);};\n_msla(\"//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\",\"twitter_jssdk\");"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/05/12/two-way-conversation/>