Can someone just take X, formerly known as Twitter, out of Ryanair’s hands already? Let’s face it, we go to social media to keep up with friends, look at cute pictures of cats and while away hours at a time doing very little. Not, I would argue to see brands trying their best to be irreverent. The "Silence, brand" meme comes to mind.
On platforms like X and TikTok, Ryanair mocks criticisms it gets for poor customer service – whether it be those sneaky additional fees, or window seats without any windows. And just this month, it’s taken aim at everyone from the Irish Green Party to Harry Styles to a photo of Meryl Streep with Beyoncé.
Many people like it. Ryanair has over 800,000 followers on X, around 250,000 more than fellow low-cost airline EasyJet, for example, and the replies to their posts show that some people do genuinely find the account funny. It cleverly taps into the ways in which Gen Zs and Millennials use social media, capitalising on viral trends and memes.
But, what do we really want from a company like Ryanair? If you’re going from Manchester to Prague or London Luton to Ibiza, you aren’t expecting to be treated like royalty. But you do expect decent service. And, if there are any issues, you want the company in question to have a fairly sensible social media presence. You want your issues to be addressed with minimal fanfare. Not to be mocked for a few cheap laughs at your expense.
Singling out Ryanair is unfair, however. Among the other brands that can take things too far on social media include Brewdog, Oatly, and Paddy Power. Last year, Oatly was criticised for its advertising campaign on Reddit – we thought that, like with Brewdog, for example, the continual irreverent sarcasm begins to wear thin the more a brand grows in size and stature.
And what about Paddy Power, the Irish gambling and betting company? A lot of their posts on X are quite near the knuckle, in fitting with their laddish branding. But, sometimes they can well and truly cross the line. As far back as 2015, they were strongly criticised, and deservedly so, for comparing Newcastle United’s defeats to police brutality in the US.
Five years later, in one of the compilations of tweets they often make into marketing videos, they were criticised for including a tweet with a phrase widely considered to be homophobic. Sometimes Paddy Power’s X account can be genuinely funny, but perhaps its tweets should go through an extra couple of people before they get posted.
And who can forget the toe-curling love-in on X in 2021, when Weetabix suggested trying Heinz baked beans on its famous wheat biscuits. Everyone from Domino’s to Kellogg’s to, erm, Tinder got involved in the replies, with Lidl asking, “Babe are u ok?”
Look, I don’t begrudge the social media managers of these brands for having a bit of fun, and adding to the brand’s voice and image, but surely there needs to be a line somewhere? Having a bit of a joke is one thing, but it can so easily come over as at best a Gen Xer’s interpretation of what Gen Zs sound like, and at worst simply unprofessional.
Sometimes, however, this social media freedom can be used for good. In 2019, a man in South Africa was mocked online after he proposed to his girlfriend at KFC. But after the story gained traction on social media, brands were almost falling over themselves to offer the couple freebies to congratulate them.
From free smartphones to a TV to wine to even their honeymoon, companies came together in a genuinely heartwarming display – the couple essentially got their dream wedding for free. These sorts of things are few and far between, unfortunately, but the outpouring of love and support for the couple shows just how far this sort of goodwill from brands might take them.
Specsavers, meanwhile, are well known for their witty X account, on which they often let people know that they “should have gone to Specsavers” among other things, and it’s difficult to pick too much fault.
But that’s the thing. Social media is such an invaluable tool for brands, and when you get it right it can be really effective. However, this trend of over-familiarity needs to stop, otherwise they risk customers getting fed up.
This is what not to do, based on some of the biggest culprits. But here’s how to nail your social media strategy, and here are 15 power tips for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, to maximise your own chances of social media success.
