Brands on Twitter could be due for a reevaluation of how they interact with fans, especially with regards to the tones they use.

Even though most users describe brand accounts as “playful” and “funny,” one in two people believe an over-reliance on humor can come off as outdated, according to #RealTalk, a new report conducted by Twitter about brand perception on its platform.

The social media giant analyzed 5,000 tweets about brands, from which trends were surveyed and tested on 16,000 users in collaboration with market research company Sparkler. Twitter also teamed with audience intelligence platform Pulsar to scan every tweet from 20 major brands over the past three years. While the report was released last week, the Sparkler survey was conducted between May and June 2021.

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The finding that humor can get old should serve as a warning to brands who think good engagement is funny engagement. Just ask Pabst Blue Ribbon, which this month faced backlash after an employee made a series of X-rated tweets mocking Dry January on its official social handle. While the tweets went viral, the brand was clearly unhappy, having quickly deleted most of the evidence as well as issuing an apology for the crass behavior.

PBR’s gaffe illustrates a related finding from Twitter’s study, namely, that the tone a brand uses must depend on the circumstances. Eight in 10 people think brands should evolve their tone with respect to the times. 

In other words, it wasn’t just a poor marketing move that PBR tweeted X-rated content, but also that it did so in a disrespectful association of a public health campaign. Wendy’s, on the other hand, spent an entire day making fun of people and brands on Twitter, but experienced hardly any backlash because the circumstances were its annual National Roast Day. 

#RealTalk also found that 80% of people don’t mind being sold to on social media as long as the ads are entertaining or meaningful. This is good news for a space that is seeing explosive ad growth on a variety of platforms, though it puts more pressure on brands to get their messaging right, especially as users become savvier at sniffing out insincerity.

Finally, nine in 10 people said they valued brands that had a strong sense of self. As brands reassess how they communicate with fans on Twitter, they should therefore focus on being distinctive, carving out their own tone, topics of interest and communities with which to interact.

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