Brand nicknames increase engagement – depending on who’s using them

The use of nicknames in brand hashtags can drive significantly higher levels of engagement among consumers – but only if it is other consumers who are using them, research suggests. 

What the research showed 

Writing on the Harvard Business Review site, Zhe Zhang (HEC Montreal) and Vanessa M Patrick (University of Houston) outline their research which found that: 

• consumer tweets using nickname hashtags were shared twice as much and liked three times as much as tweets that used formal name hashtags;

• when brands themselves used nickname hashtags, consumers tended to see communications as less credible and authentic.

What brands can do

The authors say brands don’t have to stop using their nicknames, “but it’s critical to engage in the right way”. 

• Marketers should be aware of how consumers are talking about their brand – including the shifting use of informal language and (possibly multiple) unofficial hashtags.
• Accept that these names are being used and don’t try to stop it. 
• Consider legal protection for those nicknames.
• Nicknames should be part of an SEO strategy that stretches beyond Google to include other platforms.
• Use nicknames in a way that doesn’t challenge the ownership that consumers feel – in customer reviews, for example, but not a marketing campaign.
• If a brand has no nickname, marketers can find ways to encourage consumers to come up with one, but they shouldn’t attempt to do it themselves.

Sourced from Harvard Business Review

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