Of the many brands that I’ve engaged with on Twitter, Tesla Motors comes to mind as the one brand that has really used Twitter as a tool to catapult itself from relative obscurity into the limelight. As an auto enthusiast wholly enthralled with the industry's move toward clean technology, I had heard of Tesla before Twitter but didn’t really have any real familiarity with the brand until I started following @TeslaMotors.
They used the account often to discuss the company's advancements, interact with the early-adopting public, and build excitement for their upcoming products. They even gave public updates of their Roadster deliveries, invigorating investors and making gear heads like me want one even more. They built quite a lot of momentum with the account and did so pretty quickly, building their list of followers to well over 9,000 people, many of which were, by default, exactly the type of people Tesla was hoping to reach—technology savvy, early-adopting entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, a very peculiar thing happened late last Fall. With the tweet “Chris Paine gets his Roadster!" @TeslaMotors went silent. For some strange reason that tweet started a drought of nearly six months—a period that included the high-profile unveiling of their highly anticipated Model S sedan. At a time when you’d expect they’d be working hard to court investors and encourage buyers to put down their $5,000 deposits for a Model S (and fund future production), they said nothing.
I'm happy to report that in the last few weeks, Tesla has resumed Tweeting, although not engaging on the level it once was, with recent tweets touting mainly news releases or blog posts. It really makes me curious as to what happened to @TeslaMotors during the “dark” period? Why did they seemingly give up on an outlet that has the potential to reach so many potential investors, buyers and brand ambassadors? I suppose folks at Tesla are the only ones that know the real answer (and they’re welcome to answer here). If you have any ideas or theories, please feel free to leave a comment here!
Comments
I think Darryl Siry was doing all the tweets. When he quit the company, the tweets stopped and no one else there knows what Twitter is apparently.
Darryl leaving the company was brilliant on his part. He saw first hand that Tesla was no where near producing a Model S and he didn't want to get dragged into the ensuing disaster that is yet to come.
Yes, I knew Darryl and still follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He is one of the most trusted people in the EV world, and I have heard the same rumblings about why he left.
I also wanted to add that one of Tesla's big competitors, Fisker Automotive, has similarly stopped tweeting. I think they've had only one or two tweets since February....
Great article, Garret.
I will be looking forward to hearing more from you about Telsa, Fisker, and all the tech marketing tools folks are using or not using to further business!
Cheers...
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