Twitter has Announced the Winners of its #BestofTweets Awards for 2021

Twitter has announced the winners of its #BestOfTweets Awards for 2021, which includes a combination of statistic-based a peer-voted awards, across a range of categories, recognizing the most outstanding brand tweets and handles of the year,

The big winner of the year was McDonalds, taking out ‘Best Brand Presence’ overall.

As explained by Twitter:

“In no small feat, McDonald’s pushed the boundaries and evolved its persona to speak to the most diverse and largest generation in American history yet. From celebrity meal campaigns with Saweetie and BTS to launching its loyalty program, McDonald’s continues to be at the forefront of conversation.”

Diving into trending memes and web lingo can be a risky path to take, as it can come off as trying too hard, while brands also often miss the point or focus of the trend, and can even do damage to their reputation as a result. But McDonald’s 2021 approach is more along these lines, seeking to tap into influencers and trends to hold its place in the online conversation.

And it seems to be working, at least from Twitter’s perspective.

The key, really, is getting good people to run your social media account, Twitter managers that truly understand the specifics of the medium. It’s one thing to be active on Twitter, and another to be good at tweeting, and not everybody with thousands of followers falls into that category, necessarily.

When vetting social media managers, you need to not only look at their own presence, but also seek examples of what they would tweet in certain scenarios, and get a feel for how in touch they are with broader trends.

The most tweeted about brand for 2021, meanwhile, was Disney+, which has had a big year of promotions and exclusives.

The pandemic has kept most of us at home for large chunks of the year, and Disney has used that opportunity to completely change its approach to films and content. That will have implications for the entire movie industry going forward, and as we’ve already seen, it will require the reformatting of traditional Hollywood contracts and deals to cater to this new paradigm.

But film distribution has, invariably, changed. And while Netflix is the established leader in VOD, Disney’s stable of stars and properties has it well positioned to take over the space, and move into line with the next generation of video consumption.

Given this, it’s little surprise to see it continue to gain attention with its tweets.

The most popular single brand tweet of 2021, however, goes to Nick Jnr, with this uplifting message from a grown-up Steve of Blue’s Clues.

The tweet, which seemed to come at just the right time for many, amid the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, has racked up more than 2 million likes, helping to remind people of the power of television, and how it’s played a role in our development.

In terms of specific campaigns, this promotion from Oreo took the prize for ‘best campaign to creatively push the envelope’.

The innovation here was in the campaign’s execution, as explained by Twitter:

“When a fan liked an @Oreo Tweet, the beloved cookie analyzed the fan’s most recent Tweets to share a personalized OREO horoscope with tasty insights about their personality – and that’s the kind of Stuf that inspires innovation.”

The campaign seeks to utilize the interactive benefits of the medium to enhance engagement with the brand. VaynerMedia oversaw the creative elements of the push.

Twitter has also allocated awards based on the most-used brand hashtag, the best campaign linked to a major moment and a special award to the #ThankYouNurses promotion.

The winners provide some interesting perspectives on what’s working in tweet campaigns right now, which could help to get you thinking more creatively about your own tweet approach.