Social Media Website Critique #2-Twitter

Today, I am going to discuss the pros and cons of Twitter. The third largest (and growing) social media website is definitely a marketing powerhouse to be discussed further. As stated before, these critiques are only looking at the business capabilities of the site.

First off, we need some stats to view the Twitter phenomenon properly. I am using facts reported on the Wikipedia site about Twitter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

Twitter is estimated to have over 200 million users, just after its 5^th birthday. There are 65 million messages or 'tweets' a day generated. The tweets themselves are not allowed to be any longer than 140 characters long.

Pear Analytics a market research firm investigated Twitter in 2009 and reported some numbers as to the content of the tweets. 40% are pointless babble, 38% are conversational, 9% have pass along value, 6% are self promotion, 4% are news and spam. We will discuss these numbers a bit more later in this article.

As I mentioned before in this blog, Twitter can only boast a retention rate of 40% because most users leave after a month. So the website may only reach 10% of internet users. (Neilson Online, 2009)

In the U.S., 53% of Twitter users are women. 63% of all users are under the age of 35. Also 5% of all users make up 75% of all use! (Sysomos, 2009) 60% are Caucasian, 16% are African-American and 11% are Hispanic. And at last, 58% of all users come from a household that makes an average of $60,000 a year. (Quancast)

Twitter is a powerful marketing tool, because of it's amount of users and the fact that it forces users to create short and concise messages. The short messages can contain precise information to market your business or product. It is a fast and efficient way to advertise, as well as it is free. These short messages are perfect for a world that survives on mobile devices. Additionally, users are can provide feedback quickly and easily to aid in the marketing of your company.

However after looking at the numbers, I would not consider it as powerful of a marketing tool, as Facebook. The low retention rate means that your information may be falling on deaf ears. However, do not be discouraged, the more that businesses use Twitter for marketing, the more effective of a marketing tool it becomes. Also it is still fairly new and it may take the users a while longer to stop generating 'senseless babble'.

Twitter still holds a lot of water, when it comes to marketing to a large mass market...this is good for businesses that rely on mail order or online businesses, as Twitter can push people towards their site.

When coupled with couponing sites (the newest rage-I will talk about later in this blog), Twitter can also push people to your coupons.

Twitter also connects well with other media sites, such as MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. This is good when you want to create a good flow between all of your media outlet sites. Twitter also allows for good Twitter stats pages so you can monitor your marketing campaign with Twitter.

Twitter has been developing better video and photo integration technologies. As well, Twitter is currently updating it's homepage, however, as of March 5^th, 2011, they were having problems with their new look. Generally Twitter has an uptime rate of 95%, which is fairly good.

Some drawbacks of Twitter are that your message may be lost in the wave of senseless babble, as well your message may be perceived as spam, if not implemented properly. Hard core pitches, over tweeting, bad word choice and auto-generated responses may create a spam image for your business. If you use a professional, this should not be a problem.

Other issues are that your followers are harder to pin-point, unlike Facebook. It is hard to find out who, what and where your followers are. This is not good when you want to market your business close to home.

Overall Twitter is an excellent addition to any social media arsenal. It is just good to know who want to reach and what you want from your campaign before you proceed.

Happy Birthday Twitter!

It is quite ironic that I start a blog on Social Media etc. on the fifth birthday of social media giant Twitter. So it goes without saying that I have to have place a little spotlight on the web service.

Here is a short history of the popular web application. The first tweet was at 9:50 PM EST on March 21, 2006 and it has been an upward climb in popularity ever since. Founder Jack Dorsey wanted to use a SMS services to communicate with a small group of people. It was used at first to communicate inter-office at Odeo (the pod casting company that Dorsey worked for).

By July 2006 Twitter was a publicly introduced under the Odeo name. In April 2007 Twitter was spun off as its own entity and the rest is history.
From 400,000 tweets per quarter in 2007 to 65 Million tweets per day in June 2010...the company exploded on the internet social scene. Twitter had moved to third on the social media website popularity!

This popularity, however, was not without its criticisms ranging from; that a high amount of users just post useless garble; to the low retention value of users (60% of users stop tweeting after one month; Neilson Online 2009); or the possible censorship issues (such as, tweets being impeded for having WikiLeaks references); or giving credence to such megalomania for some individuals (like rants by Charlie Sheen)

Which brings me to the question...What is the benefit of having a web service, such as Twitter?

In my opinion I do not care for the mindless tweets like "I am bored, waiting for a bus!" or "I don't like that person's tight shorts!". Nor do I approve of it as a ranting portal for some misguided celebrity. However, these facts alone do not tarnish the value of such a service.

The low retention value may be due to the fact that most people do not really have that much exciting to tweet about. Unlike YouTube where images and sound convey the message for the publisher...tweets force the user to be content and lingo savvy. It is harder to write about a subject, than it is to film it on a cellphone, then upload it to Youtube.

Which brings us back to the question of the benefit of having Twitter. I believe the value is in its business applications. From promoting a new author to the newest Hollywood blockbuster, Twitter has an advantage over other social media outlets, in the fact, that it is short, concise and to the point. As well it is a good avenue for promotion, as the tweets are public to everyone compared to the friends only approach of Facebook.

So if someone likes a new movie-this can be seen by everyone. It is a wide scope word of mouth marketing tool. This type of advertising that has been around since the beginning of business.

It is also a good avenue for web marketing, as it is a good vessel to deliver information for new products arriving at an outlet store, or a quick promotional sale for a small business, an open house for a real estate agent, a special at a trendy bistro, etc. The opportunities for Twitter as a marketing tool are endless. This can be a powerful marketing tool in a time when coupons are beginning to rule the marketing world, because of a down-turned economy. Oh yeah and best of all... it is free!

As well, Twitter combined with other social media outlets, such as Facebook or Blogger can promote businesses on to a world stage in marketing...that even a few years ago was not possible. Not too bad for a business named after a bird sound.

So to Twitter on your fifth anniversary - I say "Happy Birthday and best of luck in the future!"