Twitter is certainly at the top of marketers’ minds these days. I see it referenced everywhere - in blogs I’m reading, on corporate and brand sites, on e-commerce sites, not to mention on radio and TV. Is Twitter “lightning in a bottle” for those trying to engage with their audience? Is it the link to your customers that’s been missing all along? Let’s look at the larger picture.
Twitter, while unique, is just another in a growing line of social networking platforms that have won the hearts of millions of Web users around the world. While Twitter is pared down, feature-wise, from Facebook or MySpace, its fundamental underpinnings are the same: make connections and share information. That’s where marketers see all the potential value: why not let your fans spread the word about your brand?
That’s great if it works for you. Unlike Jason Clark at iMedia Connection I’m not ready to proclaim that Twitter has already reached its pinnacle, but I’m fairly confident it will ultimately be surpassed in popularity by another platform. History tells us so. Remember, it wasn’t all that long ago that marketers were focusing all their efforts on advertising on MySpace. Just look at the graph below, in late 2008 MySpace was surpassed by Facebook and continues to lose ground.
Take a look with Twitter is thrown into that traffic comparison graph. You’ll note that the traffic is nowhere near that of Facebook or MySpace, and even appears to have leveled off. Might this be an indication of the future?
So what does this mean to marketers? If you were going to focus on Twitter, perhaps you should take a step back and reconsider your plan. Twitter has the potential to play a role in your efforts to connect with targets but it’s not the only way. Based on the reported Twitter retention rate, I’d suggest that it works for some, not for all. In the end, understanding your audience and responding to their needs is far more important than using the latest popular tool.
My advice: go for a healthy mix of social media platforms and never bank on a silver bullet.
Tags: facebook, myspace, social media, social networking, twitter
