The Twitter Adventure: observations
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A month ago I joined Twitter. Here the main lessons, observations and opinion so far...(Unlike an astonishingly large number of people on Twitter, I do not have "social media expert" in my bio, so read this critically.)
Most alarming observation
Other people's lives - especially their food intake and recreational habits - are much more exciting than mine. I'm hoping they are lying and assuming they have fewer children than me.
Is it worth it from a business perspective?
Not a question I can answer for anyone but myself. As with a blog or email list, you (individual or company) need to be clear on why you're doing it and how you measure success.
It's easy to become a numbers addict and focus on the number of followers (aka the size of your list or the number of feed subscribers), because that number is easily found.
But getting a bigger list is not a fundamental reason to Twitter, blog or email. The challenge is to find those metrics that truly measure success and post, write, Tweet, blog, publish to improve those numbers.
(And stop if the costs of doing so - particularly in time - aren't worth it.)
Interaction with other human beings may be the only justification you need at a personal level, but if you spend business time on Twitter, you need a business justification. It can be a seductive time suck. Even just following a handful of people is barely manageable. As Twitter grows, it will be a challenge to sort the wheat from the chat.
Potential benefits
As such, I see more potential in Twitter first as a broadcast (!) medium for business: another channel to get a message out to that part of your audience that prefers Twitter over email, blogs, Facebook etc.
And second, as a selective conversational medium for business: following those who have meaningful things to say and using search and other tools to focus on particular topics of conversation (such as feedback on your brand) or to receive direct questions from, for example, customers and prospects.
I see no value in following hundreds of people (anyone care to correct me?)
In my case, anecdotal evidence suggests there is some cannibalization of blog readers (not email subscribers), but much of the Twitter audience is a new one. As a consequence, Twitter participation is driving decent (repeat) traffic to the website.
Tip: if you're posting URLs in your tweets, use a URL shortening service that also provides stats on clickthroughs. I use idek.net.
More importantly, a non-monetary goal for me is to help others by spreading word of useful content. Through the new audience, Twitter works for that.
The big advantage
It is educating and inspiring to see the bios and websites of people who follow you. This is a big advantage compared to, for example, email or feed subscribers.
In email marketing, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that behind every email address is a warm-blooded human being (mostly). Since Twitter is more transparent, you are reminded that "people" are listening and this challenges and encourages you to provide more value. A good thing.
Networking value?
The networking value is strong if you see "Twitter relationships" as reinforcing or initiating broader, more intensive contact at, for example, meetings or local events. Otherwise, I tend to subscribe to Seth Godin's perspective.
You build relationships through what you contribute to that relationship. Twitter is simply another means of facilitating that contribution and not an end in itself.
There's also a danger (as with any network) that you immerse yourself in a like-minded community that can devolve into safe, self-congratulatory conversations.
It's emotionally reassuring, but can cocoon you from different perspectives and ideas. That's not a fault of Twitter, but how you use it.
Finally, two articles I thought had good ideas on integrating Twitter and email:
Send & Track an Email Campaign Through Twitter
10 Tips for Using Twitter And Email Marketing for B2B
Well, so far, so good...what do you think?
More on Web 2.0 and email | Tags: twitter
Permalink | February 23, 2009 | 8 comment(s)
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8 Comments:
I'm not a big fan about hearing what people are eating but do enjoy scanning the Twitter traffic and picking out tidbits from the the star Twitters. By star twitters I mean those that have relevance for me - it can be across many topics and doesn't matter if they have 20 or 20,000 followers.
I like Twitter as it puts a different face on bloggers as you see them it bite sizes and you get to listen in and converse with customers, prospects, friends, colleagues etc... I even twit with someone who is almost right beside me.
I like this post as it shows how you are trying to figure out Twitter and sharing your experiences with your readers. I did the same and have written a few posts on it - one which you mentioned above (thanks btw!). It's a really strange platform but seems to be gaining ground. I'm definitely a fan and will look forward to more tweets from you!
@chadhorenfeldt
By 
Chad H, on
24 February, 2009
Thnaks Chad, and I'm enjoying your Tweets. One other plus to Twitter is simply the intellectual enjoyment of seeing something new develop and working out how to put the ever-changing pieces of the puzzle together!
By 
, on
24 February, 2009
I'd have to agree, Twitter can prove to be a fantastic, highly effectual broadcast medium. I’ve seen it work extremely well from a public relations and marketing perspective for businesses of all types and sizes. What’s most important to remember is that Twitter requires ongoing support –it moves fast and customers expect immediate feedback. If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to make sure your business has the time and resources to dedicate to regularly reviewing the site. Otherwise, I’d recommend you forgo participating in this facet of the social networking landscape altogether.
By Erin, on
02 March, 2009
Thanks Erin. I'm seeing a similar problem at Facebook: organizations setting up a page, finding it's not an instant success and then just letting it languish. For a brand, I always think a lame presence is not better than no presence at all?
By , on
03 March, 2009
Hi Mark!
I’m also figuring out the best way to use twitter as a business and marketing tool. I see that is giving me some traffic, but not as much as I expected since I already have more than 1000 followers and Pixelnews has more than 750. As you say, maybe is because I’m not talking about what I’m eating at every moment. ;) What makes twitter really valuable for me is the search feature, I think is awesome. Is like a real time google, or like googling people’s thoughts. I recommend you to use Tweetdeck, is the coolest desktop app for twitter.
By Jose Maria Gil, on
03 March, 2009
Thanks for sharing your experiences Jose. I'll have to take a look at Tweetdeck.
By , on
03 March, 2009
thanks for the tiny url/tracking link - really helpful!
some interesting comments
By , on
18 March, 2009
I'm a little late to the game here - but thanks for linking to idek.net!
@covati - idek founder
By Adam Covati, on
01 April, 2009
Comments closed during migration to a new blog platform in early May
