Hillary Clinton might not know or care about the difference between Twitter and a tweeter, but the rest of the world appears to be increasingly curious about microblogging.
But while it's easy to see how people might enjoy sharing tidbits about their personal lives, just how does this fervor for social media messaging translate to the business world?
In a recent investigation into the topic Time magazine says Twitter is set to change American business in 10 ways. In summary, here are a few of the identified game-changers:
- Hyper-local marketing - an inexpensive way for small businesses to connect with customers and communicate new products, offers and discounts
- Market research - keeping an eye on what consumers say about your product or service via microblogging takes the time and expense out of the feedback process
- Twit-pay - systems that connect Twitter to bank accounts are being developed to facilitate a quick means of paying for goods and services
- Turning old into new - rather than competing with old media, it's claimed Twitter is providing broadcasters and newspapers with an vital new content channel
Latest research is that Twitter traffic is falling back - maybe Hilary Clinton doesn't need to learn her Twitter lingo after all.
Posted by: David Hinde | Orgtopia | 25 June 2009 at 08:37 PM
I think we need to focus less on the name ‘Twitter’, and more on the concept of micro-blogging. Also, we need to examine how it fits in with other online networking platforms such as Linkedin and Facebook. With that in mind, I submit my own limited experience as a case study.
As a Corporate Comedian, MC, Hoax Speaker and Lateral Thinking Facilitator, here's how I'm trying to gain from online networking or social media marketing.
Firstly, my focus is on the long term rather than short term, and in the short term it's more about giving value than getting it. Building relationships and gaining trust is the first aim. Another aim is to drive people to my website, where they can gain value without spending a cent. But of course, as they experience my humour and creativity tips, some will become more predisposed towards my services.
Before I describe how I use LI, FB and Twitter myself, let me say that the sooner some platform emerges that combines the functionality of all three, the better. They each have their good and bad points.
Linkedin is where I like my most serious connections to end up. Joining groups and contributing to discussions is also a way to boost awareness of your profile, and to give value. LI lets me maintain lifetime connections with former colleagues, clients and referral sources. Having said that, LI is quite static, and in some ways just sits there like a plate of cold porridge waiting for Goldilocks.
Twitter is a very open platform, and can look like utter rubbish until you work out how to find the gems among the rocks. I have a couple of aims on Twitter. For business purposes, I seek then follow folk who may share my target market, plus potential clients. Then I start to converse with them, and often they follow me in return.
I generally try to tweet wit or wisdom, not what I had for lunch, like the airheads do. Often a URL is in the tweet, sending them to my website to have a laugh or hear an audio insight about lateral thinking. Other folk send followers to their blog, where they receive further value. Each tweet can be like a Play button, but you need to give followers a reason to press it.
As I identify serious contacts via Twitter, I suggest to them that we connect on Linkedin.
Another aim with Twitter is purely social. Being a sole operator, based in a home office, it's fun to participate in lighthearted conversations about topical issues, from swine flu to Somali pirates to UteGate. Simple is that.
Facebook is more the place where I have friends, family and like minded colleagues such as fellow speakers or trainers. It's a good way to maintain a sense of connection, because of its greater multimedia capabilities. However, I know some women who hate the coldness of LI and migrate their Twitter contacts to FB.
Just imagine if LI had the microblogging capability of Twitter and the multimedia, interactive functions of FB, but all integrated in a way that each user could control to suit their needs. That's what will one day emerge, I hope.
As I said, online networking is about giving value before getting it. I hope you get some value from these comments.
Posted by: Graeme Bowman | 27 June 2009 at 04:07 PM
Like my previous comment, this one goes broader than just Twitter, and looks at social media marketing in general. I post it here because members of other forums tell me that have gained from the ideas expressed.
Critical to the success of any social media strategy is the TYPE of person you appoint to implement it on a daily basis. Above all else, this person needs to have a FEEL for it; they need to be more of an artist than an engineer.
Try this metaphor for size: when you think of ‘social media’, think of ‘jazz’. In particular, think of improvised jazz. Yes, there’s some structure, and some rules may be followed, but at its very heart is the ability to make it up as you go along.
The best jazz musicians have a ‘feel’ for what works; they aren’t robots enslaved by ‘methodology’. The way they play their instrument is guided by their mood ... by the mood of the audience ... by the atmosphere. What actually happens on that very night, in that very room, can’t be predicted. And can’t be controlled.
So it is with social media. Whoever executes your social media strategy, day to day, should have more in common with a jazz muso than a classical pianist. Both highly talented, agreed, but send the classical guy to work in Accounts.
Running an effective social media campaign is about ‘living in the moment’ ... ‘going with the flow’ ... ‘being in the zone’. Why? Because the fans fiddling with Facebook, and the tweeps tweeting on Twitter are all doing just that. It’s all about NOW.
Like the mood of the jazz room, trends are transient, fads are fleeting, and only the player with the gift of intuition can ‘play to the crowd’. Heard of ‘Susan Boyle’? ‘Michael Jackson’s death’? In the nanosecond world of social media, such trends skyrocket then crash and burn, while the mainstream media is still stammering, ‘What happened?’
When you’re choosing someone to make your social media campaign happen on a daily basis, if they have a clarinet in their hand, give them the job. If not, ask them if they know the meaning of ‘bohemian’ or ‘zeitgeist’. If they don’t, wish them well and shout, ‘Next!’
I can’t improvise with a saxophone; I just do it with comedy at product launches and other corporate events. But there’s always that same magic ... that same warmth ... when moods and ideas connect. Jokes ... jazz ... whatever ignites the right connections between brands and people. That’s what you’re after. You can’t hold it in your hand ... you can’t exactly plan for it ... you can’t really measure it. But you sure know when it’s there.
Happy improvising.
Posted by: Graeme Bowman | 27 June 2009 at 04:18 PM