Now that Twitter hype is starting to cool off a bit, marketers need to take the time to evaluate the real value of this social network. First of all, Twitter offers a great place to talk with technologists, marketers, journalists, select stars and cause-activists. However, it’s not that great of a social network to reach buyers (h/t Valeria Maltoni).
Delving deeper, social media whiz Jeremiah Owyang recently compared Google Buzz, MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. His analysis compared the networks from a perspective on where customers already are. His one liner on Twitter, “Has opportunity to become utility-like infrastructure, but not a destination.”
John Bell recently wrote that Twitter is a great communal location. It’s also not that great of a place for much more beyond great mass public events a la Mumbai, Iran, etc., and micro community chat center.
Now, we have well discussed the growth of mobile media and its importance to the future. Here, Twitter shows more promise. Recent ComScore usage reveals 4.7 million mobile “Tweeple,” but Facebook still rules with 25 million mobile users.
All in all, Twitter has solidified its place in the social network world. At the same time that place seems to be one of public chatter and quick timely movements. If your community is out there, this is a great place to be.
It’s also definitely not the only social network to maintain a presence on. Now more than ever, communicators need to be in touch with their communities of interest and be present where they are. Not where the hype engine tells you to be…
Geoff,
The more people look at the entire infrastructure as an environment, the more likely their approach will change across the board, e.g. if your customers at a baseball game then it doesn’t make sense to stand outside Target with a blow horn.
Nice round of ideas.
All my best,
Rich
Thanks. I appreciated the brevity of the post along with its useful insight…
All the Best,
Arletta
Thanks for sharing useful statistics about social media :)
I guess it contributed a bit more into my knowledge about social media in general.
If you’re interested, there’s my webcast on Social Media Use in Business. I shared my insight on social media tools used in business and would be grateful to see some thoughts and comments on the issue.