Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

Twitter is more than idle chit-chat. It’s not just a big instant messenger and there’s some valuable stuff happening below the surface. Sure, the way some people use the service trivializes its significance. That’s undeniable. There are others, however, that are figuring out that Twitter can be a serious tool.

Just in case you haven’t been converted to the pro-Twitter side yet, here are three more reasons to take the social networking service seriously.

First, it creates a splendid opportunity to monitor and evaluate what your customers and prospects are really talking about. Can you say “free market research”?

Second, it gives you another outlet to extend your reach. It’s a low hassle way to supplement your website an blogging endeavors to reach another audience.

Third, it gives you the opportunity to create a social network that has a strong interest in what you’re doing and then allows you to approach those people with marketing messages. Not so shabby, huh?

Twitter may not be the game-changer some people want to pretend that it is, but it certainly isn’t the triviality others pretend it is. There are good reasons to take Twitter seriously.

The critics are having a heyday with Twitter.  If you’re not listening to someone go on and on about how great it is, you’re probably listening to someone who’s making fun of it.

You’ve heard the criticisms.  It’s narcissistic volunteer voyeurism at its worse.  It’s nothing more than gobs of self-important people sharing the mundane details of their not-so-exciting lives.  How can Twitter be the next big thing?  Are there really that many people who care what everyone else is making for supper?

Hey, there’s a lot of truth to the criticisms.  There’s a part of the Twitter community that is droning on and on about the minutiae of every day existence.  It would be a mistake, however, to think that’s what the whole thing is really all about.
We’re talking about millions of users and millions more to come.  People with defined interests creating social networks with one another and communicating together.

If you’re a marketer and you’re laughing at Twitter with the critics, the joke is on you.  Beyond the silliness lies a great deal of potential.  There are few ways to reach as many people so easily with a well-targeted marketing message.

When you’re done laughing, start making some money!

Those of us who’ve been around the block a few times can get a little gun-shy about hopping on the latest “big thing”.  We’ve seen popular trends and sites that the world gushed over go cold and dead more than once.  We’ve seen the “game changers” quickly transform into a standard-issue piece of the process.

That’s probably why some of us have been reluctant to get going with a plan to leverage the power of Twitter to improve our marketing.  We’re just suspicious and cynical enough to wonder if this is just another fad.

There’s no way to say definitively that Twitter is going to be a big piece of the Internet landscape in five years.  There’s no way to say what’s going to be happening with the web in five years.  Anyone who claims to know is feeding you a line.

It is, however, safe to say that Twitter is going to keep growing through 2009 and that it’s unlikely to collapse any time soon.  This is one of those trends that hasn’t yet reached its peak and even if that peak hits soon, the fall-off will take awhile to really set in.

Here’s the good news.  Unlike those other situations where it was necessary to act at the beginning of the trend to make money, there’s still plenty of marketing room in Twitter.  It’s not virgin territory, but all things considered, not many marketers have really tapped into its potential yet.

Don’t be cynical or suspicious this time around.  This one’s the real deal.  It’s going to stick for awhile and the moneymaking potential is strong.