What People Are Twittering About

Over the last 6 months I have gone from “Twitter is a fad” to “Maybe there is something to this thing”.  As those who know me know, I don’t rush to the latest thing and I look cautiously to new technologies — I guess after doing this for 10 years through the bubble and bust I’ve gotten a bit cynical.  This new data from eMarketer (link) breaks down what people are using Twitter for and helps paint the picture of this strange new communication platform.

This profile of what is being Tweeted is a bit different than what I have experienced.  I would have thought the self-promotion would have been much higher as every blogger (including myself) and more and more businesses are blurbing out promotional tweets.  The catagory “Pointless Babble” leads me to believe that Twitter is being used as a real social platform by real people talking to real people.    Note that 37% of tweets are people talking to each other that are not just RTs (re-tweets).  RTs made up only 8.7% in the “Pass along” catagory.  From my experience there is a lot more self-promotion and a lot more Re-tweets.

I’ve recently participated in a Twitter event that we used as a promotional communication vehicle.  The results were very impressive as we gathered hundred’s of consumers together for several hours to talk about our products.  I found the Twitter audience to be very engaged and enthusiastic about directly communicating with the brand.  I’m still not sure how this thing will evolve but the data and my experience with this event is pushing me to believe that there is something to this Twitter thing.

#IranElection on Twitter

I have been glued to Twitter all weekend.  Following the developments in Iran through the #IranElections tag.  It’s a bizarre mix of voyeurism, social consciousness and a real sense that I am witnessing an event in real time with the participants and spectators all mashed together.  Switching over to CNN to get their analysis only reveals that they are doing the exact same thing — following the events on Twitter.

The whole situation reminds me of watching the first Gulf War unfold on CNN.  At that time the war provided CNN the content that positioned them as the leader in world news.  Fast forward alomost 20 years and now it’s CNN that has been sidelined by the upstart Twitter.  Its too early to see how this will effect Twitter in the long run (let alone how it will effect Iran — which we ‘re praying for)  but here are some observations from a marketing perspective:

• Expect Twitter to get a lot of street cred for their part in this world event.  They will be herolded as a leading tool for getting news out of Iran.  Twitter will look to position itself as a platform for news.
• Twitter was used by both the rebels and the establishment.  The rebels used Twitter to broadcast to the world and to each other vital information — I watched as the rebels first identified which Embassies where taking wounded.   The Establishment used Twitter to broadcast false information intended to confuse the rebels.  This very serious case illustrates just how important verifying Twitter accounts is. Expect Twitter to start charging for verified accounts soon.
• A young girl named Neda was killed on Saturday.  Unedited video was spread through Twitter posts.  She quickly became an icon for the movement.  Twitter was used as a real time diseminator of the events — an unedited uneditorialized blast of information.  We’re entering a new world where newspapers are being replaced with this kind of real world data blasts.  I’m not sure how this will unfold but be aware the the audiences perception of information will be changing.
• I’ve maintained that Twitter is interesting but didn’t have the legs to make it a mainstream tool like Facebook.  Depending on how Twitter leverages the momentum garnered over this weekend they may be able to break out of being just a media darling novelty and become a tool to reach a mainstream audience — I think a lot would have to happen to get there.  But there is a chance.  Keep an eye on how Twitter uses this event to shape their identity.

The events in Iran over this weekend have been incredible.  I’m in awe that I’m seeing a real time world event unfold in 140 characters bursts.  The amount of posts is increadable.  Every second there are hundreds of new Tweets.  My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Iran.

Nielson Report

Yes, it is here to stay.  Twitter offers a new and compelling service that has quickly grown to be an Internet phenomenon.  But marketers beware — you’ll see a very different story emerge over the next couple months.  What appears to be a mass market communication machine will shrink back into a platform for the  highly connected niche.

Here’s some great data from Neilson’s Blog (link here) detailing Oprah’s Twitter usage since her show on the subject aired.  Like most users, now at a 60% bail out rate, she is quickly trailing off usage.  As the graph above shows, Twitter is bleading users at an unsustainable rate.  They need to change or they will start to shrink.

Thoughts:

• Twitter needs to tweak it’s service offering to break into the mainstream.  It needs to identify it’s core reason for being and develop tools that allow users to tap into that core service.
• I’d recommend that Twitter focus on being the ultimate real time distributor of news.  “News” defined here as any sharing of information like “Space Shuttle Lands” to “Party at My House Tonight”.   They need to develop tools that allow users to set up an interface that makes it easy to digest that news in ways that are more friendly then they have now.
• They should expand their news offering to include more professional content and separate the professional content from the amateurs.  We’ve seen celebrities attract huge followings, but what about the paparazzi?  I’m not endorsing paparazzi’s but I could envision a service where they could sell real time celebrity feeds.  Or reporters could Twit out events as they happen.
• Twitter needs to be integrated into HULU.  I want to be able to watch Lost and discuss Lost with the Lost community at the same time. I want my Twitter feed to scroll on my TV screen as I watch.
• Marketers need to define how they can use Twitter.  If at all.  Does your brand have a need for a continuous live feed?  Maybe — but make it worth it for both you and your brand.

UPDATE:  I was not aware of the Twitter TV concept when I wrote this post last weekend.  Check out this article from USA Today (LINK HERE).  It’s very close to the Paparazzi concept I outlined above — not trying to toot my horn here.  But I though the idea was way way out there when I posted it.  I’m a bit floored that it is in the “works”.

There has been a ton of press on Twitter in the last couple months.  So much so that Oprah has now done a show all about Twitter.  She does a great job of explaining what Twitter is in the above  YouTube clip.  As marketers here are a couple things to keep in mind:

• Twitter has no revenue stream — no business model.  The logical model would be paid key word driven advertising.  Where you could post an ad next to a Tweet that includes the desired key word.  The problem with this is that Twitter is a social networking platform and Click Through Rates have so far been unsustainable on SocNet sites.
• A business can start their own Twitter feed for a very live and personal connection to the brand’s fans.  The data suggests that the traffic is mainstream — check out these articles from ComScore.  But as they note, the mainstream-ness of the traffic may be more from the media coverage then actual usage.

http://www.comscore.com/blog/2009/04/twitter_traffic_explodes.html

http://www.comscore.com/blog/2009/04/breaking_news_and_making_news.html

• For ideas of what to do with your Twitter account check out this post by Chris Brogan:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/

• Is Twitter an avenue you should explore?  There is no cost to entry other than the commitment — which is significant.  You’ll need a resource to keep active in the Twitter community to make the effort worthwhile.  Check out Twitter feeds from Sprint and Graco for ideas of what marketers are doing on Twitter. To answer this question ask yourself:

1. Is your audience on Twitter
2. Do you have a robust mutli-touch Social Networking program that would benefit from Twitter?  Twitter is not a isolated tactic — it needs to be apart of a complete communication strategy.
3. Do you have the resources needed to commit to Twitter.  Don’t just post your monthly coupon offer — it’s not worth it.  You’ll need a community manager to spend significant time managing your Twitter efforts.

Wow!  You’ve got to check out what Graco is doing online.  Graco’s robust Social Networking presence is a great example of how businesses, especially businesses in highly regulated industries, can effectively surround their audience with a consistent online message.  What I really like is the consistency of their message.  They are amplifying their “Ready for the Road Ahead” campaign throughout.

Check out this post from Ignite Social Media (link).  And the following slide show from the Blog Council (Link).

Graco Blog:  http://blog.gracobaby.com/

Graco on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/ReadyForTheRoadAhead

Graco on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gracogettogethers/

Graco on Twitter: http://twitter.com/GracoBaby

It’s interesting that Graco has no Facebook presence yet.  I would have thought this was a natural for them.

There are a lot of great insights here on how major brands can embrace Social Networking in a meaningful way that engages their target consumers.  We’ll keep an eye on Graco and see how they develop these strategies moving forward.