The Rise of the Tweet – A Little SMO Giant
What exactly is this “little twittering thing”?
Twitter is a social networking website where users share 140 character posts with a large and diverse international community. Along with Facebook, Twitter has played an enormous role in transforming how we communicate, market and share on the web.
According to Wikipedia, since its inception on March 21, 2006, registered users have increased by an amazing 1500%. In the first quarter of 2007, Twitter reported 400,000 tweets per quarter. By the first quarter of 2010, 4 billion tweets had been posted.
According to Alexa, Twitter is currently ranked the 11th most visited website in the world. With statistics like these, it’s crystal clear that something very big is happening on the world’s most user-friendly, micro-blogging site.
But aren’t tweets just more meaningless Internet chatter?
Twitter often gets a bad rap – as Clive Thompson discusses in his September 5th, 2009, The New York Times Magazine article, “I’m So Totally, Digitally Close to You”. Thompson says, “The growth of ambient intimacy can seem like modern narcissism taken to a new, supermetabolic extreme—the ultimate expression of a generation of celebrity-addled youths who believe their every utterance is fascinating and ought to be shared with the world.”
Although this quote suggests that Twitter is nothing but “celebrity-addled youths” sharing trivial information with one another, in reality, only 11% of Twitter users are under the age of 17. The actual median age of twitter users is 31 years old.
Twitter is not mere child’s play. Twitter has quickly become one of the most influential channels for sharing information with a large target audience instantly, effectively and at no cost. This inevitably means that Twitter is a fantastic platform for online content marketing and SEM (search engine marketing).
Why is Twitter such a great place to market?
When looking at the advantages of Twitter marketing, it’s important to understand that the power of micro-blogging lies in the overall impression that is created over time (not in single posts). In Thompson’s critique on Twitter, he makes a very important observation:
“But as the days went by, something changed. Haley discovered that he was beginning to sense the rhythms of his friends’ lives in a way he never had before. This is the paradox of ambient awareness. Each little update — each individual bit of social information — is insignificant on its own, even supremely mundane. But taken together, over time, the little snippets coalesce into a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of your friends’ and family members’ lives, like thousands of dots making a pointillist painting. This was never before possible.”
A unique intimacy is shared by Twitter users. It’s thus become a fantastic place to gain insight into your target audience’s behaviors, likes, dislikes, wants and needs. Not only do you gain a strong sense of what a specific demographic is feeling and thinking (in “real-time”), you can speak directly with them every single day. In terms of account planning, market research and building brand awareness, Twitter offers amazing opportunities that cannot be overlooked.
Look at the great ways Twitter can be used for your online marketing campaign:
· Share breaking news and important business information immediately
· Ask questions! Get great feedback and advice from a targeted audience
· Take part in “real-time” discussions
· Share links to resources that shed light on your business benefits
· Promote your website, product launches, events and awards
· Organize meet-ups (aka Tweet-ups)
· Study your competitors and critics
· Find and connect with prospective customers
· Hire people (or fire people…though frowned upon ;))
· Learn from colleagues!
· Improve customer service
· Enhance your online SEO content campaign!
It’s time your business took advantage of these great marketing opportunities!
With so many beneficial ways Twitter can be used to garner more online exposure, learn about your target demographic and promote your brand – why not join the conversation today?
And yes, Twitter is very time consuming. To keep your site and profile relevant, you must post frequently. You need to create an image and personality that people remember, relate to and look forward to seeing day after day.
Word Refuge can do all of this for you. We’ll set you up with an optimized account and promote it from our own @wordrefuge profile. We can continue building our online success together!
Twitter is really fun, extremely useful and should definitely be integrated into your online marketing campaign. Contact Word Refuge, Creative SEO Copywriting Services, today, and let’s get started!