Image by notoriousxl via FlickrRecently I gave a talk on business blogs and social media to a group of Chicagoland consultants. In the Q &A session that followed, a few difficult questions came up. I’ve decided to write about each of them, and here’s the first.
As an example of effective marketing on Twitter, I mentioned how I was tweeting to someone about how cold it was in Chicago, and how nice it would be to be in Phoenix. Moments later I received a tweet from a travel agent who, in a low key way, told me about their special package deals to Phoenix. Then this question came up –
When one travel agency does that, yes, it’s pretty cool. But what happens when Twitter catches on and you get 100 tweets from travel agencies? It’ll be like home telemarketing calls, only worse.
Certainly something to think about. Even with one million-plus members, Twitter remains in the early adapter phase. Only a relative handful of companies have caught on to the incredible marketing power of this little understood social media platform. It’s only a matter of time before that changes. When any and every business has an active presence on Twitter, will it be crushed under its own weight as a marketing tool?
Why Twitter will survive popularity
- Other platforms, such as Facebook, are thriving despite the huge injection of commercialism. Many users were critical of the oncoming onslaught and left, but overall, Facebook remains highly popular and continues to grow.
- Twitter users can block users.
- Twitter apps will continue to develop. No doubt some of them will help users filter, control, and classify business followers. People aren’t opposed to companies marketing themselves on Twitter, they just want a measure of control.
- Companies will learn that mass marketing on Twitter is a bad idea. The goal is not to spray a message to thousands of unwelcoming recipients. The goal is to cultivate a niche of hundreds of loyal followers.
Why Twitter will be crushed under its own weight
- The herd will move on to the next big thing.
- Users, led by power users, will abandon Twitter for a safe, non-commercial haven.
- Even though users can block other users, as a practical matter they won’t if they need to block scores of them on a daily basis.
Which way do you think it will go? For business, will Twitter be a boom or a bust?
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Two weeks ago I would have said no way. That was before I got my first Twitter spam in response to a reply I had sent to a friend. The company obviously had an active search going for particular keywords, and as soon as I tripped the wire, I got not one but two tweets from them.
“Companies will learn that mass marketing on Twitter is a bad idea. The goal is not to spray a message to thousands of unwelcoming recipients. The goal is to cultivate a niche of hundreds of loyal followers.”
They won’t learn it anywhere near fast enough to avoid a mass exodus from Twitter unless someone comes up with a solution that requires little effort on the part of the Twitterer.
But I do trust them to do that. There may not be a solution that doesn’t handicap Twitter a little bit, but I do believe that they’ll be able to come up with something that keeps it plenty useful enough for people to keep using it.
That is, of course, if they’re able to find a revenue model in time…
Shanes last blog post..Poker and Business
Shane, I hope you are right that we can come up with a solution, because frankly, people shouldn’t have to keep migrating to new platforms because of rampaging commercialism. Do you think part of the problem is that companies are diving head first into Twitter without any schooling or experience in social media? They employ old school, direct marketing techniques that are off putting to Twitterers.
PS – thank you for visiting Word Sell and taking the time to comment so thoughtfully.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Will Twitter Be Crushed under Its Own Weight?
Let’s remember that users control who they follow; I know that many people are annoyed by autofollow DMs, and either stop following or even block those Twitter users. At the rate Twitter has grown the past several months, there’s bound to be some kinks along the way. they’ll get ironed out as people personalize their Following lists, I’m sure.
I like your pros and cons. As said, Facebook survived commercialism. Twitter should, as well.
MudslideMamas last blog post..Fantastic Disney Announcement
Hi MudslideMama, FB has indeed survived, although it does seem that longtime FB users are none too happy with the commercialism that’s crept into the network. Thank you for stopping by Word Sell!
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Will Twitter Be Crushed under Its Own Weight?
@MudslideMama: We do control who we follow, but anyone can do an @reply to us without our permission. That’s a great feature, but obviously one that’s being misused more and more.
And yes, Brad, I do think that companies are diving head first into Twitter without any schooling or experience in social media. Many of them started blogging the same way. “We need a blog!”…but no one really knew why or what to do with it.
Of course for many (most?) companies (and us), that’s probably true about most anything new. If it’s working, they’ll try to copy it without really understanding why it worked. Joel Spolsky had a great column about that in this month’s Inc. Magazine (which doesn’t currently appear to be available online.)
Shanes last blog post..5 Great Reasons to Start Flipping Sites
Brad,
I don’t know what to think of the notion of “a safe, non-commercial haven”. The question is not to live in a non-commercial world (that cannot be done anyway), but to learn – as a consumer – to cope with it, that is, to apply the means given by twitter (blocking people, even telling twitter about offensive behaviour. But also to learn, as a business man or woman – to use twitter in an appropriate way. I think this could be a field of teaching and learning and maybe one of an ebook for twitter beginners…
Ulla Hennigs last blog post..Old and New Architecture
Hi Ulla, Yes, this conversation has me thinking that an ebook on this topic, or at least a series of posts, would be quite helpful. And you are right, unless our economies collapse entirely, there will always be an element of commercialism in social media unless it is expressly forbidden.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Will Twitter Be Crushed under Its Own Weight?
Hi Brad, as a Twitter fan, or addict, I’d say it will most definitely survive. Yes, it might be irritating to get an onslaught of messages, but they’re easily ignored, and repeat offenders blocked.
For businesses I don’t think it’s easy bucks, but definitely the chance to establish yourself as a go to person, or a friendly outlet, or people who are interested in customer service. I would definitely change my purchasing decisions based on interactions on twitter… but not on random @ messages
Joanna Youngs last blog post..5 Prescriptions for Tenacity
Joanna, Your comment is one businesses should take note of – Twitter, used properly, can have a positive (and I would add, longlasting) influence on customer attitude. I am also more favorably disposed toward a seller with a social media presence. But it has to be done right.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Will Twitter Be Crushed under Its Own Weight?
Brad,
With a proactive response on the part of both users and from the company, I would think that Twitter should be able to overcome the problem.
Thanks largely to the development of effective filtering technology, the majority of users are able to use other forms of communication, such as email or blogs, without any significant degree of interference (isn’t Aksimet wonderful?). I could not imagine why the same could not apply to Twitter, particularly given your comment about the continued development and refinement of Twitter applications over time.
With respect to your comment about Twitter related spam being a bad idea, I would certainly think that this would be the conclusion reached by the vast majority of organizations who attach a substantial amount of value to the reputation of their brands.
However, we must accept the unfortunate reality there are some forms of business, such as (dodgy) online casinos, where reputation is considered to be of little importance. So long as such organizations receive even a tiny percentage of responses, they will continue to pursue any means possible to spread their message to as many recipients as they can.
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Andrew, Your vision is truly a best case scenario for Twitter, and I hope it comes to pass. I agree that the technology is in place to filter communication, but it must be fast and easy for users, otherwise many will not bother trying and drift away. The next year or two should tell the tale.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Will Twitter Be Crushed under Its Own Weight?
Hi Brad – I would find it irritating to be advertised at in that way. And I did worry that Twitter might be ruined by folk accepting payments for Tweets. But as you say, we can always block advertisers if we want to.
I guess the most harmful thing to Twitter would be folk moving on, when something bigger and better comes along.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Business Publicity – Would You Go As Far As Paris?
Cath, at the moment it’s hard to imagine anything being bigger than Twitter, but they said the same thing about MySpace and Facebook … who knows?
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