The Value of Twitter
Lately, it seems as though I’m spending too much time bouncing around the internet. In order to stay up to date, I frequent a lot blogs and read the latest news about social media. In my recent ventures, I’ve notice that everyone, at some point in time, has been involved in a discussion about Twitter .
For those of you who don’t know:
Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send “updates” (or “tweets”; text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service (e.g. on a cell phone), instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific or Facebook. (Wikipedia )
The topic of this ongoing discussion seems to be whether Twitter is truly a valuable social marketing tool, or a colossal waste of time.
If you watch this video you can see why most nay-sayers find it more frustrating than useful:
For my business, I use many different types of social media. A lot of them are much better at wasting time than Twitter. Personally, I can’t stand getting caught “Online” with MSN Messenger. My status is permanently set to “Offline”. And as far as I can tell, Facebook is a perpetual “poking” machine. I can easily spend the first four or five minutes of my visit just poking everyone back.
For me, Twitter creates value by allowing easy interaction with people who pique my interest with their random, witty updates. By following the right people on Twitter, I get instant updates on their posts, services and events. I’m also offered Twitterverse (as it is dubbed by frequent users) specials and giveaways just for being a member and following the right people. I can interact with other marketers and writers to see what they are talking about and discuss the most recent issues that effect the industry.
I can follow people like Seth Godin and Wil Wheaton. It’s always interesting to find new people to follow. You can follow people who grab your attention through the feed on the main page, or you can link to the profiles of people who are engaged in conversations with users you are already following. Everyone brings their own perspective to the conversation.
As a bonus, there are many Twitter client applications that you can download to your Mac or PC that allow you to interact more easily with your peers. I prefer Twhirl , which functions similar to MSN Messenger and tucks nicely away into the corner of my laptop workspace and I don’t have to stay logged into Twitter’s website and hit refresh every 10 seconds. The updates of people I’m following automatically generate toolbar pop-ups. When I see an interesting update, I can instantly click on the pop-up notice and respond. Some of the other applications are Tweet-r, Spaz , and Twitterific .
I’m fairly new to this particular social networking tool, but I find it extremely valuable and fun. Although updates are short, the service allows you to insert URLs and participate in new viral marketing techniques. No one is shy about sharing links to great website content or blogs. The best people to follow are the ones who share links to insightful information.
Other than the occasional spammers, who are quickly identified and blacklisted, I think it can be a great means of socializing with the right people and spreading your message. And if I don’t like someone, I can simply unfollow or block them.
The great thing about Twitter is the ability to interact with people you admire, and have the chance to observe or participate in some great conversations, 140 characters at a time.
Pamela Weir is a Marketing Copywriter. If you are looking for a Marketing Professional to assist you with social media, and social networking for your company, please visit her Services page for more information.
One of My Favorite Commercials
So, I don’t have much to say about marketing today.
I’ve been trying to catch up on so many things. I recently added both my Market Moments Newsletter sign-up ,
and a free worksheet on writing a lead for a feature article to my example articles.
It’s little out of character, I wanted to share my favorite commercial.
I’m new to adding You Tube video, so I hope it works.
This is not my favorite of all time, but just one that has recently been added to my list of favorites:
It’s an example of a company making an attempt at audience engagement.
It’s a very good PR move, it follows the lines of the Sick Puppies “Free Hugs” video. I mean who doesn’t want to “Let It Out” every once in a while? How often do we really get the chance?
I admit, its not going to make me run out and buy Kleenex brand tissues, but its a nice change from Puff’s little clay people with the unattached and unruly noses.
What’s your favorite commercial?
Pamela Weir is a Marketing Copywriter. If you are looking for a sales writer with experience creating website content, press releases, squeeze pages, and sales pages, please visit her Copywriting Services page for more information.
Usability, My Lesson Learned
Anyone who has visited Market to the Moment in the last couple of weeks, will probably have experienced problems with my contact forms. It was my own fault for not checking the fine details, that is prevented them from working properly.
Hopefully, I’ve taken the appropriate steps to remedy the situation.
My own lack of attention to detail reminded me of a similar situation that I had a few weeks ago with one of the associations that I work with. At the time I was frustrated because it seemed like such huge oversight on their part, but now that I have essentially created the same situation, I understand how these things can happen sometimes.
I had received an invitation to register for a golf tournament that is being hosted by the association. It was very flattering, and I was excited about the opportunity to network with other people within the industry. I eagerly began registration process.
The registration required two steps:
- Fill out the Registration Form
- Send a cheque payable to the organization
I was soon at a loss in the process as two items in the package seemed to be missing:
- The Registration Form
- An address to forward my signed cheque
Two huge faults in the usability of their direct mailing.
I know what you are thinking, check the outside of the envelope. I did, believe me. This one was a little beyond my own common sense. The mailing had been forwarded from another association of which they had partnered to reduce the cost of the mailing.
A search of their website also proved fruitless as well. The only contact information was an info@ email address, and who knew how long it would take to get a response.
I resorted to calling the contact on the cover letter. After a lengthy phone call and step by step process of navigating their website, I was finally directed to the appropriate registration form. The phone call closed with a verbally relayed address, which solved the second problem.
Had I not wanted the marketing opportunity that badly, I would have given up much more quickly.
The moral of the story: Usability is a very important factor in communicating with your potential customers.
We can’t just assume that things are working. Pieces get lost in the shuffle, website links can become “un-linked”, and sometimes in our hurry we just forget the most important details.
I learned my lesson after having several test emails bounce back. Not only my own, but those of a generous friend, who is extremely patient.
Pamela Weir is a Marketing Copywriter. If you are looking for a sales writer with experience creating website content, press releases, squeeze pages, and sales pages, please visit her Copywriting Services page for more information.
