Twitter: has the 'conversation' soured?

There are now around 75 million people using the micro-blogging service Twitter, including hundreds of brands from almost every vertical. Approximately 66% of marketers plan to invest in social media over the next 12 months, but are they really reaping the benefits?

The answer is yes, if they are doing it properly and for the right reasons. For those that reactively started 'tweeting' because they didn't want to get left behind when the bandwagon skipped town, their return on investment may be a little less than anticipated. Brands and agencies alike are slowly beginning to realise that without a formal, process-driven social media strategy in place, a Twitter presence can do more harm than good. For some, Twitter is the wrong tool to be using all together. For those that could benefit, it is vital the tool is used in the right way.

If we are to compare social tools to more traditional forms of offline marketing, it could be said that blogging is the new press, blogger outreach is the new PR, LinkedIn is the new networking drinks, email is the new DM, Facebook is the new shopper marketing and Twitter is the new television advertising. And so history repeats itself, and the same mistakes are being made again.

When all is said and done, by using Twitter, brands are still expecting consumers to come to them and listen to what they have to say. This 'soapbox' form of communicating can only be effective if you have something interesting and relevant to say, or if by following the brand, consumers are realising true value and privilege. For example, we all know that last year, Dell generated $6.5m in profits by utilising Twitter as a customer service and promotional platform. This is because instead of broadcasting over the channel like a television advertisement, they replicated time-honoured sales promotion tactics and engaged in a dialogue with their audience as opposed to simply shouting a monologue to the masses and expecting them to listen.

Brands need to seriously review whether using Twitter as a tactic is part of an ongoing strategy that will realise a holistic brand objective, and if so, ensure that the tools are in place to measure that the results are in-line with pre-agreed fiscal goals. Shockingly, only 36% of marketers plan to monitor their social media campaigns success (Alterian). By carefully monitoring key performance indicators, whether these are quantitative (product purchases, newsletter sign-ups, site visits etc.) or qualitative (enhanced brand opinion, raised awareness etc.), companies can establish whether they are using the correct initiatives.

We can already see that Twitter is starting to follow in Second Life's footsteps, and we believe that before long, the platform will be gradually returned to the public, becoming a brand ghost town. The question is, where will they go next?

We think we've got a pretty good idea, check out our next blog for our thoughts...

This blog post was written by Gemma

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