Yesterday was the 6th birthday of Twitter. Hard to believe that it’s been six years since founder Jack Dorsey sent out the first tweet ever, “just setting up my twttr.”
In the six years that have followed, Twitter has become an integral part of social media, both for brands and for individuals. Ranked as the eighth most popular website in the United States by Alexa, Twitter has over 140 million active users, sending out about 340 million tweets per day, all with 140 characters or less.
What started out as a way to tell your friends where you are or what you’re up to has turned into a legitimate and highly profitable marketing channel for brands. 75% of users are more likely to purchase a product from a brand that they follow on Twitter. 67% of users are likely to recommend a brand that they follow to others. [source]
In a 2011 article, CNN Money named the following brands as top tweeters, as evidenced by their number of followers:
1. Google
2. Whole Foods
3. Dell
4. Southwest Air
5. Coca-Cola
6. Delta
7. Target
8. American Express
9. McDonalds
By using Twitter to it’s full potential, these brands (and others) have established themselves as industry leaders when it comes to embracing new media and establishing an enhanced sense of customer service and rapport between themselves and their followers.
While bigger, more popular brands are naturally going to have more followers, using Twitter makes sense for brands of all sizes. It’s an easy way to interact with customers, to provide up to the minute customer service and information and to show them that interacting with a brand can be an enjoyable experience!
We thought it might be fun to dig up our very first tweet from 2009, when Pinnacle first started using Twitter.
We’ve come a long way! Be sure to follow us!
Lee
Marketing Coordinator