It all started with a straightforward question. “What are you doing?” asked the people at Twitter.com, and millions responded. Twitter officially launched in 2006 and by February 2009 the site’s total number of unique visitors per month had exceeded 7 million, a more than 1382% increase over the previous year according to Nielsen Online and Mashable.com.
Twitter continued to grow in popularity during the summer months- and not just with ordinary Joes. The site also developed as a marketing tool, with more and more companies tweeting contests, rewards programs, free trial offers and even promotional products giveaways.
While the statistics are undeniable, a new question has arisen in the minds of both Twitter users and non-users: Why should we care? On a personal level, Twitter has given us more information than we ever thought necessary to know about our friends, families and neighbors. In fact, this morning I awoke with an e-mail to learn that my sister’s boyfriend’s former college roommate was following me on Twitter. Really?? On the surface this seems absurd; I mean, I’ve met the guy maybe twice, and we haven’t had any contact in years. But when it comes down to it, Twitter is all about creating a network and advancing your resources. After all, he works in the marketing industry as well.
Furthermore, many marketers are learning that analyzing the trends in consumer’s tweets provides valuable information about their clients and better yet, their potential customers. Although it’s true that only a small number of tweets have any sort of pass along value, conversational tweets still contain consumer insight that allows us to personalize campaigns accordingly. As marketers, it’s important for us to understand the wants and needs of our target demographic… and that all stems from understanding their backgrounds and consumer behaviors. Do you see the value in Twitter? Let us know @pinnaclepromos.