Twitter Part 1: More than just noise
When talking to business people about social media, there is one thing they all agree on: They don’t “get” Twitter.
They say it’s a bunch of noise. Some say they don’t want to know what folks had for breakfast (More about that in a minute). They don’t see any tangible business benefit from using it.
I understand some of their concerns. There are plenty of idiots on Twitter. I love the idiots who look at the Trending Topics and then try to fit as many as possible into 140 characters. I love the idiots who have 5,000 followers and have yet to post a single tweet. And I especially love the idiots who spam about such exciting things as all-natural teeth-whitening.
I could go on. But there are idiots everywhere online. Locally, all you have to do is check out some of the comments on ajc.com’s sports or political blogs to know there are plenty of people who need an outlet for whatever venom or half-truths they need to share.
Why should Twitter be any different? Yes, there’s a lot of noise. Yes, there are hucksters. Yes, there are annoying Justin Bieber fans compelled to make him a Trending Topic several times a week. (Note to Justin: Can’t you just take them with you back to MySpace? Please?)
But there are other qualities that make Twitter a necessity for me, and should make it essential for many, if not most, business people. We’ll keep it simple today and not go into all the specific ways Twitter can help your business.
First, you have complete control on Twitter over who you follow and — very important — who follows you (once you get them to follow you, that is.) Don’t want to read the idiot offering whiter teeth? Block them.
Second, no matter what your profession, you will get access to the most cutting-edge and current information through Twitter. I promise you, while there may still be a few good discussion groups on LinkedIn, you will find superior information on Twitter. Why? Because that’s where the best minds are. After reading Twitter, LinkedIn seems so . . . 2005. I subscribe to countless RSS feeds, so that I can keep current on different subjects, including, obviously, social media. Yet every day Twitter brings me a new, and timely, information source — a blogger I haven’t read or a point of view I hadn’t considered. I wouldn’t have the competitive edge in my business without the intelligence Twitter users provide each day.
Third, Twitter users are more receptive to business messages, far more than on other social platforms. Studies indicate that at least 20 percent of the messages on Twitter relate to branding. Think you could get away with 20 percent of your Facebook status updates related to your business? I think not.
Now about that tweeting about breakfast complaint. What have been the top topics on Twitter this week? President Obama’s State of the Union speech hit 9,000 tweets per minute, while the iPad launch reached 7,000 tweets per minute, according to Retrevo’s Tech Buzzmeter. By comparison, topics such as Britney Spears get about 10-20 tweets per minute.
So much for breakfast, or celebrity, tweets. Next, we’ll take a look at another Twitter misconception — that it is peaking. Then we’ll delve more into some not-so-well-known ways Twitter can help your business.
Hope you had a great week. Have questions about Twitter? Give us a shout.
Atlanta leads in Facebook growth, No. 3 in registered users
It’s official. Atlanta had the highest U.S. growth rate for Facebook users in 2009.
iStrategyLabs, the digital marketing firm which has been tracking Facebook’s growth since October 2007, reported that the Atlanta area had a 267.6% increase between Jan. 4, 2009, and last Monday. We blogged in July about Atlanta’s phenomenal growth, noting that the metro area had jumped to No. 2 in registered users behind only New York. However, Los Angeles, which experienced its own 240.6% growth, surged to No. 2 over the second half of the year.
Atlanta, as of Jan. 4, had 1,967,720 registered Facebook users, compared to New York’s 2,934,580 and L.A.’s 2,166,840. Atlanta slightly edged Chicago. (See full chart here.)
One can quibble about the value of numbers, especially if accounts are inactive, but if you own a business in metro Atlanta, one point should be clear: Your customers are on Facebook. And while the demographics aren’t broken down for Atlanta, growth is strongest nationally in the 25-34, 35-54 and, especially, 55-plus markets. Sounds like your customers, right?
Facebook provides a unique opportunity for Atlanta area businesses to connect with customers and potential new ones. Don’t know where to start? Don’t have time for Facebook? There are plenty of qualified consultants or marketing firms who can help.
Strike now while it’s hot.
Proving social media ROI a piece of cake
We’ll avoid dwelling on one job posting, but this takes the cake. An unidentified company, which described itself as “cool,” recently posted a job for a “social media czar.” The job description was thoughtfully written, touching on all the requirements such a position should have, even mentioning the need for strategy.
Then came the punch line. The job was for two hours a day, $10-$12 an hour, depending on experience.
Evidently, this “cool” company doesn’t expect much ROI (Return on Investment) from social media.
A lot of business owners I’ve met in recent months are probably not that different than whoever runs this “cool” company. Small businesses and professionals are intrigued by social media, but a) don’t have the time to get involved or b) don’t see the ROI of hiring a professional to help.
So I’m going to give you not just one, but three simple examples of ROI in social media.
1. An Atlanta executive coach (Disclosure: a client who also happens to be my wife) who works with engineering firms was in a lull in signing new clients. However, the coach recognized that LinkedIn could help her open doors. She used the Advanced Search feature of LinkedIn to identify companies that were clearly doing well during the tough economy (e.g. hiring). Working through mutual connections on the business networking site, she was introduced to executives who then contracted to work with her.
2. Charles Nelson, president of Sprinkles Cupcakes, has a company that apparently makes great cupcakes. His cupcakes are so good that he has amassed 70,000 fans on a Facebook business page. The “Beverly Hills baker to the stars” announces a secret word each day, and the first 25 or 50 people to show up with that word at any of his five stores gets a free cupcake. The ROI: A booming business and highly effective word of mouth. Nelson has not spent a dime on any other advertising or marketing in five years.
OK, you say, that’s Atlanta and LA. Those are big, highly wired cities. Well, let’s turn to:
3. The New York Times In July featured mom-and-pop shops around the country making money through Twitter. Consider just one: Silver Barn Antiques in tiny Columbus, Texas. Even before launching a Web site, the owner was able to find both suppliers and customers nationwide. “Twitter has been a real valuable tool because it’s made us national instead of a little-bitty store in a little-bitty town,” she told The Times.
So what is the value of social media to your business? Consider your goals. What is the value of a new customer or client? You know how many leads you generally need before you attract one customer. What is the value of generating a lead for your business?
My guess is it’s worth more than $20-$24 a day. Or even 25 cupcakes.
Social media show feminine side
I came into the new media — and social media — worlds after years in the trenches at print newspapers around the country. One mystery I could never resolve in my head was how print newspapers, even in their heyday, could never sell many ads for the sports section. Sales people always claimed that advertisers shied away from sports because they wanted to reach women, and they said women didn’t read sports sections.
I never totally bought that argument. Newspaper sales staffs could have been more creative in educating advertisers on how to attract women and not just settle for male sports readers wanting a tire sale. And sports news staffs were too drenched in testosterone to recognize that a large number of those filling the stands are women and many can read a box score.
But that was yesteryear and the media landscape has changed. Newspapers now struggle to keep readers of any gender — and advertisers — in the advancing digital age. However, the advertising truism still exists — in sales, women are still the coveted audience
Where are businesses looking for female customers going to find them these days? Social media, of course. A new study by the IT firm Royal Pingdom finds that 84% of the 19 social networking sites have more female than male users (53% females, 47% male). If Digg, Reddit and Slashdot were removed from the study, ALL 16 major social sites would have a majority of female users on them. Even LinkedIn, which has reportedly been the only site with a larger male audience, now is more predominantly female, according to the study.
This finding follows on another study last year by online research firm Rapleaf which found that women have more friends in social networks than men.
The newest study provides yet more evidence of how social media can help meet business goals. Most of your customers are using social media. They increasingly expect to be interacting with businesses while on their favorite social sites. If your business strategy especially targets women and you’re not interacting with them through social media, then hopefully this study will serve as a wake-up call.
You can thank me later.
In business, social media can’t be an
afterthought
Two unrelated recent posts on Social Media Today got me thinking again about how large companies and small businesses still need education on understanding the purposes and value of using social media.
One post described the flawed attempt by college football’s Bowl Championship Series to start a Twitter account, ostensibly to communicate with fans, answer questions and spruce up the image of the much-maligned bowl system. Heck, fans, most coaches and even the president want a playoff system to crown a football national champion. (Me, too.)
The result? A PR nightmare, according to Social Media Today, as @InsideThe BCS tweeted about 30 times (now up to 57) while screenload after screenload of critics weighed in with negative comments. And SMT wrote whoever was tweeting (they suspect a PR firm) misquoted Florida coach Urban Meyer as being a supporter of the BCS system. He’s not.
While I salute the BCS folks for attempting to enter the social space, it’s clear they needed to think through a strategy and prepare in advance. They should have known they would face an onslaught. Now that the bus has hit them, it’ll be interesting to see how they respond.
The second post focused on a conference where discussion centered on how companies are turning to Gen Y employees to handle their social media marketing.
My take: As we previously wrote, age is no longer a factor in social media. Facebook is gaining more Boomers; Twitter is now attracting Gen Yers. In a bad economy, people of all ages are turning to LinkedIn. So why would companies look to Gen Yers only to handle their social media responsibilities? It’s not like they all have a special gene that makes them marketers.
Whoever handles your company’s social media profiles reflects upon your company. If that employee, intern, contractor, consultant or PR/marketing firm doesn’t know what they’re doing, they can do harm. Many companies have already been burned by well-meaning, low-paid and inexperienced people representing their brand.
I’m reminded of the large Atlanta law firm who advertised earlier this year for someone to manage their social media identity. These lawyers, who spend their days carefully crafting legal arguments for large amounts of money, were paying a miniscule salary and clearly wanted a recent college grad. Nothing against recent college grads — I have two children graduating in the next year — but it was clear this firm wanted the benefits of social media without a seasoned professional. Why would a group of lawyers open themselves to such risk? Let’s hope they were lucky.
If you own a business and you need help in launching — and sustaining — your social media profiles, you should think through who you put in that role. Do you really leave it to an intern? Or the IT guy/Webmaster who can code great things, but can’t spell or write a comprehensible sentence?
Updating Twitter or a Facebook business page doesn’t require technical skills. Anyone of any age can do it. If you don’t have time to do it yourself, the challenge is finding someone with a mature-enough marketing and business sense to meet your needs.
There is great value for businesses to gain through social media. Don’t underestimate that value if you need help. Hiring or contracting someone on the cheap could end up being very costly.
