Social media is clearly the now, and building online communities for business and personal connections is necessarily the future. But anecdotally at least I can report more picking and choosing on which networks for what, largely due to three vital influencers — time, intent and strategy.
Which raises the question — was the heavy uptick in social media sites during the first part of 2009 due to the “what’ll we do now?” panic-er-resettling following the recession’s impact on business and nonprofits? No measurement authorities have delivered the data that fully jives with our observations (and we are remaining open-minded), but this “Inside Twitter” report provides credible validation of what we’re seeing in our professional networks’ behaviors and day to day conversations with colleagues.
Thanks to Rohit Bhargava’s Influential Marketing Blog, the report’s key findings came to our attention:
- 72.5% of all users joining during the first five months of 2009.
- 85.3% of all Twitter users post less than one update/day.
- 21% of users have never posted a Tweet.
- 93.6% of users have less than 100 followers, while 92.4% follow less than 100 people.
- 5% of Twitter users account for 75% of all activity.
- New York has the most Twitters users, followed by Los Angeles, Toronto, San Francisco and Boston; while Detroit was the fast-growing city over the first five months of 2009.
Back to the basics. Innovation is vital and keeping pace is life-saving. But clients are still reeling from the whammy that’s struck them with this economy. More than ever, our marketing advice should continue to be built on strategy and proven outcomes, not what’s cool or the latest techie fad. We all have to choose — or we will be simply wasting our creative energy and potential profits as we spin into cyberspace without connecting meaningfully with our markets. Wherever your audience is interacting online, that’s where you should be.
effectively for specific marketing goals and audiences. The Twitter stream from Boston restaurant owners and their patrons builds community by using Twitter for thumbnail vignettes and menu items — and to solicit customer opinions. Ann Handley of Marketing Profs endorses this Twitter application for enhanced visibility and customer engagement. Since food lovers are already interacting in Twitter space, chefs and owners automatically have a clear place to find them. And, PS, since we were in Boston recently, here’s a Womantraveler blog recommendation on a few other local dining favorites.
