To Tweet or not to Tweet. That is the question put to us on a regular basis by our business owner clients. Should Twitter be a part of their marketing strategy, they ask. Like everything in life there isn’t a yes or no answer! The place to start is your target market. Where and who is your ideal client? According to a recent Toronto Star article the Solutions Research Group has identified the Canadian Twitter demographics to be:
- 42% are aged 18 to 34
- 28% are 35 to 49
- 17% are 50 and older
- 13% are 12 to 17
So if your target market is consumers in the 12 to 17 age group then you may think twice. Not to say some businesses are not using Twitter well by announcing upcoming events or the introduction of new products. The Toronto Star article (September 26th Business Section) cites evidence that Twitter does have a growing following of businesses. And it quotes Keith Macarthur, Roger’s head of social media, who can see Twitter becoming a great tool for their customer relations.
The problem as I see it is that the business Tweets are crowded out by the hundreds of innocuous messages like “I have just eaten the best ham sandwich ever” or “On the way to work I saw the coolest shoes”. Furthermore we have to wait for the qualified “followers” to find us and want to follow us. I always prefer more proactive marketing strategies myself. As Adrian Davis, President of Whetstone, wrote in a recent blog “these (social media) are focused on quantity of connections rather than quality”.
We have a model we use when working with our clients: “While you are doing one thing, you can’t be doing another thing.” This is particularly true for small business owners who do not have armies of people to delegate work to. So if you are focused on getting Twitter up and running as an effective marketing tool you are not doing some other maybe proven marketing activity. Not to say you shouldn’t try but keep in mind that Twitter is yet to prove itself as an effective marketing tool.
Social media is here to stay. And it’s fun. But is Twitter the right marketing tool for business? Is Twitter worth the investment of our scarce resources – time and money? Will Twitter enhance the very core of quality marketing – relationship building? I don’t think so. But it is time for some serious debate on the benefits of the social media for businesses. To start the debate I bring your attention to two excellent articles on the subject.
This one was written by David Baker, founder of ReCourses – David’s article
And this comes from Adrian Davis, President of Whetstone Inc – Adrian’s article
So think about it. Will Twitter and all the other social media become the future marketing miracles for us business owners or will they fade into the sunset. No, they are not going to fade away! I’m just not sure what form they will take. And I’m not sure if they will become an integral part of our marketing tool box.
Join the debate. Leave a comment or email me at nick@yourplanningpartners.com.
