A reality check for Twitter: what’s next for businesses now that the hype’s wearing off? (part 3 of 3)

Who is using Twitter

Stats from Pew Internet find that 11% of the U.S. population has used Twitter. Further, it suggest that the young and the connected are most likely to be early adopters.

Twenty percent of 25- to 34-year-olds have used Twitter, while that number drops to just 2% of those over 65.  In August, results by Nielsen showed a surge with a 20% growth happening within the 55+ age range.   Is this because more companies are getting the idea of Twitter? Are they getting profiles and their brand claimed online?

Fun Twitter history statistics by Kodak

• 72.5% of the 44 million Twitter users joined during the first five months of 2009.
• 93.6% of Twitter users have less than 100 followers, while 92.4% follow less than 100 people
• More than 50% of all updates are published using tools, mobile and Web-based, other than Twitter.com. Tweet Deck is the most popular non-Twitter.com tool with 19.7% market share.
• There are more women on Twitter (53%) than men (47%) This is also confirmed on Quancast reports see below.

Other interesting stats:

• 27% of bloggers use Twitter
• 35% of city-dwellers use Twitter
• 76% of Twitter users use the internet wirelessly
• Only 10% of those earning more than $75,000 use Twitter, while 17% of those making less than $30k use the service.

Where does this leave me?
I am an early adopter but define young for me. I have two gmail accounts, two twitter profiles, I am on LinkedIn, Facebook, Myspace (just to save my username), YouTube, Slideshare, etc.  I go by the adage that “You are as young as you feel.” I am not in the rapidly growing 55+ age group but unfortunately can’t honestly say I am under 34.  The important thing is that I am using Twitter in a way that fits with my business strategy of engaging the B2B community. I am a blogging but live in a rural area and have not totally bought into using Twitter on my phone except for direct replies from key people I follow.

I have objectives that include connecting with Wisconsin businesses, driving traffic to my blog, engaging with people who are interested in the larger issues of social media applied across their organization. On top of that I am working hard to understand social media strategy and tools so that I can advise on nuances for B2B organizations. I follow any Wisconsin B2B business I find on Twitter, and many other B2b Business who are active on Twitter.

Interconnectivity of social media platforms

The use of Twitter is tied with the use of other social media; both blogging and social network use increase the likelihood than an individual also uses Twitter. Twitter users and status updaters are also a mobile bunch; as a group they are much more likely to be using wireless technologies — laptops, handhelds and cell phones — for internet access, or cell phones for text messaging.

More third part applications are being created that allow immediate connection and posting between blogs and twitter such as Twitter Tools. Social media sites and twitter – i.e. LinkedIn users can now send status updates to twitter and vice versa.  Google is doing more and more to incorporate real time information into their search results as Search. Twitter becomes a go to page for trending and immediate results of conversations.

I blog and find that TwitterTools is an essential tool to gain broader exposure to my relatively new blog.  I use it to notify my followers of new blog posts But I needed to spend some time on Twitter to develop a following so there was someone to hear my news.

When I first started on Twitter, due to my mobile situation, I tried the phone txt messaging only for a weekend before I turned it off. Just recently I felt that I could turn that back on for direct messaging of select contacts, clients and partners. Obviously I am learning to filter the noise to some degree.

The “killer” application for businesses, news and knowledge

For the SMB business to business market, the application that will be the most successfully embraced social media tool duo, in my opinion, will be incorporating a business blog and Twitter. Twitter can get your messages out to many people simultaneously, and go viral within minutes (not for everyone mind you).

Blogging is the one tool that allows you to brand your messages, brings thought leadership front and center, and helps people get to know companies and the people who work for them.  This should help to push up the 27% of bloggers using Twitter up higher.  As new corporate bloggers are educated on content and begin to publish  they will need to understand how to market a blog. That is where incorporating Twitter integration tools will play a role on blogs and strategy.

Beyond blogging, a recent survey on value added content for the B2B market showed that c-level executives find white papers, ebooks and video tutorials are some of the most trusted educational content for them. They are subscribing to more feeds from blogs created by thought leaders in their industries. The way to promote this valued content is with Twitter.

A recent post by my business associate and nurture marketing specialist, Doug Tangwall of End Result Marketing, on White Papers points out some very convincing statistics both of valued content, but also lead generation success for a proven ROI. Several recent e-book to book publications such as David Meerman Scott, started their lives out as a blog post, accumulated comments, and when marketed as an ebook strictly online, was tweeted, reposted, blogged, and went viral in a very short time. I believe this type of information will gain the attention of B2B marketers who incorporate social media tools for content and Twitter for posting the information stream.

Watch in 2010 how the blogger statistic will grow as more business leaders begin to understand the power of Twitter. They will use it  to let followers know of a new post, video, or podcast  and to spread the word through retweets of articles, blogs, white papers, videos and other value-added information.  As more social media professionals provide training on how to use Twitter to achieve business goals with subsequent case studies, I would expect to see more substantial usage from the B2B market who is looking for more results (case studies and ROI) to justify their involvement.

Twitter examples

Mike Frichol posted a interesting list of Twitter examples on EzineArticles. He did not list company names in order to focus on how people were using the tool

1. Several computer vendors and retailers offer exclusive discounts to their Twitter followers and bring in substantial revenue from this additional source.
2. A coffee shop in Houston uses Twitter for customers to place to-go orders so that their order is ready and waiting for them at the drive thru window when they arrive.
3. At that same coffee shop, customers can Tweet their orders directly from their table without going to the counter to order.
4. Various hotel chains send special offers to their Twitter followers to fill vacant rooms.
5. Several airlines provide informational updates, customer service, competitions, promotions and general dialog with customers.
6. A bakery in London uses Twitter to notify followers when baked goods are fresh out of the oven.
7. Event organizers use Twitter to notify attendees about logistics, updates, schedule changes and other information about an event.
8. The staff at a New Orleans Pizza restaurant sends information about the healthy and fresh ingredients in their organic pizzas and details about special deals.
9. A hotel chain provides concierge services via Twitter to answer guest questions about getting around the local area for a particular hotel.
10. Street vendors in several cities notify their followers where they’re parked at different times and what specials they have that day.
11. Home improvement stores provide tips, suggestions and how-to advice to their followers.
12. A Research firm notifies their followers when new research, articles or discussions are published.
13. A food supermarket chain gets input from customers on what they like as research to determine what to stock in each store to meet local tastes and preferences.
14. An online retailer has developed a huge following on Twitter by encouraging employees to communicate with customers about a wide variety of topics of mutual interest.
15. A tax preparation service provides question-and-answer services to their customers via Twitter.
16. A cable operator provides real time customer service and problem resolution on Twitter.
17. A fast food chain uses Twitter for customer comments and feedback. They also send coupons to followers.
18. A car manufacturer provides updates on their green vehicles and sustainability initiatives across the business.
19. Several news organizations provide news headlines and breaking news to followers.
20. An online retailer specializing in selling clearance products has over 1.3 million followers by posting daily sale items on Twitter.
21. A seafood wholesaler in Chicago sends Tweets to Chefs with details about available fresh fish and links to photos. Chefs respond with orders directly via Twitter.

Do you have your own Twitter example to add? Contribute your success story in the comments.

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