Love Twitter, hate bandwagoning
By Molly FlattI don’t think anyone would deny that Twitter’s moment is here. Hubspot’s State of the Twittersphere report was eagerly embraced by industry observers back in Dec 08, but surely it is Monday’s article from The Times on the 50 most popular Tweeting celebs (personally delighted to see that Neil Gaiman gets more followers than Demi Moore) that proves microblogging has hit the mainstream. Last July, the idea of the Tweet taking on Heat seemed bizarre; come Feb 09, and members such as our own lovely @SiobhanC are really noticing the extent of the popular Twitter trickle-down.
Indeed, here @1000heads we’ve already experienced 2009 as the Year of Twitter in terms of clients asking how they can get a piece of the action. It’s the new Facebook app, the new Bebo soap - the new black in terms of connecting with consumers online. Which is fine. A brand-to-consumer Twitter feed can certainly be useful for quick updates and links to info with a personal touch (although, New York Times, 68 separate profiles is probably taking things a bit far). And there are undeniable opportunities here for some serious amplification and escalation of peer-to-peer conversation, as Powershifter’s Battle of the Brands post or Pingdom’s analysis of The Twitter Effect makes clear.
But if a brand wants to use a specific social media tool to encourage word of mouth, it’s also essential to look at the psychology and behaviours behind that tool. Unlike the longer think-piece of a blog, or the extended debating of a forum, Twitter taps into the newsbreaker and navel-gazer in all of us, demanding quick, emotive, content that, as Mike said a few days ago, is increasingly immediate and synaptic. Despite what some companies seem to think, it is not a scrolling RSS feed – it thrives on spiralling associations and logic-leaping inspiring nuggets. Getting these guys excited about, and sharing, something requires a truly creative and nimble approach.
There are always going to be some people who want to milk Twitter for ‘influencers’ (shudder) like bloggers before them. For them, Twitterholic will be a ready-made league table of the most popular sore-fingered souls. But, as with contributors to any other mediascape, it’s important to bear in mind the true impact a voice might have, in which volume of readers is only one factor. Just because someone has a large audience, doesn’t mean they’re relevant in influencing the people you want to get talking about your brand. What other scapes do they use? Do the people you want to get involved like to follow one authoritative individual or dip into lots of different conversations? And unless what you’re offering is particularly collaborative, creative and taps into their passions – and is adapted to a micro way of thinking and doing - you’ll be as welcome as a PR emailing Tom Coates.
We’ve been using Twitter (and other microblogging platforms such as Pownce, Jaiku, Tumblr etc) for years, to build personal relationships with brand advocates. Our profiles such as @statravelbuzz, @3mobilebuzz and @womworldnokia encourage and connect independent consumer conversation, long-term, rather than acting as a one-way marketing tool. And we’ve got some other pretty exciting, specifically microblog-based collaborations coming up this year too. The truth is that Twitter, and other microblogging platforms, are damn exciting – but you need to know how they work and who works them, before you leap in, scattering the social media equivalent of bird shit wherever you go.
On a personal note, I’ll be at the Twestival in London next Thursday and other Heads will be at the ones in Brighton, Birmingham, Oxford, Bristol, Reading and Edinburgh - come and talk to us about it all over a beer.
