Last week a number of separate issues came together around Twitter activity and I just had to wonder why some people are in love with Twitter while others are on the side-lines with folded arms and a scowl.
The divide is pretty strong even among social media advocates. Check out this post from Steven Hodson. Who says
I find it insulting that Twitter is even considered to be in the same field as blogs or even micro-blogs.
This is a common response I get on Twitter. Folks who don’t use it seem to roll their eyes whenever I jump on my iPhone to jot down what I’m doing.
I liken it to people who don’t get social media yet. Folks who say about social networking and blogging “I just don’t know where THEY find the time” As they dash away to check their crackberry.
I sense a bit of social media snobbery regarding Twitter. As if these 140 characters are bits of nonsense, and only fodder for the ubber conversationalist seeking to match their tweet rate with Scoble.
So what is it about Twitter? On the suface I’d say it’s a bit like open mic night. A soap box game of one-liners to see if you can get some attention and pick up more followers. But there IS some hidden marketing value that is not well understood
Breaking it down Twitter it is a continual stream of very short posts, out to a friends network. And as a follower you get a river of thought from people you trust and find relevant. Unlike blog posts, tweets (tweet is to Twitter as post is to blog) are in the moment, real time. They are restricted to 140 characters so they forced to be brief.
This all lends itself to very simple, short and easy to send personal thoughts and updates. “At Starbucks for the 3rd time today.. do I have problem?”
And when you tweet you are filling in those spare minutes of your day. And YES, we do all still have plenty of those. While you wait for your non-fat double half caff-latte order, or wait for a guest presenter figure how to connect his laptop to your projector. These are Twitter moments, which are the same moments other folks are checking voicemail, checking email, or picking the lint out of their pockets For most it’s that spare time that typically goes wasted anyway.
And as you tweet it starts to chronicle your day.
“I’m happy now”….. “I just met my new boss”…. “I’m no longer happy”
This becomes a true web log (yes a blog, my reaction to Mr. Hodson’s post) but unlike typical blog posts it’s in the moment, and not a well crafted & edited diatribe (i.e. this post).
Because of that, there’s a lot of inane and trivial posts that mean absolutely nothing other than exposing the character of the author. For the most part these trivial posts are fun, sometimes enlightening, and peppered with many lame jokes … like office banter.
Do not confuse trivial with worthless or less significant. Consider this, in the mind of customers, banner ads are trivial, annoying and irrelevant, but occasionally they break through.
My perspective is these trivial posts are the primer for the “real content”. Just as banner ads are conduit to deeper call to action, it is the tweet banter that gets people to like you, gets people to trust you. I got 5 new followers after tweeting “Just saw a patch of blue sky while downtown Portland, the locals took notice.” The bottom line is these authentic, unvarnished and all too human tweets build you street cred and an audience.
The “real content” is the stuff between the trivial posts. It’s the information brokering that happens
“Great example at site/snurl/123 on how Dell is using social networking to further their brand”…..
“@CES a great post on what could be the next iPhone”.
So underneath all of the coffee tweets are people marketing information. The marketing goes relatively unnoticed while the message is trusted.
So now we are getting to the upside. Twitter allows you as a marketer to start building an online persona. The reason this is importance is because, well to be honest, the average customer doesn’t trust you as far as they could throw you. As a marketer, you’re biased, manipulative and loud. Generally not very fun to hang with.
By building an online persona you are not the institution. Instead as a regular guy, gal, or other category of human being you are more relatable.
Now the downside. All of what I just discussed is mostly not understood. If you tweet you will be put in the privileged ubber conversationalist category. Folks will be jealous that you are getting away with talking about your favorite book, or how crazy traffic was during those moments they check voicemail and their PDA inbox. The non-virtual twittering world will be against you.
This is all too real. I was just told last week that some employers are watching tweets and wondering why employees are doing this during work. I have not heard of policies yet but there’s communication out there to keep it in control or you will be viewed in the wrong light. The old, manage workers through political pressure trick.
The big reveal here is that too many smart marketing people are missing out on the true value of Twitter. These short trivial posts on the surface look like a wasted time on irrelevant subjects. But what is really happening is information brokering and marketing between some very influential and connected people.
So if you’re into online marketing of your brand, and building personas online to advocate your brand, and can stomach the political backlash, I suggest you try breaking away from checking your smart-phone’s inbox and get into tweeting.
You can follow my trivial stream of nonsense at http://twitter.com/bobduffy
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