Twitter Orphans

I love it when new technology becomes a verb.  It’s the geek version of “Brangelina”.  Pop culture meets the internet when you can hear and understand sentences like, “Well, I wasn’t sure – so I googled him, and the thing is he tweets like crazy!”  Can you imagine what our grandparents would have thought if they heard that in their time?  The language of geekdom is wide and changing daily.  But, do we (interactive marketers and developers) ride high on the trends when it’s in the news, and then forget to follow through on the communication channels.  Do the marketers of the industry create “Twitter Orphans”?

My confession and soapbox today is to commit to the medium for the sake of your clients and followers.  Don’t create a twitter page, tweet for two months, then abandon until you have something else to sell.  We are following you for insight, advice and a connection.  We can’t forget that the reason something like twitter works and becomes a household name is because it engages.  When we stop engaging for the sake of show and tell, we show the flaws in an integrated strategy that tells clients to develop the relationships of their loyal users (facebook, twitter, subscriptions (eNews and Feeds), and not commit to them the same way.

eMarketer estimates that there are currently about 6 million registered Twitter users, which equates to around 3.8 percent of people on the Internet. The research firm further projects that those numbers will double by the end of this year to 12.1 million users, and gap up another 50 percent in 2010 to bring the service to a total audience of roughly 18 million registered users. Who doesn’t need a plan to connect to that audience. We can’t think of one.

I am using Twitter as an demonstrable example of understanding loyalty marketing from the insight out.  We understand outdated websites and that the “cobler’s child has no shoes”, but a website is something you can demonstrate with other examples the depth of your abilities.  Twitter is still relatively new and how to use it as a marketing channel is up to interpretation several ways.  It is our number one site referral, and some very important business connections have been introduced through the that channel.  I can say with some confidence that we have skinned our knees, patched them up and found the rhythm of the media.  That’s what you want in an agency.  Learning and mastering a social media because they WANT to, not because of a contract price.

I am PROUD to say that JB Inc has over 5,400 followers.  Combine that with the followers of our team members and we are right around 10,000 people who read and engage our daily messages.  Is it time consuming, yes.  Is it worth it, yes.  Does it put our “money where our mouth is”, yes. Is it more than 60% of the state’s Governor’s followers put together?  Yes!

If you are an agency that’s guilty of this, get off your butt and develop your followers and relationship with them.  If you are a client, check out your agency’s twitter street cred.  If you don’t see what you like, call me.  J

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