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What the Heck is a Tweet?

What the Heck is a Tweet?

Twitter is not a new application to many PR pros. As with Facebook, though, we are all still trying to learn how Twitter can help our clients and their marketing programs.

My recent interest in Twitter was inspired, in part, by a Schwartz podcast segment featuring Paul Gillen, who himself has recently become more of a believer in Twitter's potential.

A few weeks back I linked my Twitter account to my Facebook account, so that any update on Twitter would automatically update the "status" of my Facebook profile.

The response to my move from some of my high-school and college friends provides insight into how PR pros are early in the micro-blogging hype curve. Here's a sampling of what my friends posted to my Facebook wall:

"What the heck is a tweet?"

"Dude, was 'twittering' like the word of the week on your desk calender or something?"

or my personal favorite:

"Ross--you've been twittering a lot lately--do you think you should cut down on the caffeine?"

A few months ago, I wrote that many friends who I saw at a holiday party did not have Facebook pages. It is now clear that many of my friends who have Facebook pages have never heard of Twitter. It is another example I can use when cautioning clients about getting wrapped up in the craze of social media marketing.

Discussing the value of social media in tech marketing is important, and unfortunately, it can be hard to do. As someone who has tried out many social media services, I feel like a social pariah among peers when suggesting that social media campaigns may not be appropriate for every company. I can relate to Mike Rothman in this respect, who wrote in his blog about an experience with Twitter at last week's SourceBoston security conference in Boston. 

What I don't argue is that Facebook and Twitter do have an emerging place within marketing. I just spoke to a current client about ways to appropriately use Facebook Groups to promote new online content that relates to certain groups' fan bases. My colleague Mark McClennan saw significant result by using Twitter to promote his client Epocrates, when that company's application was demonstrated by Steve Jobs on stage during the recent Apple iPhone SDK launch.

On a basic level, I see Twitter as a great way to learn more about reporters and analysts. For example, I noted via Twitter that many key social media bloggers and reporters attended SXSW (shorthand for South by Southwest). At a high level, Twitter and Facebook tap what I see as a golden rule of marketing: We are most influenced by what our friends and families do. If I post a tweet or Facebook status message saying that "No Country for Old Men" is a fantastic film, people who know me might share that review or go see the movie themselves.

The marketing possibilities for Facebook, Twitter and other social media apps are evident. It's just a matter of those services gathering members, and then for companies to better understand who, from their key target audiences, is actually signing up. If for a given company those audiences have not adopted the social media tools, then you don't have to worry about a social media campaign...at least not yet.

Posted by Ross Levanto on March 20, 2008 at 6:47 AM