How much does the Twitter ecosystem really matter?

by Denis Hancock on September 3, 2010

Evan Williams of Twitter but up a post yesterday entitled “The evolving ecosystem”. Based on the title, one might expect readers to come away with new insights and stats into how vibrant the ecosystem is. However, as I read it only one thought kept coming to mind – how much does the Twitter ecosystem really matter?

I’ll highlight two key points on this front. The first comes from the chart provided. 78% of people that log into Twitter do so through the main site (www.twitter.com). They next layer down are mobile applications – m.twitter.com, SMS, Twitter for iPhone, and Twitter for Blackberry. Each is in the 7 – 14% range (the percentages sum to greater than 100% as some people use multiple apps). Each of these, I believe, are controlled by Twitter itself. So you don’t really see any “ecosystem partners” pop on the list until the next tier down – TwitPic, Tweet Deck, and Echofon, at 3-4% each.

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Loopt, Virgin, and the notion that ‘the customer is in control’

by Denis Hancock on September 2, 2010

A few weeks ago I wrote a post questioning the idea that “the customer is now in control” – a commonly heard refrain in the world of social media. The underlying premise was that if you take a deep look at what new technologies enable – particularly in terms of tracking individual behaviors – an argument can be made that companies can now be in far more control than they’ve ever been before.

I had this on my mind when I saw the recent post on how Virgin America partnered with Loopt – essentially giving away 2-for-1 flights to Cancun if you checked in at a taco truck during a certain time period. It was apparently quite successful. The number that is most jarring is that Loopt claims over 80% of the 1,300 people that checked in at a San Francisco taco truck have already bought tickets based on this promotion.

On the face of it, an 80% “conversion rate” seems absurd – marketers never get that. But there’s a slight twist here worth noting. It’s not 80% of people that heard about the offer – it’s 80% of the people that chose to check-in and take them up on the offer. In turn, it can’t really be compared to a normal conversion rate. “Checking-in”, in this case, is only done by the people that want the deal (i.e. if you don’t want it, you don’t bother, unless you REALLY wanted the two-for-one taco deal). In other words, they don’t sign in then happen to choose a deal; they sign in to get the deal. Big difference.

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Mitch Joel and the ‘end of conversations’

August 24, 2010

I’ve spent the bulk of my working hours over the last two years looking at how people, and particularly brands, use social media. I also spent a lot of time reading what others (i.e. social media experts) wrote about how social media is being used. Very early on, I noticed a major disconnect between what [...]

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Questioning the idea that ‘the customer is now in control’

August 11, 2010

As I scan articles about the impact of social media on marketing, I commonly come some variant of the statement “the customer is now in control.” But the more I research and think about this statement, the less I believe it – and the underlying message being sent to marketers – is. So today I [...]

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You don’t have to engage in conversations to succeed on Twitter

August 5, 2010

It seems that every day a new article (or blog post) comes out about how brands are using Twitter wrong. This article from yesterday delivers this message in a typical way – saying that Twitter consists “primarily of two-way conversations – marketers can be doing so much more to participate fully in this two way [...]

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Does measuring blogs and social networking as a single activity make sense?

August 3, 2010

I’ve just been reading econsultancy’s report (based on a Nielsen study) on how people spend their time online. According to the text, “social media” was far and away the winner, which didn’t really surprise me. But what bothered me is how that term is being defined – time spent on “social networks / blogs.” I’ve [...]

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Some Quirky thoughts on ‘you are not a gadget’ and social production

June 1, 2010

I’m currently reading Jaron Lanier’s manifesto called “you are not a gadget”. While I find myself nodding along with some parts, and occasionally shaking my head at others, my most common reaction to each chapter is that I’ll need several months of quiet reflection to even form a coherent opinion (which, based on what I [...]

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Social media: if the customer is in control, you might be doing it wrong

May 4, 2010

That “customers are now in control” has become an increasingly common refrain in the marketing world. To be honest, I think I’ve used it a time or two myself. But the more that I think about, particularly in relation to social media, the less convinced I am that it’s actually true. In turn, I’ve been [...]

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Does your brand have a ‘lurker strategy’ for social media?

April 22, 2010

I spend a LOT of time reading about how companies are using social media to build their brands. In most cases, while the language varies widely, it tends to focus on engaging customers in conversations, within a community setting. And more often than not, a lot of attention is centered on getting customers to co-create, [...]

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Why people become Facebook fans – coupons trump community

April 19, 2010

As I’ve been researching the incredibly shrinking marcom expense line, one of the recurring themes I keep coming back to is that the term”social media” leads many companies down to wrong path. More often than not, it’s defined in relation to broadcast media, which leads everyone to focus on two-way conversations, trying to deepen connections [...]

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