Hmmmm . . . seems like I am posting a lot about Twitter these days. Deal with it. It’s my blog, and I’ll post about Canadian rodeos if I darn well please. (Incidentally, did you know that rodeos are big in Canada? Neither did I. But in Calgary, the arena is called the Saddledome, and they have a huge rodeo there. Who knew?)
Anyway, a recent article in the Los Angeles Times really got me thinking. The article defined a “True Twitter User” as someone who has 10+ followers, is following 10+ people, and has done a status update 10+ times. Personally, I wouldn’t consider someone who only meets those minimum criteria to be a true user, but hey, it wasn’t my article. If that’s how they want to define it, they are allowed.
What most shocked me was that, of the 19 million registered Twitter accounts, only 21% qualified under those criteria. Furthermore, they found that 74% have less than 10 followers, and 17% have no followers.
What this means is that, even though the whole Internet is buzzing about Twitter, we are still in the phase of early adopters. Micro-blogging (and blogging in general) has not caught on as rapidly as other forms of social media.
What does this mean to you?
Well, unless your target audience is tech-heads and social media fanatics, then investing a crapload of time in social media marketing may not be the best option for your business.
Don’t get on the bandwagon unless it is going to where you want to go, and carrying the people you want to communicate with.
There are a lot of products and coaches out there teaching Social Media. And I am a believer in Social Media. But make sure that, if you hire a consultant, he or she customizes the program to your needs, not giving you a cookie-cutter solution that everyone is presented with.
For the record, I offer such customized solutions. Just sayin’.
Source: LA Times blog
