There is a lot being written about blogs and how to engage and market your blogs effectively. Over the past one year there is a new social media tool which is gaining a lot of popularity termed as microblogging. Microblogging allows users to communicate with their connections / networks in short content updates.
What is Microblogging, how does it work?
Twitter is the most prominent social networking site and there’s little doubt that Twitter was one of the most talked about startups over the past year. But just how much did it grow in 2008? The final numbers are in, and according to Compete, they’re astounding: 752%, for a total of 4.43 million unique visitors in December. (Click here for more details).
Microblogs share structural elements with more widely used communication tools, which includes (Figure):
Self-expression. Entries are typically written by a single user with an associated profile. Microblog users offer individual commentary on subjects ranging from A to Z — many users describe what they are doing or thinking at any given moment, while others use the service to post links and draw attention to external content. Pownce allows users to post video and event links in addition to text.
Control over message distribution. Microbloggers can specify how their updates are distributed and targeted. By default, users publish one-to-many public updates for the world to see. However, users can also publish one-to-one public updates by prefacing content with“@[username],” targeting a specific individual. Users can send direct private messages to each other as well.
So who Microblogs these days?
Early adopters of technology, especially Social Computing. Twitter users engage in Social Computing activities at much greater participation rates than both the general population and regular bloggers. Microbloggers sit at the leading edge of the Web 2.0 adoption curve, uploading, editing, and tagging more than other population segments.
Receptive to advertising and likely to chat about products. Twitter users are influenced by advertising much more than average; they are conscious about the brands they purchase as well. These consumers are also more receptive to purchase recommendations from others and are willing to pay more for products that support their self-image.
How Are Companies Using Microblogging Today?
Companies have been experimenting with Twitter, primarily those in the media industry. TV networks have extended their shows across platforms, like NBC’s “Chuck” and Fox’s “Drive.” News outlets like CNN, Al Jazeera, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times use Twitter profiles to send news updates by leveraging existing RSS feeds.
Corporate marketers using Twitter include Dell, Carnival Cruise Lines, and JetBlue Airways. These companies keep their tweets (i.e., messages on Twitter) short and to the point, as compared with other channels like email. Carnival Cruise Lines communicates company news and updates, following a “must answer” policy — meaning that it responds to all direct messages from followers and @CarnivalCruise messages from other users. Dell Outlet offers promotions that can only be found through Twitter.
To get the complete list of some of the prominent and best brands on twitter click here.
So what should be the strategy for the marketers to leverage microblogging and build relationships with early adopters:
Integrate microblogging into the existing communications strategy. Marketers must determine how the conversation will complement existing interactive marketing and Social Computing strategy. By leveraging existing plans and content, microblogging can give brands a consistent voice within an emerging channel and across media. At the same time,microblogging enables dialogue with individuals, and marketers can use the platform to humanize their brands.
Sites like Twitter and Jaiku (there might be a few more) have become popular quickly over the past year, and users are early adopters of Social Computing technologies. However, marketers should ensure that this Social Computing tool fits into a larger communications strategy before getting involved. Before talking about the strategy we should first understand the basics.
What is Microblogging, how does it work?
Twitter is the most prominent social networking site and there’s little doubt that Twitter was one of the most talked about startups over the past year. But just how much did it grow in 2008? The final numbers are in, and according to Compete, they’re astounding: 752%, for a total of 4.43 million unique visitors in December. (Click here for more details).
Microblogs share structural elements with more widely used communication tools, which includes (Figure):
Concise entries in reverse chronological order. Similar to blogs, the most recently posted content appears at the top of a microblog. Twitter limits messages to 140 characters and truncates URLs that have more than 30 characters. These parameters help keep content user friendly for readability in compact formats, such as widgets and short message service (SMS).
Content portability. Microblogs encourage content to travel far beyond a user’s hosted page, via really simple syndication (RSS) feeds and mobile format updates. Twitter also provides a very open application programming interface (API), which has spawned an ecosystem of community-innovated tools. These include email updates, audio posting, desktop publishing utilities, community aggregators, and integration into other sites.Self-expression. Entries are typically written by a single user with an associated profile. Microblog users offer individual commentary on subjects ranging from A to Z — many users describe what they are doing or thinking at any given moment, while others use the service to post links and draw attention to external content. Pownce allows users to post video and event links in addition to text.
Relationships with other users. Microblog users “friend,” “follow,” or “fan” other account owners to receive updates directly, similar to adding connections on a social networking site. Updates appear in aggregated form, similar to newsfeeds/status updates. Twitter users can also“nudge” one another to request a status update.
Control over message distribution. Microbloggers can specify how their updates are distributed and targeted. By default, users publish one-to-many public updates for the world to see. However, users can also publish one-to-one public updates by prefacing content with“@[username],” targeting a specific individual. Users can send direct private messages to each other as well.
So who Microblogs these days?
Early adopters of technology, especially Social Computing. Twitter users engage in Social Computing activities at much greater participation rates than both the general population and regular bloggers. Microbloggers sit at the leading edge of the Web 2.0 adoption curve, uploading, editing, and tagging more than other population segments.
Receptive to advertising and likely to chat about products. Twitter users are influenced by advertising much more than average; they are conscious about the brands they purchase as well. These consumers are also more receptive to purchase recommendations from others and are willing to pay more for products that support their self-image.
How Are Companies Using Microblogging Today?
Companies have been experimenting with Twitter, primarily those in the media industry. TV networks have extended their shows across platforms, like NBC’s “Chuck” and Fox’s “Drive.” News outlets like CNN, Al Jazeera, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times use Twitter profiles to send news updates by leveraging existing RSS feeds.
Corporate marketers using Twitter include Dell, Carnival Cruise Lines, and JetBlue Airways. These companies keep their tweets (i.e., messages on Twitter) short and to the point, as compared with other channels like email. Carnival Cruise Lines communicates company news and updates, following a “must answer” policy — meaning that it responds to all direct messages from followers and @CarnivalCruise messages from other users. Dell Outlet offers promotions that can only be found through Twitter.
To get the complete list of some of the prominent and best brands on twitter click here.
So what should be the strategy for the marketers to leverage microblogging and build relationships with early adopters:
Integrate microblogging into the existing communications strategy. Marketers must determine how the conversation will complement existing interactive marketing and Social Computing strategy. By leveraging existing plans and content, microblogging can give brands a consistent voice within an emerging channel and across media. At the same time,microblogging enables dialogue with individuals, and marketers can use the platform to humanize their brands.
Create Accounts of your brands. At a minimum, a brand should create accounts on Twitter, Pownce, and Jaiku to claim brand and product names as a defensive procedure. Squatters and spoofers have already created accounts like http://twitter.com/ipod and http://twitter.com/myspace, hoping to cash in on microblog real estate.
Monitor relevant voices. Brands should search microblogs for content related to their industry, their competition, and themselves. Microblog sites can be searched using internal search functionality or through search engines, e.g., “site:twitter.com nike” on Google. When users display an affinity interest, marketers can “follow” them directly to receive updates of posts.
Build community. Companies can also build groups of followers that can be tapped for instantaneous insights. When a user elects to follow JetBlue’s posts, the company follows that person, creating a reciprocal “follow.” This allows JetBlue to see that user’s posts, positive or negative. This also allows JetBlue to develop relevant connections and a more valuable community.
Track success. Like other Social Computing tools, marketers should set goals for microblogging outcomes and track success based on quantitative metrics. Two metrics to track on the microblogging sites are number of followers and message volume, i.e., updates and direct messages. Microblog activity can also be tied into existing Web analytics solutions like Omniture or Google Analytics, tracking leads and conversions from posted URLs and ultimately helping monitor direct return on investment.
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