Thoughts on Jakob Nielsen's feedback of Twitter

After reading the article in BusinessWeek interviewing Jakob Nielsen on his critiques of Twitter, I thought...

While I agree that not all CEOs should be on Twitter, I do think that companies cannot ignore the power and reach of social networks like it. I actually don’t care to follow too many CEOs. I would rather follow the key people that really are running the business (creative types, people in RnD, the new thinkers that are industry-obsessed about the same things I am obsessed with, etc).

Companies should be using this medium to organically empower people that are passionate about ideals, services and products that all support and align their own purpose. For example, if you produce a widget, why not have someone on your team who is passionate about the industry speak and connect with like-minded people. Building these connections are about establishing brand ambassadors. It’s also about building compassion and passion, sharing information and learning. Take this approach and Twitter makes sense. If you have unrealistic expectations that people will want to follow you just because you are a CEO, well you are missing the point.

Use Twitter to empower those that are most passionate. People will follow.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet.

“Just got to work.” “Sitting in my chair now.” “Anyone know of any good apps for my iPhone?” All mocking Tweets from a viral video being circulated that pretty much says Twitter is useless. It is funny, really funny, I have to admit (also checkout the video about Tweeting celebs). BUT, as a Twitterer and a marketer I would like to make a counterpoint to help those joining the bandwagon of anti-Twitterisms.

Yes, there are people (annoying people, I agree) who Tweet about everything they do, and do it without apparent purpose. From going to the loo (as the Chairman of Virgin put it in an interview with BusinessWeek) to random thoughts of nothingness, even today’s lunch which included an avocado sandwich with sprouts on wheat. Sprinkled among them are users that evidently self-promote and make no effort to hide it.

It is totally understandable that companies and their marketing executives would doubt the power of this social network, especially as the number of naysayers and harsh generalizations, from many self-proclaimed social media experts, grow. To me, some simply don’t understand who really uses a network like Twitter. And they have not experienced the REAL purpose of Twitter, leaving them to mock what they don’t understand. While some are busy going back and forth about Twitter’s viability as a sustainable platform, a major opportunity is passing them by.

There is a very valuable group of people out there Tweeting. Many use Twitter as an efficient means to exchange information and valuable insights. And those of us that use it for this purpose openly criticize people that distribute mind-numbing self-centered rants. Once a Twitvandal is identified, they start loosing followers (really engaged followers, not those that opened an account because of Oprah). These engaged Twitterers are who you need to be paying attention to because they are gaining in force. These groups of people are more connected, more in tune, and more likely to be your trendsetters and influencers across many industry niches.

Even if you don’t want to be an active participant in conversations, marketers have a unique opportunity to listen. I can’t tell you how many times I thought to myself, “I wish I could just get inside the heads of this particular group of people. Understand what they like, what they do, how they speak and what they are passionate about to help me be a better marketer.” With new tracking and search tools arriving daily this kind of information is at our fingertips. You can find people that use Twitter to engage others that share common interests and enthusiasm. You can even have a bird’s eye view of their conversations. Pinpoint and engage people within the most obscure niches, and they will welcome you with open arms because they are there to share (as long as you abide by the appropriate social media etiquette).

I can’t possibly be the only person excited about this.

Through Twitter, I have discovered new experts (I mean the real experts like the industry obsessed that I can get honest opinions from like @svartling, @mashable, @joelrubinson, @PR_CoutureFashion, @adbroad, @nlupus, @kyleplacy, @shanegibson @chrisbrogan, etc.), great bloggers (The Counter Intuitive CEO, Geeky Grrrl, Graphic Design Blog), talented aspiring artists and fresh thinking writers (@meaghano), and even online magazines (Silicon Alley Insider, @TechCrunch). I get a glimpse inside the minds of executives at some of the biggest and most admired brands and companies from around the world (@zappos, @GaryStockman, @yodera). Along with daily doses of some super dandy brain candy, I also get really great laughs (@TheOnion), even from shared experiences – simply put in 140 characters or less.

Today, @bogusky Tweeted “Even a good day in advertising contains at least one swift kick to the nuts.” Ahhh, how refreshing to know that even the industry’s best known shares something with me.

Twitter has heightened my industry awareness to topics I knew I was passionate about and even shed light on reasoning and opportunities that may have not yet made it on my radar.

Not to mention, I feel that I am more efficient, more connected and growing professionally through those that I follow on Twitter.

So Tweet on my good people. Non-Tweeters… gather all the facts before you judge.

@mpriestarnold

Twitter takes a hit on retention, but that could be a good thing.

So the numbers are in and at first glance Twitter takes a hit with a low retention rate. According to Nielsen Wire, “Currently, more than 60 percent of Twitter users fail to return the following month, or in other words, Twitter’s audience retention rate, or the percentage of a given month’s users who come back the following month, is currently about 40 percent. For most of the past 12 months, pre-Oprah, Twitter has languished below 30 percent retention.”

Before you let your executives think that this means Twitter is not a fit for your company or you decide to dismiss the opportunity, remember this: most influencers display higher rates of technology use and are early adopters. With this in mind, you have an opportunity to clarify your message to a group of very desirable people. People who have a distinct interest in being engaged and are more likely to engage and influence those around them.

Going back to my earlier post stating that no single social network can be all things to all people, I again think that having a variety of social networks is a good thing. Distinctive networks will allow you to communicate in different ways and will help you build specific relationships with different groups based on how they want to receive their information.

Not every customer wants to be engaged at the level that social networks allow. Be sure to understand your social audience and the opportunity. Someone who follows you on Facebook may not be the same customer that follows you on Twitter, or comments on your blog posts. Sure, you will have some that do it all, but use social to track behavior and better understand the profiles of your key influencing base of customers. Take this information to better segment your approach to connect with people the way they want to be connected with for the best returns.

I see this lower retention rate being the equivalent of cycling out the weaker links (in terms of targeting influencers). And I have a pretty good feeling if the retention rates of other networks were compared, they would be very similar.

The future, I am sure, will bring plenty of new technologies to help us use social behavior to understand our customers in new ways that we have yet to realize. So get out there and engage, learn and prepare for a very quick evolution of social. Our marketing efforts are going to be kept on their toes.

Follow me @mpriestarnold.

Profit ruins everything... Unless you have authentic brand!

So here we are again. Another tech company that experienced one-time great success taken over by the immediacy of monetization. Of course with the crippled traditional media market, business people are salivating over anything that reaches the masses and has the capability of filling the advertising void, so I understand why MySpace (and many others) are eager to make their business plans work.

For the sake of full disclosure, I am not a MySpace fan, but value the importance of having several varieties of social networks to hit across all demographic segments. Anyone who thinks one social network can be it all to every audience is a bit naive. Facebook should not be Twitter, and MySpace should not be Facebook. How each network allows you to be social, will attract certain types of people. And that's OK. We all know competition is good.

But back to my point... I am very curious to see how the very networks, which are all about providing an authentic vehicle for people to be themselves, may quickly take a very unauthentic path. What does all this mean? MySpace needs to figure out what it is (beyond just being another social network) before it can reach sustainable success. It won't matter who they put in place or how smart they are. If MySpace doesn't know who it is as a brand, and what its authentic brand purpose is, it will inevitably fail. I can only hope they know this, but are not sharing, and are using their insider understanding to recruit executive talent that align with their purpose. If not, they are especially doomed if the only agreed upon understanding of purpose is to drive profit, and fast.

Good luck MySpace. I need you to make a successful go at this change - there are advertisers looking to target your audience. You just need to clarify who your audience is and what your relationship needs to be with them.