Is Twitter a waste?
A common question of any marketing effort is the return on the investment be it time with a free social network or money with a print campaign. It’s a valid question, but when it comes to Twitter, some are manipulating data to support their theory that it is or is not a time waster of a social network.
Some say Twitter is a waste of time simply because Facebook has more users and the ad platform that doesn’t exist at all on Twitter is far superior. Supporters of the social network point out that over 89% of Twitter users are adults compared to Facebooks millions of underage users and that active users tend to be seeking brand information and are often brand loyal (which includes brokerages).
Problogger set out to create an infographic with updated statistics to help you judge for yourself. What we see in the data below is able to support and criticize the social network:
Infographic cropped for brevity, see the full infographic here.
Conflicting information?
We’ve seen recent data on Twitter that doesn’t exactly match up with this information, but Problogger Darren Rowse is someone we’ve known and trusted for many years, so we take his translation of data at its word.
The truth of the matter is that the demographics of Twitter are changing very very quickly as teens adopt the social network and as other nations take to the site. Now, only 33% of use comes from the U.S. and soon, nearly a quarter of all users will be minors. These two stats are being pointed to as the reason for Twitter being a waste of time, but it stands to reason that these changing stats do not mean that buyers and sellers (or “leads” if you like that word) are gone, it simply means their kids have jumped into the fray too.
Realtors must take heed to monitor who they follow and avoid children, but when seeking local interaction, Twitter is still home of the web influencers and home of a common place for people to seek recommendations (a good place to be seen as a professional). So yes, the demographics are changing on Twitter, but some of the stats are misleading given that the youth are quickly adopting Twitter- when broken out by minors and adults, the data will look dramatically different.
Twitter is a great mobilizer of people and a brand loyal audience with great potential, but the ultimate answer is that any marketing strategy poorly implemented is a waste of time.
Artur | Phoenix Real Estate
June 2, 2011 at 9:41 am
Considering the many choice for making contact with potential customers and the limited time available – Twitter – is low on the list, low enough to be ignored.
Ken Brand
June 2, 2011 at 1:41 pm
Allegedly, on Monday Big Steve will announce a Twitter Integration with the new iPhone Operating System. I guess somebody thinks Twitter is valuable, even as many sit on the fence? #JustSayn
Artur | Phoenix Real Estate
June 2, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Sure Twitter is relevant, sure you can generate business via Twitter, but is it prudent for Realtors to spend their time on many different platforms or one of two platforms. Unless you hire this out, how can a Realtor do blogging, facebook, twitter, quora and all the other platforms, and do them well? And still do a proper job servicing clients? May be that's why robots are taking over Twitter.
Matthew Thomson
June 2, 2011 at 11:58 pm
If you use it as a lead generation source, and you use it properly, then it's fantastic. If you automate it because you're just supposed to have an acct., then it's a waste.
Door knocking is a waste of time if you don't know what to say. Networking groups are a waste of time if you don't engage.
Direct mailers are a waste of time if you aren't consistent and have an intentional message.
Mike Bowler Sr.
June 4, 2011 at 7:28 pm
Some of the finest minds in our industry share on Twitter. You can learn on the go from the best. Anyone not on Twitter is missing the boat when it comes to staying ahead of the game. I should add wonderful relationships also play a huge role. 🙂
Fred Romano
June 5, 2011 at 8:01 am
For lead generation – Totally a waste! For staying up to date with your favorite people – Perfect!