Do UK businesses really value Twitter?

December 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Techcrunch recently picked up on a poll by Accredited Supplier of 1200 UK businesses who are currently using Twitter, and echoed the findings that ‘UK Business bullish in Twitter’.

Besides the caveat that the UK businesses that are so bullish are the ones that are actually already using it, there’s a little bit of interesting info in it.

Apparently 62% of UK businesses are using Twitter purely as a branding exercise, with 33% combining branding and sales, and 15% using it purely for sales (They might want to take a look at Dell making millions on Twitter for starters).

TwitterBrandingChart

But then it goes on to reveal that just 14% of the businesses are tweeting daily, and 21% weekly. Which leaves 65% posting a monthly message or less – should that even count as a business using Twitter?

Twitter Frequency Chart

So there’s no surprise that 84% don’t think they’ve achieved a return on investment so far – but strangely more businesses would be willing to pay for ‘additional business functionality’ at 22%, than have actually claimed a return on investment (16%).

businessfunctionalityontwitter

So maybe a better headline and summary would be that UK businesses are still mightily confused when it comes to Twitter. Some of them want more functionality despite not seeing any returns, and many of them claim they’re using it when they might log in less than 12 times a year.

They haven’t so much missed the point as built a dual carriageway bypass around it.

If you’re starting to use Twitter on behalf of your business, you need to have a quick think about what it is you’re looking to achieve and how it benefits your business – getting messages out there is somewhat useful in itself, but generally it’s expected that you might look at the rate of acquisition from a source, and the investment of resource it’s taken, and then weigh that against other sources of visitors/buyers/purchases.

Then you can not only determine the true level of ROI, but also potentially justify actually engaging on a regular basis and utilising Twitter as both a customer acquisition channel – but also as a customer retention channel. While new customers are great, it’s more cost effective to retain a current customer by increasing loyalty – and although you might need to interact and ask questions on at least a weekly basis, the amount of loyalty and customer service you can action can be measured as a definite return.

I suspect you could perform the same poll with most of the common tools – email, Facebook, Myspace etc, and you’d probably get similar results, because the same people have signed up without a plan after seeing the buzz, dabbled a little, and have no idea what they’re doing next.

Which means that there are big opportunities if you’re reading blogs like this, using Twitter on a regular basis and developing or following a clear plan with a decent amount of ROI.

Filed Under: Monetising, twitter Tagged With: , , , ,

The best Twitter prank ever?

December 10, 2009 By 9 Comments

Every so often someone finds a genius use of Twitter. And this is one such example, as an anonymous best man has utilised microblogging and technology to play a joke on his newlywed friends in brilliant fashion.

Taking inspiration from the Twittering Office Chair, and a promise not to play any tricks on the groom before the wedding, this anonymous best man has used the honeymoon time to rig up the marital bed so that:

‘So here’s the thing: the newlywed’s marital bed now has a pressure-sensitive pad underneath which now tweets everytime they get on the job.’

‘You’ll know when it starts, when it ends, the force, a rating on the frenzy index and a judge’s comment – all broadcast live to Twitter.’

And it’s up and running in time for their return, judging by the test tweeted out today.

So if you want to keep track of what happens when they get back from their honeymoon tomorrow, then just follow @newlywedsonthejob. And with almost 2000 followers already, it seems like they’ll be performing for quite an audience – luckily in the spirit of the prank there’s no mention of Audioboo or even worse, 12seconds.tv (Think about it!)

Filed Under: twitter Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Small rivers of content for a new discovery system

December 10, 2009 By 1 Comment

I don’t often get contacted with sponsored posts, and sadly when I do they’re generally about topics completely irrelevant to my writing – so being offered information about a new way to create networks of related content sounded too interesting to ignore. It’s called Small Rivers, a tool for bloggers to network content and audiences started by a small team on the Swiss Institute of Technology EPFL Campus, who wanted to find an easier and better way to connect communities of shared interests without having to leave their own website, blog or social network. So Small Rivers attempts to allow both creators, and their visitors to find other people discussing the same topics, showing extracts of content, videos and comments, all on your site. It works by registering on the Small Rivers site, and inserting a button onto your site – when anyone clicks on it, a sidebar opens which shows everywhere the same button is found, what content is on those pages, and what discussions are taking place. So rather than manually creating your own blogroll, this acts like a distributed network of links, to which anyone can contribute. Which means what normally ends up as a static collection of links often forgotten and outdates instead becomes a more relevant and fluid collection. There’s also a bookmarklet to add content and sites easily, plus you can share via all the usual social networks. As a site owner, it could be one of the better ways to increase the amount of value you can offer to visitors quickly and easily. Via the site itself you can browse networks to find relevant ones to join, and create your own. The only thing I’ve immediately spotted which would be a nice addition is an option to moderate the links being added to your network to stop any malicious or spam contributions, but I’m guessing this might be an option in a Pro paid version (Small Rivers as standard is 100% free) which is due in the near future, along with more organisations who seem set to use it – there already seems to be a WWF network which has collected some interesting content. You can see the button in action on the WWF Arctic Conservation site in the right side bar. It’s currently in Alpha, so there’s a small number of networks currently in action, but some of them are already collating quite a large amount of content, and it seems like one way in which blogs can evolve further in the face of all the buzz about microblogging and rumours it will kill the traditional blog. Like many networked services, it relies on critical mass to succeed, but certainly the elements of a decent content discovery/delivery mechanism are already in place. You can also try out the service by clicking on the Small Rivers button below and taking a look at an example network. 

SmallRivers

sponsored Post

Filed Under: Blogging, Digital Publishing, social networks Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The time is right for pervasive social gaming

December 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I remember a quote from a Microsoft exec around the time of the Xbox 360 launch, in which he outlined his dream of console gamers being able to play a title like Halo on a console, but also contribute to the game via mobile devices. (I think it was J.Allard, but trying to find the right issue of adult-orientated games mag Edge from two years ago proved fruitless).

The response on forums and the letters page the following month were full of dismissive replies from ‘hardcore’ gamers.

But rather than being a bad idea, it was simply a case of bad timing. The conditions are now perfect for a cohesive game universe to reach people 24/7, wherever they are, and whatever they are doing.

Obviously for starters we have convergent devices as games consoles which have a prime spot in the lives and living rooms of a lot of people, and achieve acceptance by also playing DVDs, streaming movies etc.

Then we have mobile devices, most notably the iPhone, which opens up a gaming app world previously inaccessible to those embarrassed to be seen in public with a Nintendo DSi or Sony PSP. And bearing in mind the ever-increasing average age of gamers, the shame factor is a key point.

Thirdly we have the world of Farmville and Fishville on Facebook, and the myriad of other social games created by the likes of Playfish and Zynga. The largest of these games has more members than Twitter, and taps into both the viral distribution mechanisms available on social networks, and the most insightful game theory to ensure return visit.

The tipping point will simply come when a console manufacturer who runs a gaming network e.g. Microsoft, enables their user database to feed mobile devices and social network games in addition to the Xbox Live network. You’re already using your MSN Live Passport (or whatever it’s called now) to sign into every MSN service from hotmail, to MSN Messenger, to Xbox Live. And various third-party services allow you to share your gaming interactions with automatic feeds to Facebook, Twitter etc.

The next stage will be a 24/7, multi-medium, pervasive gaming experience which has the potential to completely overtake the likes of Second Life and World of Warcraft, which are still tied into one specific universe.

My money would be on Microsoft to be the brand to make it happen. They’ve got more experience of providing a live online gaming platform, they’ve obviously got experience in unifying the logins across products, and they’ve led the way in a converged device which allows for gaming, traditional entertainment, online game shows, integration with Twitter, Faceook, Last.fm (which got 1 million new users in the first few days of integration), and an investment in Facebook.

Plus they’ve also got a handful of selected titles which could make the leap. Halo is the flagship title which could justify revitalisation after this long leading the way and a few initial forays into spin-offs (Halo Wars for example). Grand Theft Auto is something I already tipped as a potential sure-fire win as a virtual world, and would also lend itself to pervasive gaming (Look at the success of Mob Wars on social networks). And then there’s a title like Call of Duty, which now boasts the world’s largest army (thankfully it’s only virtual), and a military management/resupply function would tie in to the overall themes.

I’m just amazed it hasn’t happened in 2009, and definitely predict it’ll occur in 2010. We’re already not far away with many people using online communities to check out videos, images, tips etc during the day to fuel their evening of gaming. Now it won’t just be our friends and contacts who we can carry around with us 24/7 – it will be those entire virtual worlds in which so many of us enjoy our leisure time which will be with us all the time. There are times when the tasks in those games can feel like a second job, but when they become all pervasive, perhaps that’s the point where a virtual world or gaming occupation actually becomes widely accepted as a primary job?

Filed Under: Digital Culture, Videogames, xbox 360 Tagged With: , , , ,
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