Luke Brown Marketing Blog

Twitter exploded into the public’s eye this year, with the type of hypergrowth that makes for superb news headlines. The lack of a sustainable business model didn’t seem to be a detriment to investors who poured over $100 million into the company. The good news associated with the company may be over.

A recent article on emarketer.com shows traffic declining on Twitter from 2.1% to an eye-popping 27.8%. Why? The reasons are varied and may not be as bleak as first imagined.

Twitter’s growth has been tremendous, but 60% of users only stayed for two months before becoming inactive. Recent studies showed 80% of Tweets to be self-referential (as mentioned in the blog post about mono media).

The article does mention legitimate reasons for the drop in traffic which must be considered, especially given the huge disparity in the numbers. Since many Twitter users use third party apps like HootSuite and TweetDeck, it’s difficult to correlate traffic and users.

Social media sites can generate traffic, leads and sales if a proper strategy is implemented. There are many strategies which work, some of which are the opposite of others. You can also establish an authority presence if you desire on social media sites.

Define Your Persona, Then Pick Your Site

Different social media sites appeal to different demographics. Understanding your persona and how it fits in with a site will improve the benefit you’ll get. Pick the wrong site, however, and your social media time investment will return minimal results.

Persona: Professional and business-oriented. LinkedIn appeals to employed professionals and entrepreneurs. Demographics show strong appeal in the 35-50 age range, and users tend to be well-educated and affluent. Thousands of groups are available for networking with those who share your passions. The Questions area is very helpful across a wide range of topics.

Persona: Family and Friends are a priority. You can’t go wrong with Facebook, now a profitable company with over 400 million users worldwide. Facebook is now the second most visited internet site (after Google). There isn’t much new to say about Facebook. If you still haven’t signed up, well, beware. It can be very addictive.

Persona: Freewheeling, entrepreneurial, tech-savvy. You just might find a home at Twitter. Take the time to learn the ins and outs before tweeting (posting) and define what you want before going all in.

There are plenty of other social media sites available if the Big Three don’t float your boat. LinkedIn and Facebook look like they’re here for good. I still have reservations about Twitter. In six months, anything could change significantly. That’s the beauty of the change of pace on the internet. Stability isn’t synonymous with the web.

As always, your comments are welcomed and appreciated.

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