There's a storm on the horizon. Hurricane Twitter is going to be huge. Are you prepared to position your business to benefit from the winds of change?
Recent studies have shown that Twitter's growth has begun a parabolic ascent as shown in the below chart which clearly illustrates the storm's-a-brewing. Erick Schonfeld's TechCrunch article 'Boom! Twitter More Than Doubles Unique U.S. Visitors To 9.3 Million In March' reports measured results stating that Twitter's number of unique visitors "grew 131 percent between February and March to 9.3 million visitors." Unlike other storms, instead of dark, destructive clouds this natural phenomenon is full of gusts of great potential.
Granted, with Twitter's rockstar status in all forms of media lately, nobody really needs a chart to justify the fact that this social media darling has become the talk of the town. If you simply flip on the television or read the newspaper, you'll find that Twitter talk is not only gaining steam, but mainstream celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Oprah, Shaq, Ellen have all used Twitter to capitalize and/or connect with their audience in ways traditional media simply doesn't allow. Giants on Capitol Hill or CNN are engaging with middle America with methods that would make any idealist politician or media hack proud. The decision-makers behind mega brands, political entities and media outlets are positioning themselves for the coming storm. They know what's on the horizon and it's called opportunity.
You have a choice. There are two ways to respond to Hurricane Twitter. One approach would be to ignore it and bunker down, hoping that it's just a massive natural disaster of passing fancy. Is Twitter a huge fad for superficial chit-chat? A quick scan of some of the more bland, somewhat purposeless Twitter posts ("I just saw my ex at a party" "Jelly beans are fun to eat.") can leave you feeling that way.
The other response and the one I recommend, is to ride the sheer power of the crowd thrusting your ideas forward by their desire to connect by positioning yourself and playing an active role. We measure the output ability of our engines in units of horsepower (HP), social media should be measured in terms of crowdpower (CP) - defined as the capacity to harness, speak to or connect/engage with a mass of people.
You'll have to do more than simply have an account and post tweets though. The more Twitter grows, the more potential noise there will be - making your ability to participate in discussions, track trends, filter noise and make sense of the data all the more important. Imagine Twitter with 100,000,000 users or more, that's what you want to be prepared for. Can you build a niche, a micro-presence now that rockets forward when magnified to a degree of ten? It'll take some expert planning.
I've made recommendations in previous blog posts (Social media is not about you and Listening vs. talking on Twitter) that in order to truly connect and embrace what Twitter has to offer you must steer some of your push-only marketing focus away from your company or brand and flip it around. It's counterintuitive to much of what we're taught about business and marketing, but genuine social connection is truly the eye of the Twitter storm.
I'm not exalting Twitter to panacea status here, however I believe it's growth potential alone in the short to mid-term is reason enough to be paying attention. Twitter is the figurehead for our globe's inevitable transition to a social-powered web. Some people argue that there are not enough features to Twitter's interface or gripe about their lack of business plan. Whether or not it is as effective or legitimate as other social platforms doesn't matter. It's the people's choice. They decide what works for the masses and you would be smart to embrace that decision. The ripples towards a social web require an efficient channel and Twitter's design is perfect for such movement.
Hurricane Twitter represents opportunity for you and your business. The swells of this storm can open up a current of leads or customers as you establish trust and build an interactive brand presence. These gusts can propel you and your business toward a deeper, more bountiful world. Just as a sailor charts his course by studying maps and weather patterns, businesses should be scanning the landscape and trends of Twitter and creating a strategic plan for where they want this storm to take them.
Are your business sails positioned? What factors will be important to your during Hurricane Twitter?
