...they should change the name to "microblogging". Like "e-mail", you'd send an "m-blog". I would imagine serious business users are a little uncomfortable using the terms "twitter" and "tweet" in a business environment, when "microblogging" sounds so much more business-like.
Carl Rapson
Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business
Summary
Twitter may be making waves as a new communication platform, but it is not "serious" enough for businesses yet, say experts.
Topics
Microblogging medium, Twitter, may be making waves as a new communication platform, but it is not "serious" enough for businesses yet, say experts.
This is despite Twitter recently posting a Twitter 101 page targeted at encouraging businesses to get onboard.
According to Joe Nguyen, comScore vice president, Southeast Asia, Twitter hits from the Asia-Pacific region have grown nearly tenfold since December 2008.
Businesses, however, are "still trying to understand the platform and are testing the waters", he said, citing an early example being Dell and Intel's Dell Swarm marketing campaign in Singapore, which included a Twitter account to post updates to users.
"So Twitter was used as one of the channels for communicating with consumers and potential customers, but has not been used as a marketing platform in and of itself," he said.
Chris Brogan, president of new media agency, New Marketing Labs, too said Twitter has some way to go. "It's still in the experimental world to most businesses," he said, but added that entities such as media organizations are getting value out of the quick-broadcast platform.
Twitter 101 alone will not help, he said, but it will help provide consultants and educators a "simple resource" to which to point.
Getting businesses to take Twitter seriously as a broadcasting medium will require organizations to align their marketing goals and strategies together with it, he noted. It is not about the way Twitter is delivered, but about organizations' goals, he said.
Perhaps Twitter should not strive too hard to be "legit", one expert suggests. Gartner research vice president, Jeffrey Mann, said: "Part of Twitter's appeal is its edginess and newness."
Tweaking the Twitter interface such that it becomes regarded as "legit" in the eyes of conservative marketeers would not be good for the platform, which he sees as having carved its own niche as a broadcast medium. "It is not, and will not be a mass market medium to address everyone, but it is already an effective way to reach a specific audience, if used correctly," he said.
Twitter's rumored expected new services, such as analytics and brand search, will "enhance" its platform while still remaining playful at its core, he said.
One Singapore-based company, Azione Capital has a Twitter account but stopped tweeting in November last year.
Dennis Phua, Azione Capital's senior associate cited time constraint as the reason the venture capital firm stopped, in response to a query from ZDNet Asia. "Our company has no dedicated personnel to post tweets, and over time, we have prioritized our work over tweeting."
He said, however, that Azione is interested in informing the Web community of the company's happenings, and that it is "a pity" it has stopped broadcasting over the medium.
Twitter's founders recently acknowledged that the company continues not making money and that it is 1 percent of where it wants to be. But the company is focused on the long term, said co-founder Biz Stone.
This article was originally posted on ZDNet Asia.
Talkback Most Recent of 17 Talkback(s)
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rapson26th Aug 2009 -
Good Point
Carl,
@ http://Present.ly - we say "post" or "posting."
It definitely sounds a lot more professional than "tweet/tweeting"
(especially given that we're an enterprise micro-blogging vendor)
Plus... we really like the alliteration
Yoshi
yoshi.maisami28th Aug 2009 -
Others Love It
I find it funny that people talk like its this huge black cloud an maybe they will or maybe they wont fly into it. There are lots of companies out there who are successfully using twitter as a real tool and are openly talking about it.
The biggest issue for me is that people seem to think that twitter is the answer to all the problems they have. NOT SO. Its merely just another tool for business to have. The smart ones will find away and place it and help themselves move more and more in to emerging media.
Justin Brackett
www.socialvillage.net
@justinthesouth
justinthesouth26th Aug 2009 -
RE: Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business
I fully agree that strategy needs to underpin any expectation of getting a measurable business return from Twitter. Little doubt many companies are currently playing, but few have it tied in to help deliver specific marketing objectives.
I think Social CRM will help companies along this path though. So far, most Twitter "contact" has been ad hoc, unstructured and, critically, unrecorded -- this makes it tough to follow up and maintain continuity when you have contact with those same customers through other communication channels.
Social CRM will enable social media based customer interaction to be recorded and monitored alongside all other media. Only when comparatives can be established will its value as a business tool be understood and valued.
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
wecando.biz26th Aug 2009 -
RE: Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business
I don't use Twitter--or any other Social Media site, for that matter. I just don't have the time! BUT, I can't think of any business web page I've been on in the past month that doesn't have a 'follow us on Twitter' link on it.
Obama uses it...maybe that's why our economy is so screwed up with a $9 Trillion projected deficit!!!
DRDRJAY126th Aug 2009 -
RE: Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business
Did I just read that right? This analyst wants businesses to align itself around the unproven twitter instead of around the business's goals? I don't see that happening.
Loverock Davidson26th Aug 2009 -
RE: Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business - no it's not...
I think a lot of the "technologies" are going to fall flat. Why would I want tweets, I very well might be missing it, but what I have seen of twitter is utter nonsense. I love the commercial for the phone where the dad is sitting on the patio and tweeting "I'm...sitting...on...the...patio" I love it - WHO CARES! I see a bubble, and it's going to be interesting.
ItsTheBottomLine26th Aug 2009 -
Depends on your business model
A lot depends on your business model on how you use the tool to communicate. In my business everything has to be 2N+1, including communication mediums. It is just another option for customers, as we use twitter along with e-mail, phone to commutate any scheduled maintenance.
Mike
http://www.RackWire.com
RackWire.com26th Aug 2009 -
RE: Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business
I agree and I had in face written about the same couple of weeks back, that Twitter is still very nascent outside USA. you can read by view here bit.ly/1DLxMg
samratkakkar26th Aug 2009 -
RE: Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business
Nor should it be.
Twitter has enough "arrows in it's quiver" to make a ton of money, without the mis-direct of thinking the commercial interests, directly presented, are it's Holy Grail; they are not.
Twitter is, and should stay, a Social Interaction site, with it's Mantra being the Texting God of the Internet.
Thought of that way, I smell deals; I see Twitter Mobile Apps; I smell...profit.
BaltimoreBarry26th Aug 2009 -
RE: Twitter still not 'serious' enough for business
As I read the article, it looks like it's saying businesses aren't taking Twitter seriously, rather than Twitter not being serious enough. Obviously, Twitter does work for some.
Dell tweets updates and items from its Dell Outlet. Newegg tweets offers daily. I tweeted a link to an article about online backups, and got DMed by a backup company offering advice and solutions. You think businesses aren't using Twitter?
Looks like a case of poorly-written headline and inadequate research.
big red one26th Aug 2009 -
I'm not convined it's useful.
I'm not convinced it's any more useful than any other form of communication. Frankly, it encourages thoughtless, useless communication. You can't say anything useful in the character limit, and there are other, better ways to reach a broad audience.
It's cool - but I don't see it as useful, especially not when there are so many (frankly, too many) other ways to communicate. I don't think it will stay around as long as email or blogs or wikis or regular social networking sites.
CobraA126th Aug 2009 -
Agree 100%
It is nothing but a temporary phab.
I would never do business with anybody who would use tweeter for any kind of official communication.
wackoae27th Aug 2009 -
Works great if you use it right
I manage an advocacy organization. I post breaking news on twitter that my members AND the local press would be interested in. In the last two weeks I have broken three news stories the were followed by the press and turned into articles. 140 characters beats a one page press release in terms of my time and the reporters' time. You just have to be judicious about what you post. I find it much less cluttered than my facebook updates, although my tweets go to my facebook page as well.
tomscot228th Aug 2009 -
No Way! Tweats are not for Business?
You have got to be kidding! Grown adults in a professional work environment don't think spending time and money sending 140 character twiddley tweets to a lame brain audience is not a serious use of company resources? I don't understand...! "That is soooo not fair.", cries Ashton Kindergarten.
jpr75_z26th Aug 2009
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