INSIGHTS IN ACTION: THE FGI BLOG
To Tweet, or Not to Tweet?
In an age of rapidly increasing uses for social media, Twitter has emerged as a social network that provides up-to-date data on consumer reactions. While it is still quite uncertain whether or not Twitter will rise to the popularity that Facebook and MySpace have experienced, the site is certainly seeing a vast increase in users month after month. Connecting to customers through sites such as Twitter will be influential in creating relationships and gaining “followers.”
This social media site also creates an excellent new source of customer feedback that can be combined with traditional methods such as focus groups or surveys. New tools such as Tweetdeck now allow companies to follow competitors, track key words, or determine consumer opinion concerning their brand or product. Our clients who have begun monitoring social media sites prior to product launches have gained great insight into consumer reaction, competitor response and the marketing tactics that should be used. With Twitter expected to have close to 50 million users by the end of the year, it’s important to employ expert advice in social media mining and web monitoring.
Ashton Smith
Social Media Intern
FGI Research
November 18th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Twitter has come on the scene so quickly and with such a bang that it cannot be ignored. So, we are definitely looking for ways to make social media mining a part of our marketing research strategy in 2010 and beyond. One thing to watch out for is the potential age skew with Twitter users. My guess is that the majority of all tweets are coming from the younger types. I would like to see FGI Research or others to some research on this to determine who Tweets, who follows and what impact it has on attitudes and behaviors. In any event, social media mining should be in the marketing research toolbox for sure.
November 18th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Ashton – what kind of information is out there about the demographic makeup of Twitter, and composition of business versus consumer?
November 18th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Any comments on its penetration into the younger market? The print media suggests that Twitter’s adoption has been strongest by older groups but I wasn’t sure whether that is true or not. If you have any measurements to share that would be helpful. Thanks in advance,
B