- According to the report Twitter Tally by eMarketer, the number of adult Twitter users in the US was 6.0 million (3.8% of internet users) in 2008. In 2009, it’s expected to be 12.1 million (7.4%), and in 2010, 18.1 million (10.8%). Even though there is an increase, this isn’t a great amount of people.
- Despite some figures claiming huge growth in the number of Twitter accounts, it’s questioned how much people actually use them.
Not all people are “early adopters” – the mainstream do not currently see the value of Twitter
Although a huge number of people are now on social networking sites, with Twitter this is not exactly the case. People read about it ad nauseam in the newspapers and other media, but do not warm to it quickly. The reason being is that people find it hard to figure out what it is all about. Its (much discussed) rather vague statement of "What are you doing?" does not immediately present its usefulness. Questions the uninitiated ask are:
- What are followers?
- Who can I follow, or what do I follow?
- Why is following important?
- Can I only do this from my web browser?
- AND CRUCIALLY - Why should I spend my time using this? This is increasingly important as social networking users are becoming more savvy and efficient in the way they use such technology.
Part 1 of the solution: explain why Twitter is valuable
Educate your customers that Twitter is used to give out special offers, information - things of value. Explain that there is a lot of noise, but amongst that there is information of real worth for their lives.
A great example of this is Dell, who even have their own Twitter portal. Here, a multitude of specially targeted Twitter channels have been created. People subscribe to the ones that are important for them. Want to know about Dell homesales in Japan, Australia, China or New Zealand? There’s a channel for you. Want refurbished Dell computers in the Republic of Ireland? There’s one for you.
The value for customers is that they only get relevant information, they get great offers, and they get news of it instantly.
Part 2 of the solution: in the context of adding value, answer the newbie questions for them
To be able to educate your customers about Twitter is great not only because they will use it to receive information from you, but also because they will permanently associate Twitter with you. This could potentially have a great word of mouth effect, in that all their Twitter uninitiated friends who they speak to directly may be referred directly to your website.
Part 3: Now tell them and show them how to do it
- Tell them to get an account
- Tell them to follow you
- If necessary, tell them to get SMS updates from your channel
- Tell them about retweeting
- Engage them in conversation!

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