What Is Twitter Now?
By Jack Monson, Director of Digital Strategy, QiigoEach week marketers talk about the latest new feature on Facebook and how they might use that feature to push their brand forward. We’re also frequently talking about Instagram, Snapchat, and a couple of revolving newcomers.But many marketers are no longer talking about Twitter, or at least not as much as they were just two years ago. Lately most mentions of Twitter lead to conversations about the company itself and not how marketers are actually using it. Everyone wants to share ideas on the Twitter’s challenges, share price, and CEO rather than how they’re telling their own story on Twitter.If Twitter’s not Social Media, what is it?It’s NewsAs of last week, Twitter is listed as a News app in the iTunes store and is no longer categorized as a social media app.I’ve always thought of Twitter as a news distribution channel. It looks like Twitter and Apple finally agree. The smartest Public Relations execs were releasing official news and statements on Twitter as far back as 2008.If your side of the story is not coming up in Twitter searches, it’s just as inexcusable as not being seen on Google search results. Get to it!It’s a Link LibraryTwitter is to articles and blog posts what YouTube is to videos. It’s a vast vault of searchable content. Note, YouTube is also not really “Social” anymore, unless you count engaging with trolls…It’s a Customer Service platformYou can complain on your Facebook page all day about Brand X, but Brand X will never see it. You can complain on Brand X’s Facebook page all day and perhaps no other customers will see it. Tweet once and anyone paying attention will see it. Then the response clock starts running!It’s the place to “Also Share” your social media postsTwitter may not be the center stage for your content marketing, but it is a main gate. All social platforms must enable one-click Tweeting of your article, blog post, update, video, image, pin, story, audio clip, or future type of content. Even if you think most of your target audience is not active on Twitter, remember the Link Library idea above and make your content easy to find in any future Twitter search.About the Author: Jack Monson is the Director of Digital Strategy at Qiigo. He has been helping global brands, enterprises, and franchise systems with Digital Marketing for nearly two decades. He blogs at Social Media Workbench and is the co-host of the weekly Social Geek Radio program and podcast. Reach him on Twitter at @jackmonson.
