Value: [rating=4]
Our commentary: This short piece on emarketer.com gives a review of some new research revealing that Twitter followers who "follow" a brand are more valuable at the business level than Facebook fans, who "like".
For example, daily Twitter users who followed a brand were more than twice as likely as daily Facebook users to say that they felt more likely to purchase from the brand after becoming a social media follower. That pattern is similar when users where asked if the would recommend a brand.
Marketing implications: Although it's not really a Twitter or Facebook question, we know that marketing and social media success is about more than one channel, or one social network, it does raise the importance of understanding the implications and being alert to these differences in your business, and specifically to your audience.
For some businesses Twitter isn't so relevant at all. Clearly if Twitter is right for you their are is early evidence here that incentivising people to follower your brand on Twitter could be extremely important, so thinking about how to do that, and what's in it for your followers would be a key concern.
Recommended link: Are Twitter Followers Better Than Facebook Fans?
For anyone researching or studying, this more technical study by researchers at Hewlett Packard may be useful, although there aren't that many specific actionable takeaways. The main findings are:
1. The majority of Twitter users are passive and have limited influence
2. Users with the highest number of followers aren't necessarily the most influential
3. Their influence algorithm is the best method for fining the influential.
By Danyl Bosomworth
Dan helped to co-found Smart Insights in 2010 and acted as Marketing Director until leaving in November 2014 to focus on his other role as Managing Director of First 10 Digital. His experience spans brand development and digital marketing, with roles both agency and client side for nearly 20 years. Creative, passionate and focussed, his goal is on commercial success whilst increasing brand equity through effective integration and remembering that marketing is about real people. Dan's interests and recent experience span digital strategy, social media, and eCRM. You can learn more about Dan's background here Linked In.
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