An article in the Huffington Post in April 2012 suggested that Twitter is a more effective marketing tool than email. I was reminded of that when someone asked me about Twitter recently.
You will only agree with the aforementioned article if you are cursed with two costly and career-ending weaknesses.
- You always believe what research tells you
- You have difficulty with basic arithmetic
Otherwise the piece is pure moonshine, as one of my more numerate colleagues pointed out:
“If I read it right only 7% of those questioned said they’d followed a business on Twitter.
Of those 32% would then buy.
Email got 93% saying they’d opt in with 21% then buying.
So with a mythical 1000 people:
22.4 would be Twitter buyers.
195.3 would be email buyers.
So that makes email the clear winner to me.”
It’s the common trap everybody falls into.
We’re not just looking for “likes” or “follows” or just trying to get our names out there. We’re trying to make sales.
People keep tracking the former when they should be tracking the latter.
There’s also a narrow-minded focus on individual technologies or tactics rather than more general rules of psychology. The truth is: “Methods are many, principles are few. Methods always change, principles never do.”
Very perceptive, Justin