Study: Twitter is THE Silver Bullet SME are Seeking [Infographic]
Twitter is the silver bullet. Right? Right. The one unifying force in the marketing universe that does everything for your small business. Branding, broadcasting, relationships building, lead generation, outreach, and customer service.
Maybe, oh just maybe it’s the silver bullet.
Twitter.com and Market Probe International partnered and surveyed small business and their followers if Twitter is the silver bullet.
The goal? See if either gets value from Twitter.
Social Media is the new Phone – are you gonna answer it?
Twitter Drives Growth for Small and Medium Business
Symbiosis – sym-bi-os-is – a close and usually obligatory association of two organisms of different species that live together, often to their mutual benefit.
Man and his dog, Calvin and Hobbs, PB&J, Laurel and Hardy, The Lone Ranger and Tonto and now Twitter and small businesses.
‘Symbiosis’
The study, by Market Probe International, surveyed 500 Twitter users who followed a small business (150 in the UK, 350 in the USA). Not a statistically significant number, but, very interesting.
The study showed people who follow small business feel more engaged (emotionally connected) with the business. Are more likely to purchase, recommend, and retweet the tweets and share positive experiences about the business! wow. Just Wow.
Ding, Ding, Ding, We Have a Winner (hear that amusement park bell ringing?)
Read that sentence again slowly.
Twitter followers are more likely to purchase from you, recommend you and share your messages to their followers.
This is Magic Bullet Marketing Stuff
It is magic bullet stuff because we trust trust our friends the most — just as the graph below shows. 92% of people trust completely or trust somewhat people they know.
Followers as Brand Advocates
Brand advocates are extremely important to your business. They give recommendations to their friends, do a bit of word of mouth marketing. And, most important of all, word of month is people talking about your business. That is Earned media.
Brand advocacy is huge driver for your business. Additional reading on brand advocates is available here, here and here.
Brand advocacy is Earned Media. Earned media is the Holy Grail of the Paid, Owned and Earned trilogy.
Overstating the power of word of mouth advocacy (earned media) is difficult. (yes I am beating the drum!)
The brand – follower relationship goes both ways.
Value for Followers a Small Business
The 500 people surveyed said they follow business to:
- To get updates on future products — 73%
- To show support for them — 63%
- To interact with the business (share ideas, provide Feedback) — 61%
- 70% retweeted because they liked the content (shared by the business)
- 64% mentioned business to share a positive experience (good products, good customer service)
- 54% @replied to share a positive experience (business are engaging and building a community of supportive followers)
The behaviour by these 500 Twitter followers is exactly what a business wants.
85% of followers feel more connected with SMBs after following them.
When engaging with a business on Twitter, 82% feel like their message was received – and those messages are mostly positive interactions and not issues or complaints.
Value for the Small Business
Increased sales and recommendations
72% of followers are More likely to purchase from an SMB after following the company
Followers are 82% more likely to recommend a small business to friends / family than compared to before they followed.
Followers are 86% more inclined to visit a small business if recommend by a friend / family.
People are more likely (72%) to make a future purchase from a small business after they follow or interact on Twitter. Also see a lift (30%) in people who are likely to recommend.
Why do recommendations matter? Because they drive traffic: 86% of respondents said they are more likely to visit a small business if a friend recommends.
Takeaway: Not only can followers turn into customers, they can also help spread the word about you, leading to even more customers.
The Marketing Takeaway
Success on Twitter depends on six factors as I see it.
- Your Twitter Strategy
- If your customers are on Twitter
- The effort you put into Twitter
- Your competition
- Your Content and
- How Consistent you are
Download for free (without email my Field Guide to Online Lingo -Twitter Edition) because the language on Twitter can be confusing. And the wrong language puts you on the outside looking in.
Additional Twitter Reading
Twitter Etiquette
20 Things SMEs Must Avoid on Twitter
Hashtags on Twitter
Translating Twitter – The Field Guide
