Twenty Set - Latest Comments

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:09:27 -0000

Neal,

There is no link at this time because the research isn't published. I actually know one of the researchers, and I'm trying to convince him to let me talk about the research he shared with me. Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the comment, and glad to find someone who's a bit of a research junkie like me :).

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

twitter-6001742 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:04:30 -0000

Great blog post. Is there a link to actual research from Hill and Knowlton? I clicked on the link, but it just went to their website.

Thanks!

Re: PR professionals vs. bloggers: Who is at fault?

maris — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:19:15 -0000

I got one just like that too! It was a cookbook that hasn't been released yet. I get that they're trying to build buzz around it before it launches but if there is no benefit to me and my readers, I just don't see the purpose.

Re: PR professionals vs. bloggers: Who is at fault?

maris — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:18:12 -0000

I don't think PR jobs are disappearing. I think they're changing and people are realizing that things are way different than they were 5, even 2 years ago. Working with bloggers is not working with media. Bloggers are a new to publicists and people are still learning the ropes, some faster than others.

I agree about authenticity - blogger relations is about being a human, being yourself and developing those relationships because you want to, not because it's your job to push send on an email.

Re: PR professionals vs. bloggers: Who is at fault?

maris — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:14:45 -0000

I am a blogger and a PR person (Edelman) and I understand why bloggers get frustrated with pitches that are off-topic - I write about food and I've been pitched for shoe polish.

There are some PR folks who want to work with bloggers because their clients ask them to so they do things like email blasts, pitch bloggers without reading them and I think it's so wrong. Bloggers aren't journalists who get paid to sort through hundreds of pitches. For many, it's a labor of love and they don't get why people would suddenly send them weird emails in corporate-speak.

I do think bloggers need to understand that PR people are trying to do their jobs and yes, might eventually make a mistake, but PR people need to understand that working with bloggers is different than print journalists. It's about the people, it's about building relationships and working in tandem.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

ambrose — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:34:58 -0000

Thanks, but I’ve got it already set up. I never experience problems like this with my own personal twitter, it’s just when I tried to set up for work that I’ve found it full of traps. Now I just wonder how to get it out of the half-block, and how to actually use it for work without triggering another one…

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:29:17 -0000

Justin,

That's a good point. There will be different demographics on each site. Personally, I use both, so I guess the good news is that you don't need to choose, maybe just choose which network to join first.

Thanks for the comment!

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:23:01 -0000

I've truly never had that problem. Let me know if you need any help setting up your Twitter, I can help you.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

Justin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:21:10 -0000

Interesting point. I think this honnestly depends on something more like their personal interests, extremely social INTERNET users will flock to the likes of Twitter, while socially active people will flock to Facebook. I don't think Gen Y has a prefference over which social services to use, it moreso comes down to where there friends are.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

ambrose — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:13:41 -0000

This article may be valid for English-speaking people, but after trying to set up a Twitter presence for the nonprofit I’m working for, I’ve found that using Twitter for anything more than personal use is full of traps.

On Twitter, there are a number of things that you naturally do that will get you into a semi-blocked state which they call filtered, and apparently it is extremely easy to get yourself semi-blocked while you customize your profile, fix typing mistakes, post URL’s from your own web site, or just plain tweet in a language that is not English. I suppose people just have to keep in mind that when you use Twitter you have to get everything right the first time, and if you make a mistake don’t try to fix it, or you’ll get into trouble.

I really want to be proved wrong, but my experience with Twitter’s support forums just make me worry more, not less.

Re: Free content sells. We get it. What’s next?

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:28:05 -0000

Seems like a decent lead generation strategy :)

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:27:10 -0000

Sean,

I'm the same way actually. Even though I have a blog and I'm really into social media, I still only use Facebook to talk to my friends.

It's just simply less of a commitment to chat with a company on Twitter. I don't have to become a friend or fan, I don't have to opt-in to every message they send out - I can check them out and listen on Twitter, and unfollow them if they aren't my thing.

Thanks for sharing your opinion - seems like a lot of people in our generation agree!

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

Sean — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:14:37 -0000

I couldn't agree more with this.

While I have been an avid Facebook user for the last 5 years, I rarely if ever, use it for anything other than personal reasons. I am much more open to marketing, promotion and generally anything business related, via Twitter than I am Facebook. And frankly, I think Twitter is a much better equipped to handle that stuff than Facebook

Re: Free content sells. We get it. What’s next?

Sarah Montague — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:51:09 -0000

Yes, you are correct. Those that fall flat on their fannies when they fail at execution often do come back to us.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:40:21 -0000

Thanks Beth, it took awhile to find all those links! I wanted to back up my claims as best I could.

I don't use Facebook all that often either - I love the platform but my Twitter peeps are so much better at sharing things that I care about in my professional life. Plus we would have never met each other through Facebook, but on Twitter it was easy to reach out.

Thanks for the comment Beth!

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

Beth — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:31:27 -0000

Great post. I really liked the way in which you have all of the research presented. I myself have actually not used facebook in about a year because it was becoming too much of a social scene and not enough of a professional one. (There is definitely room for both, I just was a bit tired of the Facebook one). Twitter is now my new favorite thing, partly due to its' simplicity, and the ability to talk to people you don't know.
Thanks for the well thought out post!

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:29:51 -0000

Ryan,

I thought the whole circle jerking ego thing might come up :).

I agree that we are not more influential than everyone else in our generation. Gen Y influentials are determined by how many friends they have, period. So a blogger isn't necessarily more influential, but he/she is probably more vocal.

For big businesses, you can probably market on Facebook and do fine. Most seem to use ads, but hey, there's Threadless. For small businesses, they just don't get traction in my experience. Facebook isn't a place to build brand awareness if you don't have money.

I think you are right - Twitter is where companies (at least small ones) should start with social media. In time, they can move their networks to Facebook, which is actually much more robust and probably a better sharing tool to reach the masses. Twitter is a place to find a new network, Facebook is a place to cultivate it once it's large enough.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:25:36 -0000

Jackie,

That's the problem I see companies facing, especially the small ones with no budgets. They can't get traction, so they get frustrated and quit.

Perhaps Twitter is a place companies can start with social media, to get their feet wet and see results quickly?

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

ryanstephens — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:41:10 -0000

I think it's easier because we live in an insular world where we sit around and circle jerk all of our first moving/influential egos. But just because we're vocal on social media platforms doesn't necessarily make us the most influential people with respect to brands I don't think. In some cases, certainly, but am I any more influential for a type of beer than the frat daddy president/college athlete that carries a case of it to every party and beer league softball game he attends? It's hard to measure that, it's different.

I think if you're marketing Facebook "right," and that entails entirely too much to discuss here, you'd have a better chance of reaching a critical mass than you would on Twitter. Perhaps Twitter is better for getting the ball rolling with certain influencers (depending on your industry/product), and Facebook is better when you want to go full scale? Good questions.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

jackieadkins3 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:34:39 -0000

Yea, you especially run into problems with companies who are new to social media and want to see results (which for them means followers) right away. Unfortunately, 9 times out of 10, that ain't happening, haha.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:29:08 -0000

Ryan,

Those are great points. I think Facebook is growing, but I think it's growing in the older demographics. I read that something like 96% of Gen Y Americans are on Facebook though - can't argue with those numbers!

I think though, that we can give Twitter some benefit of the doubt in growth. Facebook is going on 6 years while Twitter has only had 2 to really gain traction. It doesn't have the numbers yet, but it does have all the most vocal members of our generation - the people who are more likely to become brand advocates anyway.

How should companies be using Facebook to market, in your opinion? In my experience even just marketing this blog, Twitter is much easier.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:23:15 -0000

Hi Jackie,

I agree. The companies I work with have a problem getting started on Facebook. Threadless has done an amazing job - I tell just about all companies to try to steal any ideas they can from Threadless' efforts - but the biggest problems small companies face are that they can't get any fans, and the fans they have don't interact that well.

Twitter is just easier to get started on for companies. Facebook is a great platform but if you are looking to start a fan base, Twitter works better. Maybe at some point you'll be able to connect with your Twitter people on Facebook too.

Thanks for the comment!

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

ryanstephens — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:08:48 -0000

I'm with Jackie in that I think if used correctly Twitter's platform might have better conversational potential... BUT...

Twitter's growth is growing stagnant, whereas Facebook is continuing to grow. The vast majority of my friends find Twitter to be "gay," while ALL OF THEM are on Facebook.

I don't think it's the platform that needs to change, I think it's the way MOST companies use Facebook to market.

Re: Gen Y Marketing Trends Point to Twitter, Not Facebook

jackieadkins3 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:14:12 -0000

Great, thorough post, Monica. Facebook's recent changes to using the News Feed and Live Feed also does nothing to help its case for being an easy way to reach its users.

Sure, I think there are some companies on Facebook who have gotten it right and have used it very well to build relationships with their fans (Threadless, for example), but too many are still just trying to use it as a pedestal where they can yell at consumers instead of starting conversations with them.

For me, Twitter (in it's correct use, anyways) allows for much more conversational interactions, which I think companies can (and many already are) really tap into and use to their advantage.

Great post!

Re: PR professionals vs. bloggers: Who is at fault?

monicaobrien — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:36:49 -0000

You mentioned pitches with no offer: I actually had a pitch like that for a book today. The pitch didn't include a review copy, just a non-exclusive article that I could reprint on my blog. I thought it was a little strange. As an author, I understand that you may not want to send out a million review copies - but I also think it's crazy to not send ANYTHING of value. To me, a non-exclusive article not really targeted at my site is essentially an ad.

Needless to say, I ignored the press release all together - those don't warrant responses. I accepted another one today from someone offering the book and an interview.

Thank you for sharing your experience!