What Twitter sees in small business - Fortune Tech
Totally forgot to share this, but I was interviewed by Fortune / CNN two weeks ago on Twitter’s foray into the small business advertising arena. I basically say that I think Twitter is playing SMBs for fools and taking their money without showing ROI. It worked for Google with AdWords for years, so I don’t blame them. But SMBs really should stay away from stuff they don’t understand. If you understand analytics and CPC, CPA, CAC then go for it. If you don’t, focus on making a better cupcake.
Absolutely.
Same can be said about Facebook, too.
Experimented with a small ad budget for a client on Facebook recently.
My quick takes:
- If you’re a large, national brand, then Facebook advertising can probably work for you.
- If you’re a small, localized brand, use Facebook’s keyword/Likes and geographical targeting options effectively, and track it closely, then Facebook advertising may work for you. Maybe. Really, it’s not that easy. To do it right, at least. And can get costly, fast.
It’s for folks in the middle where I think it’s largely ineffective:
- If you’re a small brand in a densely populated area, or with regional or national aspirations, then Facebook advertising is a waste.
And you can insert Google/Twitter above and the conclusion is the same.
As far as Twitter goes, there are already tools available that can provide for localized search/keyword targeting. And they’re free. And rather than just spit out a sponsored tweet or auto-follow, viewing keywords “intratweet” and in context can provide you a valuable opportunity to engage with a potential new lead/customer/fan and actually start a fruitful conversation versus just badgering them with a boilerplate response.
Check out GeoChirp, for one.
In short, “GeoChirp helps you search for people Twittering for specific things in a specific area.”
You just:
- Choose your location
- Put in your search term
- Set the radius
- And view results
You can follow results by subscribing to an RSS feed. (Read more on GeoChirp here).
Pretty powerful stuff. Talk about targeting…
And on Twitter, there’s only 140 characters to work with. There’s not much room for nuance! Using Dave’s cupcake shop example, if someone around you tweets:
“I just had the most incredible banana cream cupcake at my niece’s b-day party! My favorite! [Insert obligatory Instagram food porn pic here]”
…then that’s about 99% of the targeting you need, no? Next to word-of-mouth or a warm referral from a friend or existing customer of yours, you can’t do much better than that. Why pay Twitter/Facebook/Google a dime when you can connect with someone on a one-to-one basis and tailor your response based on a known, stated, common interest? It’s far more authentic and you can use your own voice.
“Hey @suchandsuch, I’d put our banana cream frosting up against any in the world!!! Come on down and I’ll give you a sample on the house!”
The fact that Twitter is a giant “open” conversation means a) unlike with the walled gardens of Facebook, or the anonymous algorithms of Google, you can engage anyone, personally, and b) you can be hyper-granular in targeting your likely audience. Seems to me to be far more valuable than the “throw a bunch of crap against the wall and see what sticks” model of mass advertising with it’s .01% click through rates.
And as a user, aren’t you happier to receive word about something you love vs. that for another Brazilian wax treatment all because you’re a “Female, aged 18-34?”
Get real.
Does curating an audience this way take work? Sure. Easy? Nothing worthwhile ever is. There’s no silver bullet in building an audience for your business online, but one truth about social is that you get out of it what you put into it. Signing up for an ad budget doesn’t take a lot of time and effort. Consequently, I’ll wager that the “leads” you get out of those efforts will pale in quality next to the ones that you originated organically on your own using your own voice, and your own thumbs, one tweet at a time.
Feel free to reblog, comment, or ping me on Twitter @mbrosen to discuss in more detail.
If your car can’t do it, you can’t do it.
What a stupid ad, Dodge.
Here:
- Climb a Rope
- Hula Hoop
- Double Dutch
- Play Badminton
- Throw a Frisbee
These are all things I can do that a car can’t, and that’s just a few things I learned in gym class.
Nice try, car.
RE: San Francisco intends to levy “big fines, in addition to cleanup costs,” against Zynga for their illegal ad campaign marketing Mafia Wars.
San Francisco intends to levy “big fines, in addition to cleanup costs,” against Zynga for their illegal ad campaign marketing Mafia Wars.
Now that’s what I call “interesting.” Are you sick of this story? I’m not. I hope New York follows suit and fines the fuck out of these assholes.
Want to play a fun game? It’s called push your weight around as a citizen against a private company worth billions of dollars. To contact the Sanitation Department in NYC (responsible in this case), call 311 and request to speak to a sanitation specialist. (Be prepared to give details, such as the company name, contact info and locations of defacement.) You can also call or email Community Board 2 at 212-979-2272 and/or CB3 (email phone: 212-533-5300)
It is illegal in New York City to deface the street or sidewalk with advertisement or printed matter. Vanessa Gruen, director of special projects for the Municipal Art Society, once called it “corporate graffiti.”
And in spite of what some corporate apologists believe, The City of New York will hold the companies themselves responsible for the “illegal, irresponsible and dangerous defacing of public property.”
Go ahead, pick up the phone.
Well done.
Hey, and while you’ve got them on the phone, be sure to report “ubiquitous graffiti artist/enthusiast and self promotion expert” Jim Joe for the same violation:
b. Defacing. Except as otherwise provided by law, it shall be unlawful
for any person to deface any street by painting, printing or writing
thereon, or attaching thereto, in any manner, any advertisement or other
printed matter.
See: Where’d You Get That Womp From? [SOLVED!]
Any local business owners on here that were less “enthused” about having your shutters tagged? Pick up that phone.
It’s okay. Jim Joe’s been waiting…
He even admits on his tumblr that he’s “JUST A GOOD GUY STUCK ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE LAW.”
You can see/point the city to more of his work at his main site jim-joe.com, his tumblr, or Paolo’s Facebook album.
Zynga fucked up, for sure. I’m not apologizing for them. I’ve never played and block all of their games on Facebook. A game I do love to play, though —- Moral Equivalency™.
It’s really fun. Try it. Pick up the phone.
And then maybe we lay this to rest and call the city to report on, I don’t know, say, real gunshots, or something…
Today In Ineffective Advertising:
Saw this ad for Energy Kitchen in amNY, a daily print publication, last week.
When and where does one typically pick up a copy of and read amNY? While on the subway, right?
Look at the ad. Yeah, that small print in the middle:
Visit EnergyKitchen.com to find one of our 9 locations near you.
Yo, EK: look at all that white space. I’ve circled it for you.
LIST THE 9 LOCATIONS IN THE AD.
I’m on a train. I don’t have cellular service. I’m not going to look up your web site later. In fact, I’ve already turned the page. This ad might have stuck with me if I saw a location near where I lived and/or was headed.
