Toronto Twitterers Top Twittersphere
Dec 26, 2008 Customer Service, Digital Marketing & Metrics, Microblogging, Social Media, social networks
Are you a Twitterer who Tweets from Toronto? If so, you top the Twittersphere according to a recent study called the State of the Twittersphere by Hubspot.
The report uses data from Hubspots Twitter Grader which has graded information on over 500,000 Twitter profiles as of November 2008. The report also used data from Compete.com and Alexa.com.
Twitter doesn’t require that its users give exact location in the “location field” so many people put Canada, or US or USA, or Toronto (even if they live in Mississauga, Oshawa or Hamilton). Hubspot report therefore lists the top 30 “phrases” that appear in the location field. But that said “Toronto” appears pretty high on the list (as does Canada!)
London
USA
San Francisco
New York
Chicago
Los Angeles
California
Toronto
Austin, TX
New York, NY
NYC
San Francisco, CA
Canada
Texas
Atlanta, GA
Washington, DC
UK
Los Angeles, CA
Chicago, IL
Not surprising, I suppose, since Canadian’s have been early and eager to engage in social networks. According to The Meaning of Web blog Canada has the most users outside of the United States, at more than 10.6 million (numbers taken from Facebook’s Ad Network). And, numbers given on SEO & Web Marketing News North indicate nearly 30% of Ontario’s population have a Facebook profile. In May 2007, Statistics Canada speculated that in the span of the previous nine months the site had grown to one in ten Canadian Internet users having a profile on Facebook. Canadians love the social web.
Other interesting stats from the study:
- 70% of Twitter users joined in 2008
- An estimated 5-10 thousand new accounts are opened per day
- 35% of Twitter users have 10 or fewer followers
- 9% of Twitter users follow no one at all
- Twitter has about 4-5 million users, about 30% are relatively new or unengaged users
- Traffic has grown over 600% in the past 12 months (Compete.com)
- Twitter.com became one of the top 1,000 websites by traffic in May 2008 (Alexa.com)
Many companies are using it as a customer service tool, to promote products, and promotions, and often simply to broadcast marketing messages. Some are more successful than others. (Check out my post on Some Dos and Dont’s of Corporate Tweeting)
So, given the popularity of Twitter are you Tweeting? Is your company? Why or why not?
As of yet it is unknown how Twitter will monetize (is that truly a word?) its service. Investors don’t seem concerned, apparently the numbers of members (and engagement) is enough to keep them investing millions.
Popularity: 17% [?]
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Tags: canada, facebook, hubspot, Microblogging, state of twiiter, stats, toronto, twiiter
Disney Twitters
Mar 28, 2008 Marketing & Communication, Microblogging
Everyone is talking about Twitter. Any why not? Twitter is now approaching a million users worldwide.
On the Web Strategy Blog Jeremiah Owyang says there are some things Google just can’t do but Twitter is his “social computer“:
While Google is great for finding information and websites, it’s NOT great for getting opinion, hearing nuance, or telling me relational information. With Twitter, I can ask information about opinions, and receive responses from real people (many I know, most I don’t) that often have first hand experience with the question at hand.
Of course, as he rightly points out you need a lot of followers to make this work well. Today, I asked Twitter for suggestions on why my Analytics/Stats programs would be so varied from each other. I had no responses. I asked who was participating in Earth Hour and I received four positive answers! Beyond Owyang’s social computer, B.L Ochman of the What’s Next blog offers this great list of what Twitter has become to her:
- a major source of business news
- a quicker way to find out what’s important today than my feed reader
- a place to find out what the people I’m interested in are finding interesting
- a source of live blogging from conferences and other events
- an excellent source of experts on various technical topics
- a place to build relationships through common interests
- direct access to many of my business heroes
- a place to (selectively) pimp my blog posts
- an international IM platform
- a place to take a break around the virtual water cooler
- a lot of fun
Here is another one, ” A terrific platform to have a two-way conversation with companies and their brands” – well at least with their employees! Dell has a number of employees on Twitter joining in on the conversation. I discovered today that Disney does as well!
I posted:
tried to book character restaurant at disney- completely booked – except 9pm. not good time for 2 year old! about 5 hours ago from TwitBin
A short time later I received the following correspondence from my friends at Disney!
Wow! I loved Disney before, now I am their biggest fan. I already told all my Twitter followers about the experience and four or five real-life friends. Disney didn’t offer to get me a reservation, or put me on the fast track – they didn’t need to. They just offered some friendly advice!
I would lay bets that in the future you will see more companies jumping in on Twitter conversations to offer a helpful hand. I only hope that they remember that the space is a community first, and that the tone and information offered need to fit the community. If Disney had Tweeted to me with some generic “We heard you mention Disney, get your tickets here link…” or “Disney is celebrating the Year of a Million Dreams, find out more link…” I would have felt my privacy (what privacy!) violated, and my conversation would have ended there.
This is just one reason why it is important for marketers to first join the community as an individual before using it as business application.
Marketers if you aren’t on Twitter? Why not? Refer to my prior post on Twitter if you responded a) Why? What is the point! b) Too Busy c) What is Twitter again?
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Update: As per comments from The Disney Blog - I was obviously so excited that Disney was talking back – didn’t realize that it was The Disney Blog – just a great hard-core Disney fan! Disney fans are awfully helpful! If you have questions for Disney specifically, however, he suggests using the hastag #dizhelp. Thanks Disney Blog!
Technorati Tags: disney,twitter,business application,social computer,michelle kostya,mego,word of mouth
Popularity: 4% [?]
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Tags: business applications, disney, MEGO, Michelle Kostya, Microblogging
Get Active in the Digital Space
Mar 25, 2008 Blogs, Marketing & Communication, RSS, Social Media, social networks
One of the reasons I started this blog was to share the exciting tools I was learning about; RSS, Social Bookmarking, and Twitter – just to name a few. At work I talked non-stop about this new exciting digital space…but for the longest time I might as well have been talking to myself, and of course the other bloggers reading my blog!
That was until my colleague Janine attended the IAB’s Intensive One Day Course in Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0. Thankfully, Janine is the one taking over for me when I go on mat leave in four months! Which is actually why she was on the course in the first place. My job is Marketing Communications Manager for two small appliance brands, which means I plan and create our advertising campaigns, oversee the brand web sites, determine course of action for communication to retailers and consumers -amongst numerous other responsibilities. I have been pushing for the past year to dedicate more funds and resources to digital marketing, and in the last month or two it seems as though my constant blathering (and likely the blathering of others) has broken through. So to me, it was important that Janine understood the digital space – so that what I had started would be followed-through!
Last Wednesday she attended the course and she learned a lot. In fact, she came back and went over the book of slides with me – and I learned some more. She even made her first comment on my blog this weekend (and yes, Janine, I nearly fell of my chair!). In the comment she suggested reading a post on Mitch Joel’s Twist Image Blog: 12 Ways to Move the Social Media Conversation Past the Converted – exactly the dilemma I spoke about above! It was number 5 that converted Janine -in fact it was Mitch Joel teaching at the IAB Course. Many of the “12 Ways”, Joel mentions unfortunately are difficult for the average blogger (not so hard for the rock star of the Canadian digital space!). I don’t get too many requests as Marketing Communications Manager of my small appliance company or as a blogger to speak, or teach…although I did volunteer at the Talk is Cheap unconference.
I will continue to blog, and talk non-stop to my marketing friends and colleagues. It may take time but baby steps will get us there! Of course if the opportunity comes to talk, speak, be interviewed or write for traditional media – I am all over that too. That is what evangelizing is all about!
To those of you working, as I do, on client-side in marketing positions – if you are approving web sites, and new digital programs for your brands – don’t you think you should have hands-on knowledge of the field? You wouldn’t dream of approving anything in traditional marketing without having a full understanding of it as a communication tool – so why are you now just taking your agencies word for it? It isn’t too technical to get your hands dirty- that is the beauty of it all. Get active, get digital.
Welcome, Janine!
Popularity: 6% [?]
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Tags: IAB, MEGO, Michelle Kostya, Microblogging, RSS, Social Bookmarking, social media, work marketing
