There are many brands that leverage Twitter for communicating with customers. Whether those brands use it to dispel rumors, for customer service, or simply to share information isn’t as important as the fact that they’re taking the time to join the online conversation.
In an interview in Conde Nast Portfolio Magazine, Twitter CEO Evan Williams shared some insight into the future of Twitter, which might make you think again about jumping on the Twitter bandwagon if you’re not already there. In the interview (via InternetNews.com), Williams stated that growth is a major initiative for Twitter whose user-base has grown well into the millions since its launch in 2007. Competitors have launched, but Twitter has emerged as the micro-blogging leader. The future is bright, but not golden.
While smaller competitors have managed moderate success, bigger competitors are starting to have an impact on Twitter’s business plan. Since Google purchased Jaiku in October 2007, Twitter feels some pressure from a competitor with a big name and a big budget behind it. However, Twitter has secured new funding that will allow it to grow and in the words of Evan Williams, reach its potential to “dwarf” other successful Internet start-ups such as Blogger (now owned by Google).
New threats are expected to arise as Google competitors Microsoft and Yahoo! start to pay more attention to micro-blogging and the opportunities it presents. Clearly, Twitter is still in its infancy, and if Evan Williams is right, it will only get bigger (and probably very quickly). Other companies have taken notice. Facebook failed a takeover attempt earlier this year, and Williams hinted in the Portfolio Magazine interview that other buyers might be waiting in the wings.
Suffice it to say, micro-blogging does not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. If you were waiting to see if it was a fad destined to disappear as fast as acid-washed jeans in the 1980s, think again. And if your brand isn’t tweeting, you might want to put together a plan and get on board.
What do you think? Does your brand tweet? Do you think micro-blogging will continue to grow, morph into something else, or disappear? Leave a comment and share your opinion.
Image: Flickr
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
You may also like http://yonkly.com
it’s the first niche microblog that integrates with twitter.