Twitter: Acquisition vs. Retention
By Brian Solis, blogger at PR 2.0 and principal of FutureWorks PR, Co-Author Putting the Public Back in Public Relations and Now Is Gone
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Seems that even the shiniest applications on the Web also face the same growing pains as any product, no matter where it resides on the adoption bell curve.
While many widely speculated the total number of new users who were introduced to Twitter as a result of the now infamous race to 1,000,000 followers, we do know that the number seems to hover between 500,000 and 1.2 million. When compared to the estimated existing user base of ~5 million heading into the race, the final number represents a significant spike in visibility, trials, and subsequent adoption. Irrespective of the exact number, believe that the culture of Twitter is forever influenced as it will with every big event.
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
Oprah Winfrey's followers have skyrocketed to 691,000 as a result of her televised tweet. She follows 11 people.
Ashton's follower count no longer needs media attention as it seems to be on auto-pilot now. He follows 137.
Robert Scoble made an interesting point recently, "She (Oprah) got at least 300,000 by being on the recommended follower list, not organically."
His point alludes to something we must consider. While the "Oprah Effect" is profound, is Twitter and its experiential value easily discernible by mainstream consumers?
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
While its traffic spikes appear significant, the true question is, what happens after new users create accounts and explore the service without direction or guidance?
Nielsen is reporting that Twitter's growth may indeed face hurdles based on current numbers that document follow vs. follow through.
According to the report, over 60 percent of new Twitter users fail to return the following month, creating a retention rate of only 40 percent. This isn't an isolated event. Over the last year, Twitter has struggled with user retention, averaging roughly 30 percent carry over from month to month.
Neilsen also explored other popular social networks on their rise to mass adoption.
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
Facebook and MySpace retention rates were twice as high during their phases of dramatic growth and only continued to escalate to the nearly 70 percent both enjoy today. Keep in mind that Facebook has surpassed 200 million active users.
It's in the way that you use it.
Your experienced is defined by those whom you follow.
Indeed, the potential market for "egocasting" is finite. The audience for self-promotion is limited in its patience. An ongoing popularity contest wears even the most persistent. And surely, Twitter is much more than a customer service channel for people to vent about product and service issues only to have companies save the day. The culture needs a supportive ecosystem of people and applications that define and propagate productive interaction. Perhaps Twitter's simplicity was its greatest catalyst and now potentially its most formidable barrier to reach the critical next stage of evolution. Twitter, along with the community, must demonstrate the value of micro updates and dialogue in order to provide long term value and ensure resilience for all parties. Adding clever, centralized insight, instruction, and information in addition to recommended people to follow will serve as a companion to those new users who will not take the time to read the instructions and use cases that are globally dispersed across the Web.
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis
Brian Solis is globally recognized for his views and insights on the convergence of PR, Traditional Media and Social Media. He actively contributes his thoughts and experiences through speaking appearances, books, articles and essays as a way of helping the marketing industry understand and embrace the new dynamics fueling new communications, marketing, and content creation. Solis is Principal of FutureWorks, an award-winning PR agency in Silicon Valley. Solis blogs at PR2.0, bub.blicio.us, TechCrunch, and BrandWeek. Solis is co-founder of the Social Media Club and is a founding member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup. Solis has been actively writing about new PR since the mid 90s to discuss how the Web was redefining the communications industry – he coined PR 2.0 along the way. Solis is considered an expert in traditional PR, media relations, and Social Media. He has dedicated his free time to helping PR professionals adapt to the new fusion of PR, Web marketing, and community relations. PR 2.0 has earned a position of authority in the Technorati blog directory and currently resides in the top 1.5% of indexed blogs. BrianSolis.com is also ranked among the most influential blogs in the Ad Age Power 150 listing of leading marketing bloggers. Working with Geoff Livingston, Solis was co-author of “Now is Gone,” a new book that helps businesses learn how to engage in Social Media. He has also written several ebooks on the subjects of Social Media, New PR, and Blogger Relations. His next book, co-authored with Deirdre Breakenridge, “Putting the Public back in Public Relations,” is now available from FT press. Connect with Solis on: Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Plaxo, Plurk, Identi.ca, BackType, Social Median, or Facebook --Subscribe to the PR 2.0 RSS Feed
(cc) Brian Solis, www.briansolis.com - Twitter, @briansolis