Twitter is a perfect tool to reach people but given the fact that so little statistical information exists regarding its true reach, the potential is vastly under rated, I think. What can media experts learn from the example that is set by the marketers of new TV shows?
The marketing writers at 11Marketing have come up with this analysis.
TV networks promotors have invented these new ways to reach targeted audiences:
- they provide real time and on location insights and commentary
- they’re promoting a really thrilling idea of upcoming events (i.e. movie sneak previews)
- they are facilitating collaborations (ie video production etc)
- they are building ‘conversations’ about particular events (i.e. a movie fragment or episode in a series)
- they are facilitating unprecedented dialogue between promoter and promotion participants
- they direct traffic to blogs and websites
This is brilliant and I think that the journalistic version of it could be quite similar. The on the spot/real time element that microblogging provides, as well as the opportunity for personalised opinion, is simply invaluable. 11Marketing comes up with a new idea too, saying that the tweets by a well known actor, actress or director during the making of a film would attract hundreds if not thousands of followers. They’d be fed immediate, seemingly intimate, “insider” posts”, writes 11Marketing.
Of course movie actors’ lives are way more interesting than those of journalists and perhaps mixing a marketer’s dream with people’s obsessions for insights into the private lives of celebrities is totally lethal. But somewhere in the middle there’s fertile soil.
To give you a quick insight into the follower numbers of star reporters;
AnaMarieCox at Time magazine has Followers 1,205 followers.
Slate’s political editor John Dickerson has 602 followers (his tweets are published directly on Slate’s news pages so people have less of an incentive to sign up for his raw feed).
Jim Long of Vergenewmedia (ranked in Twitterholic’s top 100) has 2,562 followers.
The Twitterholic # 1 spot (Dave Troy of TwitterVision): 11,834 followers.
The Twitterholic # 2 spot (Twitterific): 6,926 followers.
The Twitterholic # 3 spot (Robert Scoble): 6,861 followers.
The Twitterholic 100th spot (Plastic Bag UK): 1,388 followers.
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If you have done anything regarding Twitter yourself, be sure to report it on the Twitter Wiki; it gets you great exposure.