Who Wrote the Fairest Tweet of Them All? Our Twitter Business Model Winners
by Catharine P. Taylor,
Jan 14, 2009, 3:30 PM
Back in November, you may remember that this column asked for tweets outlining what Twitter's business model should be. The best ideas will be presented at OMMA Social San Francisco, at a panel that will be moderated by Justin Fishner-Wolfson of Founders Fund. (Gratuitous plug: as the event is less than two weeks from now, on Jan. 26t at the Hotel Nikko, time to sign up! It's going to be great!)
So now, after sorting through almost three dozen entries, it's time to tell you all who's going to present, and what their ideas are. Without further ado, save for a drum roll, here they are:
From Apogee Search natural search specialist Lauren Perdue: "Ads will disrupt twhirl et al.; sub. model based on TPM rate. Doesn't punish occasional users & feeds off tweet addicts who won't mind paying." (OK, gang, I had to ask, too -- TPM is tweets per month.)
From Uwe Hook, senior vice president, media, at Direct Partners: "Charge each company in the CPC model: Each visit to a corporate Twitter site and each corporate tweet should be charged just like a click."
From Paul Chaney, Internet marketing director at Bizzuka.com and president of the International Blogging and New Media Association: "Twitter should offer a premium version for biz use, similar to Yammer. Create private networks. Charge based on # of users. Def. winner!" (Yeah, he did squeeze in an editorial aside, and we fell for it.)
From creative director and digital marketing consultant Jason Bucky: "Users must follow any 5 'sponsored feeds' of their choice from list. Sponsored feeds compete to add real value so chosen and actually read."
Other entries that came close:
From Gregory Ng, vice president/creative director, Brooks-Bell Interactive: "Use hashtag function for affiliate programs, loyalty programs, and customer surveys. Twitter manages and reports. Companies pay for service."
From Rob Birgfeld of SmartBrief: "Twitter charges advertisers for opt-in local coupon/announcement tweets by region/zip. i.e.'tonight's 5pm showtimes are 2-4-1 at landmark.'"
From Chris Cunningham and Michael Burke of AppSavvy: "License Twitter to media outlets, product companies and communication platforms. The result = paying customers with increased exposure."
Perhaps it's at least as interesting to discover what ideas got rejected. While there were some choices that were difficult to pass on, such as introducing sponsored tweet categories, it seemed generally antithetical to the Twitter experience when entrants suggested doing things like selling the home page. Somehow, new media seem to cry out for models that, if not entirely new, are at least a twist on old ones.
Now, what would be great is if the Social Media Insider community would comment below with what questions you would ask the panelists. Be kind, but be tough. And as for the folks at Twitter, hope you're listening!
So now, after sorting through almost three dozen entries, it's time to tell you all who's going to present, and what their ideas are. Without further ado, save for a drum roll, here they are:
From Apogee Search natural search specialist Lauren Perdue: "Ads will disrupt twhirl et al.; sub. model based on TPM rate. Doesn't punish occasional users & feeds off tweet addicts who won't mind paying." (OK, gang, I had to ask, too -- TPM is tweets per month.)
From Uwe Hook, senior vice president, media, at Direct Partners: "Charge each company in the CPC model: Each visit to a corporate Twitter site and each corporate tweet should be charged just like a click."
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From creative director and digital marketing consultant Jason Bucky: "Users must follow any 5 'sponsored feeds' of their choice from list. Sponsored feeds compete to add real value so chosen and actually read."
Other entries that came close:
From Gregory Ng, vice president/creative director, Brooks-Bell Interactive: "Use hashtag function for affiliate programs, loyalty programs, and customer surveys. Twitter manages and reports. Companies pay for service."
From Rob Birgfeld of SmartBrief: "Twitter charges advertisers for opt-in local coupon/announcement tweets by region/zip. i.e.'tonight's 5pm showtimes are 2-4-1 at landmark.'"
From Chris Cunningham and Michael Burke of AppSavvy: "License Twitter to media outlets, product companies and communication platforms. The result = paying customers with increased exposure."
Perhaps it's at least as interesting to discover what ideas got rejected. While there were some choices that were difficult to pass on, such as introducing sponsored tweet categories, it seemed generally antithetical to the Twitter experience when entrants suggested doing things like selling the home page. Somehow, new media seem to cry out for models that, if not entirely new, are at least a twist on old ones.
Now, what would be great is if the Social Media Insider community would comment below with what questions you would ask the panelists. Be kind, but be tough. And as for the folks at Twitter, hope you're listening!
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This is the best advice I've found on how to use Twitter for marketing and PR.
http://www.howtousetwitterformarketingandpr.com/
How cool to serve on this panel and pitch my "winning" idea. :-) Thanks, Cathy, for the opportunity. It's very much appreciated.
I can't remember if I entered this but my model is charge $10/month for the right to go up to 280 characters. I'd do it.
Ok, this is a bit after the fact . . .
Call images/ads from brands into on site posts based on keywords used within the message. EX: term 'mow' returns image of Black & Decker battery powered motor.
A note in SMS could ask 'more' or 'type b for brand' which returns URL to brand site. Paid accounts, $3.99/month billed to mobile carriers, could be avoided by permitting ads on users page and 'more' line in SMS message.
I'm not sure if crowdsourcing Twitter's business strategy is fittingly 2.0, or just kinda sad. Both I guess.
IMO, the right idea should come from Twitter.
Lauren's TPM is unclear- is that tweets in their stream from others? or their tweets out? I'm thinking she meant the former, in terms of the frequency of ads viewed in relation to the number of TPM they see from others.
I don't think the charging for clicks to corporate Twitter site (if by that you mean visits to their profile page? e.g. twitter.com/comcastcares) will work.
If Twitter does this wrong, they'll open themselves more to competitors. People have had this free for three years. The fact that they didn't deploy with a revenue model in place limits their options going forward.
I like Paul's idea- our company has been looking for a communication solution, considering backpack and campfire, yammer, etc. There's definitely interest in a private Twitter-like service. They already have Yammer as a competitor, but Twitter itself provides a great platform for them to promote it from.
On behalf of Chris Cunningham and Michael Burke of appssavvy, they recently predicted in a note sent out by Chris that: Twitter is a great tool. Look at the prez election & Mumbai attacks. However, It's not a business. Facebookâs Status will overrun it in '09.
That's 140 charachters BTW.
So, our question is this: We look at Twitter as a tool, not a platform. How will Twitter compete, without a revenue model, long-term given that it is really a tool already found on Facebook, not to mention other social platforms, such as LinkedIn, etc.?