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Marketers Like Twitter More Than Consumers Do

by Karl Greenberg , July 25, 2009

The Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they're only made of clay, but is Twitter here to stay?

Harris Interactive's new study with LinkedIn Research Network suggests advertisers are a lot more optimistic about the staying power of that web platform for pointillist pontification than regular people. The firm ran an online poll of 1,015 marketers and agency types and 2,025 consumers in June, asking their opinions about Twitter and its uses as a marketing platform and found some disparities.

The firm says that about 45% of marketers polled felt Twitter will grow exponentially, while two thirds of consumers said they didn't have an opinion, and only 12% of the latter said it is something young people and the media will use. Eight percent of consumers said Twitter is already a digital has-been.

Advertisers, per the poll, don't have much confidence about Twitter as an ad platform, either, as only 8% of those polled said Twitter is very effective for promoting products and ideas; half said it is "somewhat effective," and one-third said is "not that effective."

Similarly, only 8% of consumers say it is very effective for promoting ideas and products and 42% believe it is just somewhat effective. Three in ten (31%) consumers say Twitter is not that effective and 19% feel it is not at all effective for promoting products and ideas.

Not surprisingly, more of the younger advertisers than older had an opinion on Twitter. The firm says 11% of 18-39 year olds don't know enough about Twitter to have an opinion versus 20% of advertisers 40-49 years old and 21% of advertisers 50 and older. Even fewer consumers know or care about Twitter, per the poll. Fifty-five percent of adults 18-34 years old surveyed said they don't know enough to have an opinion, compared to 80% of those 55 and older.

Most marketers said awareness is the challenge. Twitter's effectiveness as a marketing tool, they said, depends on consumers knowing what Twitter is, and why they should pay attention to it. "It is the advertisers and marketers who should play the lead role in promoting consumer education if they truly want to move Twitter beyond infancy and into its tween years," says the firm.

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2 comments about "Marketers Like Twitter More Than Consumers Do ".

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Denise Mcvey from S3, July 27, 2009 at 11:54 a.m.
It's funny - at first, consumers were the ones jumping on (and off) Twitter. Then brands / marketers followed. Now it is up to brands / marketers to lead, making the experience worthwhile and different from other forms of media (including social) so that consumers remain interested. After all, if Twitter simply becomes a platform for companies to spew forth one-sided information, it is no longer social. But I don't see that happening. Clearly Twitter will need to start selling ads or charging users (sacre bleu!) so that it remains a viable space. But I think there is enough "different" about Twitter to keep it as a player. Certainly the results we are getting right now for clients who are willing to "push it" support this statement.
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Walter Pike from PiKE, July 31, 2009 at 6:53 a.m.

You cant educate a market to do something you want them to, you can only be where they are doing THEY want to do.

The comment above from mine from Denise is 100% correct. If Twitter becomes a media channel instead of a "meeting place" then its no longer social, and the people the marketeers want to engage with wont be there.