Selling On Twitter
Is it easy to sell goods and services using Twitter?
This is a question we get asked on a far too frequent basis so I thought it high time I shared my views, test results and findings to date.
To begin with, let me explain that we have a fraction over 25,000 followers, built up over several years, by painstakingly sharing SEO Tutorials, How To’s, Shortcuts, Web Design Tips and Tricks and such like.
Our game plan, (such as it was at the time) was to gather thousands of interested people on our account, so we could sell to them, Internet Marketing Courses, training, SEO and Web Design services and so on.
We interacted with as many followers as time permitted, forging relationships, trust and building a channel through which future customers could travel.
As time has passed, it has become more and more apparent that selling on Twitter is a tough proposition.
What Is Twitter For?
This should have been our jumping off point! Twitter provides a mouthpiece for millions. For the first time in history, everyones voice can be heard equally loudly.
You might think that this has empowered the planet to forge boldly forwards, creating, achieving and striving to be more than we are, but that isn’t really what’s happened.
Twitter has given the hitherto silent majority a platform to extoll their opinions from. While we haven’t suffered from the phenomenon ourselves, Twitter allows anyone to say anything they like about anyone else…. and what with human nature being the twisted creature that it is, the outcome of this new found mouthpiece is that the many often lambast the few with amazingly powerful effect.
Of late, Twitter seems to be full to the gunnels with anti capitalist, Greenpeace types, who consider a profit to be the work of the devil and anyone attempting to earn one to be equally contemptible.
This has made the process of developing and nurturing a revenue stream through the social media network a high risk, low return, time intensive process.
Many large organisations are getting with the program and using Twitter DM’s as a part of their customer service provision, which while laudable, is an interesting use of a network where anyone can badmouth your goods, services or company at a moments notice.
Is Twitter here To Stay?
This is another popular question and one which of course no one really knows the answer to at the moment. The writing is on the wall however. Twitter has pretty much never earned anything in revenue, is data heavy and costs millions to keep running, but has no successful moneytization so no income.
Twitter has changed ownership a few times, different VC’s having a punt on it thinking there must be a profit to be had out of that many users, but Twitter might just be the first social network to fail in the long term unless they succeed in finding a revenue stream.
I believe the ‘Youf’ (I’m no longer in that bracket) have already migrated to Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp, leaving Twitter without the users of tomorrow that it will need to survive.
Could Twitter go the way of the Dodo? Fail like Friends Reunited? Stranger things have happened and there is no loyalty online.
Twitter currently feels like Friends Reunited did a few years ago, you get the feeling that it’s best days are behind it, that the writing is on the wall and the only way is downwards.
They have announced a raft of measures aimed at improving the platform, larger message lengths, etc. Will that be enough to get the masses back on board? Is Twitter a channel that we need any longer?
Twitter gave us the # let’s hope they stick around to use it a little longer.
Can You Sell On Twitter?
Back to the question…… hard sell just doesn’t work, transmit ads and you will be wasting good electricity that we could be using for our next cup of tea.
Build relationships, pay attention and help people who need it and you can prosper however. It is the less well travelled path on the social network, but the rewards can be worth it.
Be the solution to other peoples problems and they will trust your opinion, your views, you.