Brand marketers still lack the skills and the knowledge to effectively tap Twitter to have a meaningful conversation with consumers. The site remains an important tool for listening to consumers and becoming more familiar with their needs, but a striking difference on how the two use Twitter and the limited conversations create a wedge in the conversation, according to research released Tuesday from digital marketing firm 360i.
People — not companies — continue to tweet, according to the six-month study from 360i. More than 90% of tweets come from consumers, and marketers only authorize 8%. Only 12% of consumer tweets mention a brand. When someone mentions a brand name on Twitter, about 22% of the time they are talking about a social network; 17%, entertainment; and 17%, technology. Twitter is the top brand mentioned on the site with 34% of mindshare, followed by Apple at 22% and Google at 15%.
Celebrities comprise a small portion — 0.4% — of the population on Twitter, but their reach is far greater than that of the average consumer, making them a small but very influential audience. The average consumer may have 300 followers, but a top celebrity has 300,000 or more. One tweet by a celebrity can turn into millions of retweets (RTs).
