From legitimate celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Spacey, and Dr. Drew to the cheesiest hosts on CNN, it seems that everyone is jumping on the Twitter band wagon. For those who are unfamiliar with the new social medium, Twitter is a kind of mini blogging platform where users post their thoughts in 140 character broadcasts or “tweets.” Many real estate professionals have joined the site and many others are wondering if they should follow suit. I recently sat down with James Dwiggins, Chief Strategy Officer for Realty World Northern California and Nevada; and Kevin Boer, Co-Founder of the Internet marketing consultancy firm, Domus Consulting Group, to get their opinions on Twitter.
The two had very different views about the latest player in the social media arena, but both have a lot of validity. James Dwiggins expressed his concerns about the platform. When I asked him about the marketing capabilities of Twitter, James said, “If it’s used correctly, Twitter could be beneficial in marketing online. It’s just that most people don’t use it properly. A majority of things posted by members are irrelevant or of no interest to consumers, which cause them to stop reading what your posting.” He was also concerned with the retention rate that Twitter has for new users. It’s been generally reported that only 40% of those who sign up return to Twitter. In relation to marketing through Twitter, James felt that, “if it’s relevant to tweet about, chances are the user would be better off writing a blog post on the subject because consumers would find the in-depth information more valuable.”
Kevin also expressed his worries about Twitter. Kevin commented that, “its simplicity makes it so that people who are in a marketing mentality flock to it as a spam platform. Also, there are a lot of scam artists charging aspiring Twitter marketers for followers that end up really being ghost accounts set up by the scammers.” Despite this, Kevin is a little more optimistic in his view of Twitter. When confronted with the retention numbers, Kevin, commented that, “those numbers could be flawed because they measure returns to the Twitter.com homepage. They don’t take into account mobile phones and the myriad of Twitter client applications available.” Kevin said the thing he likes most about Twitter is that it is a “serendipity multiplier,” explaining that, “so often in business and marketing, serendipitous meetings at trade groups and other functions are often a component in driving your business forward. The nature of Twitter is to do exactly that, just at an accelerated rate.”
I have my own opinions about Twitter as I use it daily, but I’m curious as to what your opinions are? Is it just another new thing with no relevance to real estate? Is it just another thing to waste your time? Or is it something that allows you to communicate with a mass audience in a more efficient way?
TJ Shanahan
Social Media Manager
tj@rwnc.net
