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Why Twitter sucks (as a sales channel)

Posted on Okt 16, 2009 | 6 comments

Don’t get me wrong – I love Twitter. However, it has several shortcomings when it comes to using it at a point-of-sales-tool.

Twitter is stateless

Using Twitter is like watching a waterfall. If you look at it you will see all the things that passes through the waterfall. If you turn your head, a lot of things will pass through the waterfall, but you will never notice. You may check the lake below the waterfall, but there’s already so much stuff there that you probably don’t bother. Sending a sales offer through that waterfall will only be viewed by those currently looking those particular minutes when it is visible – everyone else will miss it – and it will be gone forever after that. It’s like sending a radio spot only once, and what good will that do.

Twitter click-through is ambigous

The hardcore Twitter evangelists says that Twitter has a phenomenal click-through rate. Better than ads, better than email, better than sliced bread. No sir, I’m sorry. Sales-click-through is quite ambigous on Twitter. There are so many links pushed through every day that a link blindness appears. How many click-throughs you get depends extremely much on the number of followers and how often you tweet links. The higher number of followers, the worse click-through. And as your goal if you use it as a sales channel is to get as many followers as possible, your click-through will decrease.

140 characters, no more

Let’s face it – 140 chars is not much. No graphics, no typefaces, no nuthin’. Try to build a strong call-to-action with that when you’re in a place that’s crowded with the same type of call-to-actions.

Bit.ly

Since the links have to fit within the 140 chars they have to be compressed. In todays SEO-friendly world most links are formatted to be humanly readable. Before you click on a link you have a sence of what to expect. With compressed links this is not possible. It requires a leap of faith to click on a link in Twitter, and that is a big hurdle to overcome.

Twitter is a great channel, but when it comes to direct sales it is outperformed by other activities. Use Twitter as a communication channel and as a knowledge channel to build trust and relations. Don’t use it only as a point of sales-channel, you can spend your marketing budget and time more wisely.

6 Responses to “Why Twitter sucks (as a sales channel)”

Scotty More skriver:
2009/10/16 kl 2:14 e m

Great article Jen! Why would one consider Twitter as a sales channel in the first place is my question. It’s a simple social network – plain and simple. I use it for socializing and brand leadership.

Write on!

Scotty…
Facebook Management skriver:
2009/10/16 kl 6:05 e m

Depends on the user and how they market if you can utilize niche sales approach and get through the spam u can market a certain product or service.
Jens Ode skriver:
2009/10/16 kl 6:23 e m

Thanks Scotty!
Jens Ode skriver:
2009/10/16 kl 6:29 e m

Absolutely, there are companies that can use it with success as a sales channel. Those companies, on the other hand, most likely use it more than to just push direct sales and instead incorporate a communication or relation value in their approach. If you put a lot of care in how you build your list of followers you can successfully get through the ”spam”, however, that requires a lot of effort and an organization and a brand that is adapted for this type of communication.
George without an "e" skriver:
2009/12/15 kl 4:35 e m

I see that you work for Omegapoint now. Isn’t Omegapoint one of ‘em allies of the Decepticons and an enemy of Optimus Prime? Will Omegapoint capture the power of the AllSpark?
Anyways, a hearty ”be well” to you from the Anti World Conspiracy Coalition Headquarters in my tin-foil lined basement in southern Malmoe, Sweden.
Bernice Seale skriver:
2010/05/08 kl 12:08 f m

Great article, thank you for a terrific short read