Laurel Papworth

Here’s how I explain Twitter – testimonials, filtering and conversation.

Twitter hitting the mainstream? Surely not?

Twitter Up 518.2% in Australia – Is Twitter Relevant for Your Brand?

Twitter, a micro-blogging platform that allows users to share short activity updates, has picked up significantly in Australian usage, with a 518.12% increase in web visits comparing the weeks ending 01/09/2007 and 30/08/2008. Hitwise Session Duration data suggests that use of Twitter is addictive, with an average visit time of 30 minutes 8 seconds, compared to the All Categories average of 11 minutes, 34 seconds.

Twitter allows users to share their collective knowledge, and can therefore act as a powerful platform for consumer advocacy – as users are wanting to discuss their experiences about various brands. While Twitter might not be the most appropriate marketing channel for all brands, it can serve as a fast communication tool when needed, as well as a barometer of consumer sentiment.

How can you determine the viability of Twitter and other social platforms for your marketing initiatives? One way is to assess the ‘audience fit’ between your websites. For example, marketers in the financial services space can determine the websites in their industry that have a close demographic alignment to Twitter, using the Hitwise Lifestyle Similarity Tool. Brands that attracted a close audience fit with Twitter included ING Australia, AMP My Portfolio, Bankrate, and Virgin Money Australia for the 12 weeks ending 30/08/2008.

While Twitter has yet to hit mainstream adoption, its influence on commercial industries is growing. For example, Twitter was responsible for 10.6 times more traffic delivered to the Banks & Financial Institutions industry the week ending 30/08/2008 compared to the same week the previous year.

I wonder how Hitwise handles mobile connectivity and social networking? Plus, I personally reload Twitter page about once every 3 minutes. How does it handle that?

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