SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Social Media — tracks feedback from leading marketers about social media practices and issues. Paul Chaney, Internet marketing director for Bizzuka and member of the SmartBrief on Social Media Advisory Board, creates the questions and analyzes the results. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter and feature Paul’s analysis on this blog.
Last week’s SmartPulse question: What is the primary way you use Twitter?
- Staying on top of breaking news/trends, 42%
- Broadcast messages and announcements about your company, 23%
- Staying in touch with friends and family, 13%
- Prospecting and lead generation, 9%
- Monitoring what’s being said about you or your company, 8%
- Customer service, 5%
“There are many more reasons to use Twitter than what we listed in the poll. Still, these represent a broad range. Two things stand out: The extremely low percentage of people/companies using it for customer service. I would have expected that to be higher. As companies grasp the benefit that Twitter can provide in that respect, give it a few months and, doubtless, it will be. I know a number of companies who would testify to the value Twitter provides.
The other is the markedly high percentage of those that use it for staying on top of news and trends. Does that indicate Twitter tends to appeal to news junkies? For me, it has literally replaced news gathering that used to be done via RSS feed consumption. I sense that it serves the same purpose for others as well.” –Paul Chaney
What about you? For what reasons do you use Twitter?
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