“Consumers active on Twitter are clearly the most influential online,” said Morgan Stewart, principal, ExactTarget’s research and education group. “What happens on Twitter doesn’t stay on Twitter. While the number of active Twitter users is less than Facebook or email, the concentration of highly engaged and influential content creators is unrivaled–it’s become the gathering place for content creators whose influence spills over into every other corner of the internet.”

This survey of over 1,500 consumers identified top motivations for following brands with the leading reason being to actually get information from the brand they are connecting with. Companies employing high school interns to tweet “lolz, our brand rocks, yo” over and over will surely flop because a true consumer seeking information needs to connect with someone authorized to not only make decisions about disseminating information properly and in accordance to your corporate culture but needs to be able to manage crises and have instant access to everyone in the C-suite.

The study reinforces what we’ve been blogging about for years- consumers on Twitter and social networks have high expectations when interacting with brands online. Signing up for a Twitter account, slapping up a sexy background and syndicating your press releases to the account is not a social media strategy (unless you count colossal failure a strategy).

Our own studies show that active Twitter users are among the more invested in web properties and are likely to evangelize as well as criticize at a more rapid and vocal rate than average consumers.

Key results of the study:

• 72% of Twitter users blog at least monthly
• 70% comment on blogs
• 61% write at least one product review monthly
• 61% comment on news sites
• Daily Twitter users are six times more likely to publish articles, five times more likely to post blogs, seven times more likely to post to Wikis and three times more likely to post product reviews at least monthly compared to non-Twitter users

Twitter users are well informed and use the platform not just to be social but to garner information. They push their findings out onto their other networks. If your company is present effectively, a Twitter user should be able to connect with something you tweet- for example “we just got our first shipment of the fall line” should elicit responses such as “ooh when can we see it?” or “do you have pics?” or “I’ve been waiting forever!” or a simple retweet. If your Twitter account is a megaphone and lacks interaction however, you’ll hear crickets because people are not connected. If they can’t see behind the scenes of your company, they’ll have nothing to blog about regarding your brand and they won’t have a reason to interact.

• 23% of online consumers read Twitter updates at least monthly
• 11% of online consumers read Twitter updates, but do not have a Twitter account themselves
• 20% of consumers indicate they have followed a brand in order to interact with the company — more than become email subscribers or Facebook fans for the sake of interaction.

There is a misconception that the Twitter community is made up of Twitter users. As you see above, there is a segment (that I would argue is growing) of people that are simply referring to Twitter accounts to garner information, not necessarily to be social with or even to connect with. Twitter accounts show up in Google results, so we believe this behavior will rise with time. But the golden egg listed above is the third line- more people are seeking interaction on Twitter than via Facebook or email. For the few brands that can actually be personable and execute an effective Twitter strategy, there is a lot of market share to be grabbed up here!

• Men are more than twice as likely as women to follow brands on Twitter to interact with the company (29 percent compared to 13 percent)

This result is a clear indicator that before even opening the lid to your corporate laptop, you must know your target demographic. Before you set a strategy in motion, you must know who you’re reaching and what your goals are. If you simply jump on Twitter in hopes of striking it rich, you’re in for disappointment. Now, this stat doesn’t clearly indicate why there is such a disparity- it could be that men are more likely to follow anyone that follows them or that women are (which has been proven) more socially minded on Twitter, so they are not looking to interact with a logo. Again, knowing your demo is critical.

The bottom line is that Twitter offers a community of users that embrace brands rather than balk them and opportunities for branding, customer service management, sales and more are alive on Twitter despite the skepticism toward the platform. We’re no longer in a stage of contemplation as to whether or not Twitter “works.” It does. But the good news for you is that it is an easily abused platform with the majority of brands failing horribly. There is market share to be grabbed up.

Obama & a Blackberry sittin’ in a tree

So we’ve all heard that Obama is addicted to a crackberry and we’ve also heard a great deal of credit for his win given to his use of the Internet. It’s not such an amazing feat, hundreds of companies are winning business by using the same tools. Sow how did he do it?

Well, not so fast…

First of all, as a business person, you have to understand that Obama isn’t responsible for his web efforts, he had a large staff heading it up and you can’t always match the efforts of a large team of specialists. That doesn’t mean that hope is lost for you- your target isn’t millions of people, it’s more defined.

So the first step to Obama’s social media strategy was beginning before the race started. Most politicians get a website when they’ve garnered a nomination or when it’s near time to vote, but the clock started long ago. Starting early is like preparing for a race- you don’t just show up at the starting line, you alter your diet, you practice, you hydrate, you stretch, and you meditate, right?

Just jump in!

The same goes for a social media strategy. Many social media advisers say “just jump in!” but we couldn’t disagree more- you’ll pull a hamstring, buddy! There is a great deal of preparation to be done before fully implementing your social media strategy. Depending on the size of your company, you may need to hire a social median (which we will cover more in depth over the coming weeks) or if you’re a freelancer, you ARE the face of the company.

Step One

The first step is determining your goals. Do you want to reach out for customer service and customer retention or is your ultimate goal to reach new clients or new markets? Or, would your time be best served as keeping tabs on trends by being present? Establishing your goals will help determine which direction you should head with your social networking efforts.

Step Two

Once you’ve determined your goals, you should check out what already exists. Take a look at your competitors and check out what is already being said about you (you do know that you or your industry is being discussed presently, right?). A multitude of listening tools are available to get started in getting to know your space… this could seriously change your entire set of goals.

Your Assignment:

Try this right now, search for your company name (or industry if you’re a freelancer) and then search your main competitor’s name and see what comes up right off the bat:

1. Google Search- you already know this one! The most highly ranked content shows up first.
2. Google Blog Search- see what bloggers are saying about you, your industry and your competitors.
3. SocialMention- search microblogs (like Twitter), bookmarks, comments, events, video, news and more, select “all” on the far right so you don’t miss anything!
4. Board Tracker- bulletin boards are still used in certain industries, so check out what is being said there as well to cover all of your bases.

Do you like what you’re seeing about yourself? What are people saying about you and your competitors?

Your Homework

So you’ve seen what is said online and now it’s time to do something with that information. Make a list of five positives and five negatives you saw about yourself (bonus points for doing the same regarding your competition). In Part Two, we’ll talk about how to set your strategy now that you have your goals in mind and you’ve scoped out the scene. Oh, and “the dog ate my homework” won’t cut it here, bud!