Jeremy J Bourton
Leave comments or don’t that’s your prerogative.
We’ve noticed an article today asking whether Pinterest is going to make money or not, with so many other social platforms this is a good question…
I’ve been reading various articles recently about how social media is beginning to harm the creative industry; I think it’s actually gone the other way and that this has actually helped people think up new ways to engage an audience in creative and fun ways.
Pay with a tweet is not new; it is however still in its infancy in terms of users. With less than 500,000 signed up, it still has plenty of room for growth when you consider how many people are using Twitter. It works by offering people a free product, like an e-book or song to download, in exchange for a tweet. The aim is for other people to see that tweet and do the same.
As a marketing tool, this could allow brands to access not just 1 person, but potentially their entire following. The ability to create buzz around the product while essentially giving it away for free makes this an appealing idea, as it might just get the product noticed. For an up and coming band this could be seen as ideal, rather than just posting a film on YouTube and hoping people forward it, they know that people will have to tweet in order to hear the song, even if somebody doesn’t like the music they will have already passed it on. However, this approach won’t always result in more views; timelines can change so quickly that only those who are actively monitoring a feed at the time would really see the tweet.
Articles like ‘Pay with a tweet is spam’ suggest the service is nothing more than rubbish, which clogs up timelines and gives no benefit to the people who read the tweets. When you look at it from that point of view it is hard to disagree. Other points made in this article relate to the fact you gain no actual insight into what the person feels about the product, as most of the tweets are generic and sent before the person has experienced the product. This article is one of many that I’ve read that report negatively and just feels that it actually goes against Twitter’s Rules due to the fact it can be classed as spam.
The problem I have as a consumer is that whenever I see this kind of thing, I instantly think it’s some kind of scam that will make my computer shut down, and all my hard hours spent on Football Manager will be wasted. With the music industry complaining about piracy is there really a future where bands can continue to give their music away for free? I also have a problem believing that a book will be very good if it’s using this system to promote it. I’m being cynical but this is how I feel when forced to tweet about something before I’ve had a chance to view it.
From a brand prospective it can increase the awareness of your product, but it could also put potential customers off as they may get annoyed by seeing what they perceive as spam. This service might work if used correctly and like all marketing initiatives it would need to be well targeted.Personally, I think any promotion on a blog or on Twitter is immediately de-valued if the author has not had a chance to use the product, because there is no substance behind it.
This is a post that I wrote for FivebyFive looking at how Footballers use twitter. This post looks at how Rio Ferdinand uses it compared to Joey Barton as well as looking at how clubs are dealing with social media.
