Is Twitter Worth the Trouble?

by Mary Obregon

A current question on a lot of marketers’ minds: “Is Twitter worth the trouble?” For some companies, Twitter may be the best social media platform; others may not say the same. Let’s discuss Twitter and whether the time and effort needed are worth it.

Background

Twitter took off in 2006 and became a prime platform. Since then, many other platforms have gained market share and Twitter has begun to take a backseat. Apps like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, etc., have all become very popular. Although many people still use Twitter, it has also changed with time.

When it first started, Twitter was a platform people used to post status updates for their friends and followers. Now Twitter has become one of the top platforms for news consumption, but mainly for journalists. About 69% of journalists regularly use Twitter to share or receive news, whereas about 13% of everyday Americans use Twitter for their news consumption, with Facebook being their top.

Why Twitter May Not Be Worth It

Decreased Users

Based on current statistics, it is seeming that most of Twitter’s usage is to view news. If you are trying to advertise or market your company by merely posting tweets with no relevant news information, it may not be the platform best suited for this. If you are looking to engage with industry news or post news yourself, however, then this might just be what you’re looking for.

Time Consumption

Twitter is an extremely time-consuming platform. In order to stay continuously relevant and gain a following, the effort involved may be somewhat tedious. Making sure to push content frequently and at a high volume is the first difficult task. And this is on top of replying, retweeting, engaging with followers and more. Time is precious, and some brands cannot meet the demands of an active Twitter account, especially if their efforts are better used elsewhere on a channel that will drive more traffic and revenue.

Bots

With the increase of internet users and advancements in technology, Twitter, along with other platforms, is bound to have spam accounts, bots, misleading/false information and more distractions. This sometimes takes away from the personalization of the app and connecting with users.

Difficulty Differentiating

With new algorithms, changes to the Twittersphere and other shifts in usage, gaining a following from scratch is a difficult task. Each day on average there are 500 million tweets. With these tweets oversaturating peoples’ feeds every day, it is difficult to stand out from the crowd. Even if you are tweeting daily, sometimes it feels like you are shouting into the void. There may be other platforms that are better suited to your company and its needs with less saturation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we believe that Twitter is worth the trouble if you already have a significant following or if you are looking to share industry news. When starting from scratch, though, it may not be best to put all your eggs in this one basket. Taking time to weigh your options and see what platform may be best suited to your company is probably the best strategy.

About the Author

Mary Obregon joined the Edge team in September 2020, amid the pandemic, in order to gain experience in the field by any means. Mary is now HubSpot certified, Yoast certified and Google Analytics certified! When not working, Mary is most likely spending time with friends, family or her boyfriend.