I’ve been working with a lot of small businesses recently and it’s becoming apparent that when many of them talk about social media they are talking about Facebook. I often slip into the trap myself, referring to Facebook examples when there are just as good marketing going on on Twitter, Pinterest and even Google+.
I believe that Twitter is a hugely underutilised business tool and here’s why I think it beats Facebook:
1. Your Tweets Will Appear In The Newsfeed Of Everyone Who Follows You
Probably the biggest gripe from Facebook business users is that not everyone who Likes their page sees their updates. Facebook filters what is shown to individual users using an algorithm called EdgeRank. This means that not everyone will see your posts.
There is no EdgeRank on Twitter, your tweets will appear on the feeds of all the users who follow you. It is a nosier network so although they appear they may not always get seen, but Twitter isn’t filtering them out so you have a better opportunity to reach the people you want to. If you use a tool like Tweriod you can even find out what the best time to tweet is in order to reach your followers.
2. You Can Talk To Anyone
The biggest challenge on Facebook is to get people to Like your page. It’s only then that you can really engage with them. You can connect with business pages and chat there but I find the conversation is quite limited.
On Twitter you can talk to anyone, they don’t need to follow you, you don’t need to follow them you can just find people who are of interest to you and get straight into a conversation. It’s a fantastic tool for finding and connecting with new people, potential clients and those who will help spread your message further.
3. People Don’t Have To Follow You To Discover Your Tweets
People on Twitter can discover you because of your Tweets, if you are tweeting useful information they may find you via a ReTweet (like a Facebook share) from another user or they might find you when they search for particular topics.
You can meet huge amounts of people by tweeting with a hashtag during a television show, a conference or by joining a Twitter chat. Try out #blogchatie tonight (13th June 2013) if you want to see what a Twitter chat is like.
4. Twitter search
For me Twitter search is the killer feature. You can search posts on Facebook but it is very limited due to privacy settings. On Twitter you can enter any simple search term and find people talking about a particular word or topic. It’s a great way of finding people who are looking for your service or for the content you have created.
Of course Twitter isn’t for everyone, you need to make sure that your customers and potential customers are there before you embark on a campaign but if you are using Facebook alone I would highly recommend giving Twitter a look.
I asked my Facebook Likers which network they preferred and here’s what they said. Which do you prefer Facebook or Twitter? What are the killer features for you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Oh and don’t forget to follow me @spiderworking when you join up.
If you are a Twitter newbie or are nervous of getting started sign up for my A Beginners Guide To Twitter online course starting on 15th July 2013. More info here.
Nice post! I to prefer the Twitter experience, it’s a bit more grown up and less involved than Facebook, where you often feel the need to post an image, which can be time consuming.
That said, when I looked at stats of traffic to my site – Festivals.ie – Facebook was waay more powerful than Twitter and that without spending much time there.
I think they can work together. I now use Twitter more for ‘networking’ but in a less formal way than that word sounds, more like engaging with relevant people one-to-one. Facebook I use for broadcast messages which I hope to drive general awareness and to a lesser extent, traffic to the site.
Oh the other advantage of Twitter, is that because it’s so open, you are happy to allow Disqus and the likes to ‘gloam’ your account, so it’s useful when you want to make posts like the one I’m doing right now!
Thanks for this post.
Great points and yes I think Twitter and Facebook work well together, they do different things. Thanks for your comment 🙂
True! I hate Facebook and I wonder why people still use that sh*t.