AmeriCares is more like most smaller businesses (they are probably a lot like your business.) They don't have the mass appeal of a Time magazine. It will take them longer to establish in this space.
TIME has 614,143 followers. AmeriCares has 2,434. At first glance, it might appear that TIME is benefiting more from this tool.
LOOK CLOSER!
AmeriCares is following 2,428 people! They are taking a much more interactive approach and building two-way relationships with their users. They are engaging and bonding with their existing fans. They are introducing themselves to people who may have never heard of them before. AmeriCares' overall Twitter numbers aren't as impressive as TIME's, but is it possible that they are actually getting more benefit from this powerful tool?
TIME found only 54 of it's 600,000+ users to be interesting enough to follow back.
This is a HUGE MISS!
One could take this as a sign that TIME thinks what they have to say to their customer is far more important than what their customer has to say to them. This thinking might work for them (for now) because their brand is well-established. It won't work for you!
TIME may see their Twitter campaign as a marketing success based on their follow numbers, but you have to ask several questions:
- How many of these Twitter followers are already "following" them in other spaces?
- How many of these followers are building tighter bonds with the brand as a result of this one-way messaging?
- Is TIME actually gaining anything new from their Twitter campaign that they can't get elsewhere?
Now it's your turn:
Which of these two brands (@RollingStone Magazine or @WorldCircuit Record Label) is making better use of their Twitter account?
