Twitter is fast changing the dynamics of communication. Its popularity and ease of use is being exploited by one and all. Twitter has come out of the social communication tool’s shadow and is now hogging the light of advertising and marketing managers.
Recently, number of posts on twitter has shown to affect Hollywood movie collections. Its certainty cannot be established, as movie goers do not depend on twitter for the review. Twitter itself is long away from establishing itself as an authorized media for reviews about product and services. At the best it is offering personal views; and it depends on the users to follow these or not. But one thing is certain that the trend is fast on the rise. The web is more user-friendly and always goes by the fellow users’ recommendations. So, you never know when the trend catches on like a virus and give advertisers and marketers a fever.
Social media like twitter are bridging all possible gaps, time zones, geographical locations, etc. and hence are becoming an effective mode for advertising and marketing. twitter has reduced the time gap of mouth to mouth publicity. It has taken the form of twit to twit publicity that spreads itself quickly. If positive reviews and publicity catches on, twittering has the potential to catapult a movie, a product or a service towards a blockbuster success. On the other hand, if twitters decide, it can spell a doom.
Pros and cons
So, if millions of dollars of producers are at stake, why take risk and why not join the bandwagon? In near future, such effective media is surely going to play a crucial role in advertising and marketing. This indeed has one positive side that viewers and users are less likely to fall for advertising gimmicks and are more likely to get caught on by the real quality. At the same time, when there are other effective social networking media like facebook, myspace, etc are available, can any one network like tweeter have an effect? Possibly, no. But if the trend catches on, chances are that every media of advertising will be used to make or break a product.
Secondly, the volume of tweets is so enormous that even a hardcore twitter cannot keep track of all the tweets. This is likely to subdue the effect. In future, celebrity twitters will be endorsing the products through twits. Publicity through twitter is cheap and quick. Twitter has a huge following especially amongst new generation. If a product or service is aimed at the young market, no producer or advertiser and marketer can neglect twitter and its reach.
Final word
In this totally commercialized world, twitter is more likely to end up like any other blogging site. These blogging sites have lost the original purpose of blogging and bloggers are using these for promoting product and services. While the producers’ mullah is at stake, if they themselves take up twittering about their products, it shall not be a surprise. Finally, it must be agreed that at present social networking sites like twitter may not have the power to make or break the product, but in future it is likely to be so.
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