As a follow-up to “Should Your Non-Profit Be On Facebook“, the following notes about Twitter arrive from eMarketer:
The microblogging service Twitter was hacked during May 2009 and stolen internal company data was posted on French blog Korben.info this week.
Twitter founder Evan Williams confirmed the attack in an e-mail to TechCrunch, stating, “In general, most of the sensitive information was personal rather than company-related.”
Nevertheless, Twitter’s alleged internal projections were revealing.
Twitter estimated that 25 million people worldwide would be using the service by the end of 2009.
- 2009: 25 million users
- 2010: 100 million users (300% growth)
- 2011: 350 million users (250% growth)
The firm projected that it would have 100 million users in 2010 and 350 million in 2011.
The article weighs the pros and cons of relying on Twitter as a viable promotional vehicle and provides that only a small number of participants really habituate the Twitter platform. It also points to utility churn at 40%: meaning that 2 in 5 people signing up will seldom use the service beyond the first month.
So, yes, Twitter should be part of your promotional mix but don’t expect the tweeters to flock to you with dollars in hand. It’s hard to ignore an audience of 100 million (even if 40% of those are idle).
