Social Media has changed communication and the way people connect. Do you think the Big media companies noticed...yes! The Bigger question is...are media companies missing out on a twitter opportunity. YES!
The media has been fanatically hyping twitter for the past couple of months. Broadcasters have raced to setup their twitter pages since it seems like the in thing to do. The problem is in the race to setup a twitter page the media companies have not thought through a proper strategy. Instead Media Companies have approached twitter the same way they approach Broadcasting...one way communication. They just keep pushing out info to viewers, followers, etc. without understanding the "Distribution Channel" or "Medium" they are using. Missed Opportunity!
When you look at any business type the ultimate goal is to gain a loyal following and to keep them. Apple has done an amazing job at fostering their fan base. Big media companies on the other hand just keep doing what they are used to...sitting on the top of the mountain shouting down information to everyone below. One way communication.
To illustrate my point on how Big Media is missing the point of twitter let's look at the Fox & Friends profile page above. I circled the important Following vs Followers info. As you can see Fox & Friends has 22,689 Followers BUT they only Follow 114 people. The translation...we want you all to follow us but we only think 114 of you are worthy of following. Look at it another way...we want to keep pushing our message out to as many people as possible but we are not really interested in what our Followers have to say. To make matters worse...If u could see the full page above you would notice over a 10 day span...Fox & Friends tweeted with followers twice! That is really sad! Once again the one way communication philosophy.
How can Big Media not miss the twitter opportunity?
Simple.
1) Follow your followers. They are following you because they are fans so don't you think they are important? Without them their is no you!
2) Engage your followers. Ask them questions, find out about their lives, why do they like watching you in the morning, evening, etc.
3) Develop a two way communication with your followers. It is built in research. They will tell you what they like or don't like about your show. What the hot topics are for that day, etc.
4) Get personal! If Gretchen, Steve, or Brian are tweeting with a follower about their life don't you think that follower will feel connected to them? Do you think they will switch the channel on THEIR friend to go see what CNN is saying? Probably not. Instead the follower will tell all their friends about how cool you are and then what happens? You develop more viewers, which drives up the ratings, which brings in more revenue, etc.
Twitter has created a great opportunity for Media companies to expand their brand loyalty like never before but only if it is used correctly. People on twitter are about two way communication not one. Miss this opportunity and your competitor who gets it will eat your lunch!
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