At one point, internet addicts woke up in the morning to look at e-mail on their smart phone even before they looked at their spouse. Then it was to see the latest pictures and updates on their Facebook timeline. Now it?s to check their tweet stream. For Mentions and DM, and of course to know what?s happening in the world around them, and who and what is making news.
I call these folks the Tweekies ? Twitter Junkies. Make no mistake, this is a growing tribe. Of people tuned into Twitter more than anything else. Who scour their timelines constantly. To stay in step. To stay ahead, by knowing what?s happening before anyone else does. To read and break the news and to share views. At times,to make news.
Yes, Tweekies aren?t just information consumption junkies. But information dissemination and news generation junkies too. Starting with news that?s about them and what?s happening around them. The things that affect them. Both in the social stream and outside it, in the real world. Information is their currency of influence. And 140 is their weapon of impact.
Opinions are no longer meant to be kept bottled up. Or shared with buddies over a beer. Or restricted to emails written to Customer Service. But they are meant to be shared as they happen. The moment matters. Even if it?s not the full story. It needs to be told. A tweet at a time.
You can spot these Tweekies easily. They are the most prolific tweeters. Not just in terms of putting out tweets, but also in terms of interactions via Twitter. At any given time, they have several conversation streams going. They always have something to say, er, tweet. They do have their preferences in terms of topics, but their tweet stream generally has a healthy mix of what interests them and what?s happening around.
They are popular. Their Follower numbers are generally always on the up. Partly, it?s because of how much they share and say. Partly, it?s because most of them are real. They let their personalities come out through their tweets. They are open about their likes, dislikes, fears and desires.
This tribe of Tweekies is interesting from a marketer?s perspective and can form an invaluable resource for them as their brands grow their social media presence and activity. Here are five simple ways how Tweekies can be turned into an asset for a brand:
1. Start by looking out for Tweekies. Analyse their tweet streams to determine underlying themes and interests. Cull out those Tweekies whose interests intersect with those relevant to one?s brand. Connect with them, provide them opportunity to interact with and experience the brand, and then let them go about their hyperactive Twitter lives. But don?t look to lock them into an ?influencer? programme. They are free birds, and letting them be so will work best for a brand.
2. Get deep into their tweet streams to understand their triggers as people, as parents, as friends, as co-workers? And yes, as consumers. Pick up on the threads that make them happy. And those that do not. Pick up on the emotions they express. And understand what brings them out. You may well find insights that could help shape how the brand communicates with them. What it says. And how.
3. Analyse their streams to understand what gets picked up by their Followers. What gets amplified and triggers conversations between them and their followers. Look for patterns. Again, these could form great input for how a brand ought to speak in the Social stream. And also how it could connect with these followers to build another layer of outreach and influence.
4. Give shape to the chatter streams of these Tweekies as the brand interacts with them. This can be done easily by using devices like hash tags (#) to improve searchability and outreach.
5. Get your key blogger influencers to interact with these Tweekies in the Social stream. Doing so could have twin benefits: nurturing the brand?s relationship with them, and also providing added impetus to how their tweets are picked by their followers and amplified further.
The bottomline is: it?s time to look beyond the usual ?influentials? and uncover the ?celebrity? hidden elsewhere, perhaps in the Tweekies.
The author is Leader – Digital, Mindshare, South Asia
