Reasons your brand should avoid Twitter
Posted on 25th November 2022 at 16:16
Twitter is often in the news at the moment. A lot seems to be happening at the headquarters of Elon Musk’s new pet project, and not all of it is good. There is an air of disquiet surrounding Musk and his social media giant right now. For some, it is turning into a slow-motion car crash that you just can’t turn your head away from.
Is this likely to change? With Twitter Blue about to land in the UK, are we just witnessing explosive teething problems as Musk attempts to marry his vision up to the expectations of the Twitter users? Sounding the death knell on Twitter might seem premature, yet we are witnessing the mass exodus of both users and staff. $44billion spent, and thus far nothing to show for it but a damaged reputation and a loss of revenue.
If you’re considering utilising the power of Twitter for your marketing, there are some good reasons to change your mind.
Twitter consumes your time
Microblogging sounds like a great idea. It is all about the content, and just as we all have tattooed to our foreheads; content is king. In essence it sounds like a good idea, Twitter could be an extension of your voice for your audience to read. But the problem is, it doesn’t work like that.
Unless you are willing to sit on Twitter furiously typing out what can only amount to a brand stream of consciousness, you are going to struggle. In almost every industry, as soon as you tweet, it gets lost in the noise. As everyone tweets the exact thing that is on their mind at that point, your tweet quickly is pushed down the feeds. Constant tweeting is time-consuming and, on the platform, as it is, is not effective.
Limited language leads to misunderstandings
Language, especially the English language, is problematic. Language is the only tool we have to deliver our messages, and yet it is an imperfect tool. Trying to cram meaning into the limited space that Twitter offers not only strips you of your brand voice but can lead to misunderstandings.
A brand works best when it’s content is recognisable. When you are stripping your content to fit in the space of a small internet box, the chances of you staying on-brand are slim to none.
Twitter is a hotbed for character assassination and political disagreement
Brands shouldn’t necessarily steer away from politics. In fact, it works for some brands to pursue social issues to highlight their values and ethics to their target audience. However, Twitter has a wide political demographic from young left-leaning socialists, through to staunch right-wing commentators. Everyone has their point to make, and everyone wants to make it loudly.
The moment you stick your head above the parapet to say anything substantial you are likely to draw fire. Let’s not kid ourselves here; Twitter is a hotbed for debate, sarcasm, political disagreement and character assassination.
Elon Musk maintained that he would be adopting Twitter to make sure there is “freedom of speech”. He demonstrated this by reinstating Donald Trump’s Twitter account most recently, whilst on the other hand, using personal reasons to justify keeping conspiracy theorist Alex Jones off the site.
No matter who you agree with, Musk is sending a message that will only fan the already out of control political flames on Twitter. It is best that you protect your brand from this.
No staff left to fix glitches and patches
The mass exodus of Twitter-tanic is widely publicised. Musk’s management style is currently leaving the Twitter HQ looking like the Marie Celeste. Whether we should be judging a tool by the employee reaction or not, there is nobody aboard the sinking ship to patch the holes.
Unless things change, we are left with a platform that doesn’t have the manpower to fix any problems that we will find. Already, the Twitter Blue has been delayed, and whilst people are walking away from Musk as though he is a carrier of the plague, this problem doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon.
It has always been a contentious investment, one that we had hoped Musk might have settled once and for all. Right now, things need to change drastically. Whilst advertising on Facebook and LinkedIn is still more cost-effective, there is no reason to run the gauntlet with Twitter.
To discuss this or any other social media issue further, please contact us on 01604 698 948 or email us at info@tj-marketing.co.uk and we can arrange a coffee and a chat.
Tagged as: Blog, Social Media
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