When Columbus set sail to conquer the New World, the widely held belief was that the world was flat. His own crew feared sailing so far as to literally fall off the face of the earth. But ‘ole Chris and his BFF Isabella thought otherwise, and so against the advice of many, he went full speed ahead. The rest of course, is history.
Most new ideas are met with skepticism. Such is the case with Twitter. In a recent Harris Poll, marketers and the public disagreed about Twitter’s power as an advertising medium. Not surprisingly, 45% of respondents who are professionals involved in advertising decisions said that although Twitter is in its infancy, it would grow exponentially over the next few years. In contrast, 69% of the general public said they didn’t know enough about Twitter to have an opinion about its future. That’s pretty damning evidence that Twitter founders aren’t doing enough to promote the social media site. They have admitted struggling with just how to monetize Twitter even as some companies have already increased revenues through contests and promotions on the site. Advertising is sometimes called a game of telling people what they want by selling them things they don’t really need. That may be but finding new ways to do that is always a challenge.
Thomas L. Friedman chose the title, The World Is Flat for his best-selling book because he argued that in a global economy, we are all connected. Twitter certainly does that. In a world, flat or otherwise, where ad budgets vary greatly, Twitter is the great equalizer. Companies big and small can use it in myriad ways to engage people, gain customers, and create buzz. The public may not yet see the value of this new medium but any savvy marketer recognizes that it’s the holy grail of marketing — a level playing field. Even Columbus would agree that’s the best of all worlds.
