Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 10th February 2010
Why twitter is a complete waste of time
If you believe everything you read in the property press, you could be forgiven for thinking Twitter is the Messiah of lead generation: the answer to low transaction volumes and a source of truth, light and wisdom. It’s not.
Members only: Please Log In or Join to view this article
User Comments
As a marketeer who has focused on o/seas property I can say without hesitation that Twitter brings in business, but not in the ways described above.
I have experimented extensively focusing Twitter at the end user and despite a variety of different tactics, I would agree with Ashley. The return on your time is unlikely to be worth it. There's a whole list of reasons why.
The real value of Twitter in the overseas property industry is in connecting with other agents and referrers. These are the people who are watching their Tweets, RTs and DMs most attentively. They are business users.
I have used Twitter as a core tool in establishing partner / affiliate networks with other businesses (from agents to removal companies to yacht charters!) and the return from this strategy has certainly given a good return on time invested.
Leslie Beeson,
Marketing Tenerife
I totally agree what you say about Twitter. It is a meaningless application which is just a fad. Have you seen people who tweet on about real estate? Shameless. Long live blogs and facebook!!
armando macia,
marjal international
How refreshing......being the mother of young children, "The Emperor's New Clothes" sprang to my mind.
Kelly Macfarlane,
Didim Sun Properties
All I can say is that if you really believe the thrust of that post, you've been "doing it wrong."
Twitter is a hugely valuable tool, if used correctly.
Mike,
Estupendo Lanzarote SL
Hi Steve,
Sorry to hear you think that. If
you’d like to provide a case study of how social media has helped agents and
developers generate sales. I’d be more
than happy to publish it.
Ashley Rigg,
Global edge
I usually look forward to reading Global Edge. This was the worst researched, subjective and IMO least scholarly article I have seen here for ......well, ever.
Are you afraid that the free twitter modeil will lose you advertisers or or or...?
Most curious
Steve
Steve Hall,
ThisIsSpain
It's not totally rubbish and it would be foolish to ignore it.
The thing is that you don't even have to use it. I use to post interesting blog posts on our site, or when a new newsletter goes out. All these activities are automated through free tools on the web so you don't actually have to touch twitter, it does it all for you. You just have to know how.
Justin Aldridge,
www.eyeonspain.com
Aren't we expecting too much from Twitter? To me it's just another form of communication. Future real time search developments on the Twitter platform worry a lot of search engines including Google.
Piers Brown,
Fractional Life
"To use it properly you need to create great content regularly that helps reinforce your position as an expert in your niche (neighbourhood). The problem is that this takes up valuable time that in most cases could be used more productively elsewhere."
Great content is the key - and Twitter will lead people to your site.....which is how I came to be reading this.
And if you are not "creating great content" on your website - visitors won't come - so what are you doing?
How hard is it to write 140 characters with a link to your content and press a button?
Andrew,
Revolution PR
I completely agree with Ashley and would also add that in my opinon Facebook is also a complete waste of time and effort. Much better off focusing on more business led platforms and thinking outside of the box!
Steve Dawkins,
Own Property Worldwide Ltd
What a load of Twaddle, and that's not the article, I am talking about Twitter. Totally in agreement with author. I set up MI on Twitter and then spent the next few weeks avoiding people trying to sell me a piece of useless advice or software. If you are going to do Social Marketing set up a Facebook fan page. It is a lot more professional. Link your RSS feeds into it, and may be look at some professional contacts through a LinkedIn profile
There is too much hype about Social Marketing so don't spend to long on it.
Mark Fiddes,
Millionaire Investments
