Listening: A Great Way to Market on Twitter
Here’s a great example of how listening can equal marketing on Twitter.
Yesterday afternoon I mentioned on Twitter that Feedburner has been pretty much completely ignored by Google recently. I actually tweeted it in the form of a question, asking people if there’s another product that Google has ignored as much.
Is there a more ignored product at Google than Feedburner? #hopenot
— Matt McGee (@mattmcgee) July 9, 2012
I had a few replies and conversations about other ignored Google products, and that was nice. And I also had a reply from someone I’ve never heard of, tweeted with, etc. — a total stranger offering me a couple links in case I was interested in a “supported, cared for feedburner alternative.”
@mattmcgee Hi Matt: FYI if you’re interested in a supported, cared for feedburner alternative: bit.ly/JWKzRo & bit.ly/cR7976
— Phil Hollows (@phollows) July 9, 2012
Well, yeah, I’d give that some consideration. Feedburner appears to be a dead product at the moment and Google could cut the cord at any moment.
I clicked the links in that tweet and they took me to the FeedBlitz website. I’d heard the name FeedBlitz a couple times but never bothered to investigate who they are or what they do. After reading a bit, I was impressed enough to want to learn more — so I signed up to get their Feedburner migration guide (which I’ll read soon).
Anyhoo … it turns out that tweet came from Phil Hollows, the co-founder of FeedBlitz. He doesn’t follow me, nor I him. But he was obviously listening for mentions of Feedburner on Twitter and found my tweet. His reply was informative and helpful without being pushy or overly sales-y. And he may end up with a new, paying customer because of it.
And that’s how listening becomes marketing on Twitter.
Listening is the first and most important marketing strategy. If we don’t understand what people need, how can we market?