Whereas 2007 in London at least was the year of Facebook, 2009
definitely belongs to Twitter. The micro blogging site has caught the
popular imagination in way that recaptures the enthusiasm for the
early days of the likes of Friends Reunited and Facebook.

These days, rather than asking people whether you can link in with
them or be their friend on Facebook, you’re more likely to hear over
the chardonnay the words ‘do you tweat.’ The surprise is how many
people actually do.

Like Facebook, Twitter has created an environment for people to
interact. To tweet and to follow, and just like Facebook in the early
days, the opportunities for making money seem limited.

Facebook at least had reams of impressions that they could offload to
ad networks, keen to show that they were working with the hot new
site. Twitter is accessed much more by people on the move, and it
could be argued is the revolution that mobile has been waiting for.

If Twitter is having difficulty in monetizing, then at least a number
of advertisers have already seen the potential, with Dell in the US
leading the way with Dell’s twitter feed @delloutlet offering
exclusive discounts on new and reconditioned models and generating
Dell an additional $3 million in sales.

Where Dell leads in direct marketing, many others will be soon to
follow and not just in the US. As the value of twitter as a direct
communications environment with genuinely interested customers becomes
apparent, I’m sure that twitter will start to earn it’s way.

Rob

MD of on-e the online monetisation experts