I’ve always been puzzled as to how people can keep up with thousands of followers and build relationships with them – I know some manage to do it! Interestingly enough, I haven’t seen many of the well-known online marketers using twitter to pump out direct response messages or to sell overtly, it seems to be used more as a way of networking and building relationships which result in JVs. Of course this is already going on behind the scenes and twitter allows us to be voyeurs in their interactions!

Personally, I find constant promotion on twitter a turn-off, well, as much as a turn-off as knowing when someone has broadcast having had a bowel function! I prefer to keep in touch with fewer people and get to know them as well as I can.

Extending the point you make even further out, what matters is the ultimate bottom-line (sales, or opt-ins, or anything else you’re measuring). Jay Abraham drilled that into my head, the quality of your lead matters more than quantity, as 3 responses that each result in a sale is superior to 3,000 that makes only one or none!

That said, I’ve been trying to use Twitter to synergize with my non-profit work, which involves raising awareness about congenital heart defects. Feb.14th is “A DAY FOR HEARTS”, one of two of the big annual CHD awareness events, the other being my Heart Kids blogathon (or tweet-a-thon) that happens in September.

Both require the first simple step of clicking through to the CHD awareness website to learn about the problem facing millions of children and young adults around the world.

On email, every year, the response rate to my invitation has hovered between 10% and 35% for this first step. That’s my benchmark, so to speak.

And in that ‘direct response’ sense, it’s infinitely harder to get similar rates to happen on Twitter without behaving in a way that is abusive, and stressing to breaking point this nice ‘permission based’ service.

This informal ‘Twitter Experiment’ confirmed my intuitive assessment (based on experiences around the tweet-a-thon, and later with few other efforts at awareness building) that email and forum based communication works better for specific, time-bound awareness building events like my CHD awareness day event – which is why you don’t see me trying very hard to do it on Twitter right now.

After 2 days of tweeting for support to the Congenital Heart Defects FACTS page, I’ve got just 175 visitors to it. When I open up other communication channels, including email, with my ‘Heart Kids Tribe‘, this number will ramp up far more rapidly.

That’s the point of this experiment. Twitter is still great to ‘Connect. Engage. Respond’.

You said “And a click is easier received then a written response.”

But consider this. My email has to get past filters into their inbox. Subscribers must first open the email, then read the message, and only then click on the link.

On Twitter, the delivery and open phases are pre-done – which is why I was initially excited about the potential for it to rival and surpass email in direct response effectiveness.

Sadly, the same ‘ease of communication’ advantage has been drowned out by the sheer deluge of tweets that hit the average Twitter user’s screen. I randomly sampled my followers once, and saw they were following FOUR HUNDRED people each… on AVERAGE! Hence my ‘10 Twitter Maverick Rules‘

Just my thoughts. Would need another test like you describe to confirm it.

For this test to be closer to relevant shouldn’t you just be comparing click through rates for links within twitter updates vs click through rates for email broadcasts?

I don’t understand how an @reply is relevant since that’s not the response you want. You want them to click through from the twitter link and then take an action at the page you send them to, the same as you do with email.

In my link tracking texts with Twitter the percentage of clicks is similar to the percentage I get with email.

By the looks of the examples you show from AWeber, it appears you are using targeted email lists or list segmentations, which will result in better click through rates since Twitter isn’t something you can segment at the moment – you just broadcast to everyone listening at that time. This again makes the comparison not as relevant.

Correct me if I’m wrong of course.

Cheers,

Yaro

If I did, mine would have been the third reply. Since, there seemed no urgency (my perception)- I took it easy.

Yes Doc – agree – across the board – Twitter is WORTHLESS only for “direct response” style communication.

Yet, wonder how it may have been – if there was a OTO of great value?????????

Intention – is a beautiful word with meaning so subtle – it is not a quality, that a proffessional so crooked would dare to, or be able to – possess.

I am here to learn more of cleansed thoughts – from a master achiever, so accomplished.

That’s not all — —- —-

Going further, all your readers & followers would agree, that all who are here, are people who have realized that they can become – better.

Who knows me better than my own self – an epitome of Inaction – NOT – “IN-ACTION”.

In the midst of so many options – they (Including self) have made a choice – TO BE HERE.

So, once again – agree – Twitter is WORTHLESS only for “direct response” style communication.

You are only fine tuning your Crystal Ball – predictions for 2008.

Salute & Namaste!