In a head-to-head match between Twitter followers and Facebook fans, Forrester puts their money on Twitter followers. What's at stake? The winner is deemed to hold the most value for brands.
The score according to the study? Twitter followers are more likely to recommend the brands they follow to friends (33% vs. 21%) and to buy from them (37% vs. 21%).
My interpretation: This is misapplied competitiveness. I'm the first to egg on arm wrestling, cage matches and ego over ability efforts but these channels serve different purposes. Consumer expectations and interactions vary accordingly. The channels can amplify and augment each other. I will be using this data to make the case for each channel independently.
That said, I'm going to cheer on Forrester's winner with three of my favorite Twitter examples. Share these with your creative team to spark ideas. After all, both mediums need ideas to survive.
Uniqlo's Lucky Counter: Every tweet means the price gets cheaper. For a set time in September Uniqlo posted a collection of clothing with the simple call to action - more tweets, lower prices. Flash sales meet GroupOn with a twist of simplicity.
World Cup Cheering: Yay open API. The Guardian in the UK created an interface to visually watch the tweets affiliated with each World Cup game. It brings new excitement to goals. Ghana vs. U.S. is my personal favorite.
Diane von Furstenberg's Fall Collection: In a convergence of social and shopping Diane von Furstenberg integrated iconic lip rollovers on their imagery to let users Tweet or Like in context. (Click on "Shop the Catalog")
Reminder: Social media is on the agenda at ad:techNY.
