Worthwhile books are always a feature on the cumulative list of Book of the Month entries. Mark W. Schaeffer’s (2014: 22-23) landmark new edition of the Tao of Twitter (located at 658. 872 sch) contains the illuminating mantra: “Human interaction leads to connections. Connections lead to awareness. Awareness leads to trust. Trust is the ultimate catalyst to business benefits, as it always has been.” It’s a simple step to knowing how that relates to building a cost effective, sustainable business. What exactly are the benefits to business? According to Schaeffer (2014: 27) they are:
- Competitive intelligence
- Market insight
- A new supplier or partner
- Publicity
- Brand awareness
- An idea
- New products and services
- Potential new customers
Such points can be supported by studies too. Twitter’s dynamic arena can lead to job advice, job offers, invitations, international blogging connections, global brand awareness, and supportive relationships. Twitter is a more effective promotional tool than Facebook. Every study shows that the Twitter community is the most loyal and engaged, according to the “Social Research” study by Edison Research (2014). One study (not referenced in the book) shows that 67% of Twitter followers (versus 51% of Facebook fans) are more likely to buy the brands they follow (Schaeffer, 2014: 31). The Marketing firm SocialTwist analysed a million Facebook and Twitter followers, and Twitter’s tweets amassed over three times as many clicks on average than Facebook (Schaeffer, 2014). One last statistic. Daily Twitter users are “six times more likely to publish articles, five times more likely to post blogs, seven times more likely to post to wikis, and three times as more likely to post product reviews at least monthly compared with non-Twitter users” (Schaeffer, 2014: 36). One last thing: targeted connections. Writing a review on what must be considered as an indispensable guide for anyone using Twitter (from a business angle) it is tempting to reproduce the entire book in one blog post. So, I simply recommend that you read it instead.