According to David Martin, Neilsen Online's Primary Research VP, "Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be able to sustain its meteoric rise without establishing a higher level of user loyalty."
Martin reveals "currently, more than 60 percent of Twitter users fail to return the following month, or in other words, Twitter’s audience retention rate, or the percentage of a given month’s users who come back the following month, is currently about 40 percent. To be clear, a high retention rate doesn’t guarantee a massive audience, but it is a prerequisite. There simply aren’t enough new users to make up for defecting ones after a certain point."
I found this information posted yesterday on the Nielsen blog if you are interested in learning more.
The proliferation of social media combined with the increasing number of integrated solutions for posting and 'tweeting' content, will eventually lead to a weeding out of social network services based on value. Remember the days when list rental income grew 25 percent each year? It's time to pull out the dusty textbooks on macroeconomics and get back to basics. Mailing lists will be back in swing once the dust settles. In the meantime, there is nothing wrong with surfing the social media wave with the intention of educating marketers about the benefits of direct mail.
The future of direct mail is bright for those who embrace innovation. Even 'unsociable' marketers have an opportunity to succeed. Take a look at how the digital world has changed the way list brokers and managers interact and exchange information. Owner service bureaus and list managers are working together with NextMark to improve efficiency. Brokers have more tools that are integrated. More time is spent understanding what drives response rates and lifetime value (LTV) and less time is spent on learning how to look up and process information on legacy systems.
As for the recent 'meteoric rise' of Twitter activity, remember what Grandmother used to say, "this too will pass". In the meantime, you can still follow NextMark on Twitter, and send us a tweet.