When it comes to Twitter just under half of advertisers (45%) say it is in its infancy and its use will grow rapidly over the next few years, while 21 percent believe it will not move into the mainstream and is something mostly young people and the media will use, according to new LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll.
Just under one in five advertisers (17%) believe Twitter is a fad and it’s time to find the next best thing while 17 percent of advertisers say they don’t know enough about the microblogging service to have an opinion.
For consumers, 69 percent say they do not know enough about Twitter to have an opinion about it. Just over one in ten say it is in its infancy (12%), 12 percent also say it is something young people and the media will use and 8 percent of consumers say it is a fad.
The Harris Poll also found there is an age divide on the perception of Twitter. Younger advertisers are more likely to have an opinion on Twitter than their older peers (only 11% of 18-39 year olds do not know enough about Twitter to have an opinion compared to 20% of advertisers 40-49 years old and 21% of advertisers 50 and older). The same applies for consumers with 55 percent of adults, 18-34 years old say they don’t know enough to have an opinion, compared to 80 percent of those 55 and older.
For those who have an opinion about Twitter, feelings about the effectiveness of it for promoting products and ideas are mixed among both consumers and advertisers. Among advertisers, just 8 percent say Twitter is very effective for promoting products and ideas while 50 percent say it is somewhat effective.
One-third (34%) of advertisers say it is not that effective and 8 percent believe it is not effective at all for promoting products and ideas.
Among consumers, 8 percent also say it is very effective for promoting ideas and products and 42 percent believe it is just somewhat effective. Thirty-one percent of consumers say Twitter is not that effective and 19 percent feel it is not at all effective for promoting products and ideas.
“While advertisers and marketers expect Twitter to grow, its effectiveness as a marketing tool will most likely hinge on consumer education: consumers need to learn more about what it is, why they should pay attention to it, and why they should “tweet,” the research concludes.
“It is the advertisers and marketers who should play the lead role in promoting consumer education if they truly want to move Twitter beyond infancy and into its ‘tween years.”
