Disclosure: I own shares of TWTR
When it comes to marketing dollars, Twitter is no match for Facebook and Google. But there is one area of marketing where Twitter beats both Google and Facebook, according to Advertising Age: real time marketing, which helps marketers initiate Word-of-Mouth (WOM) and buzz campaigns in social media.
That gives Twitter an advantage when it comes to social media marketing during big events like the Super Bowl, where there’s a convergence between mass marketing and social media marketing—marketers would like to know what fans say about multimillion dollar commercials. Twitter makes that possible in real time.
Company |
Operating Margins |
Revenue (ttm) |
Revenue Growth (yoy) |
35.11% |
$17.93B |
51.70% |
|
Alphabet |
25.82 |
$71.76B |
17.80 |
-24.21 |
$1.99B |
57.60 |
Source: Finance.Yahoo.com
In fact, real time marketing is an area where Facebook and Google have been trying to expand their presence, according to Advertising Age. Facebook is launching Sports Stadium—a live feed that gives sports fans a new vehicle to follow sport events conversations. Google is experimenting with a real time marketing platform called real-time ads that allows marketers to generate promos during big events like the Super Bowl and Oscars instantly, similar to that of Twitter.
“Both moves come as advertisers make their real-time plans for the Super Bowl, hoping to get in on consumer conversations as they unfold in social media,” write Advertising Age’s Tim Peterson and Jeanine Poggi. “Thus far, the key platform has been Twitter, which has happily sold promoted tweets to marketers keen to make sure their commentary was seen.”
Will Facebook and Google catch up with Twitter in real time marketing?
They most likely will, as both companies have the resources and capabilities to move into this marking area. But it may take quite some time. And time is of essence in the fast moving social media space, where it’s winner take it all.
That’s why acquisition of Twitter by either of the two companies makes a great deal of sense, as discussed in a previous piece here.