Evan Williams, the co-founder of Twitter, created a way for people to microblog, in an easy and fast way. A user doesn't have to spend time developing a blog, posting entries frequently and on a timely basis, nor do they have to have a goal or a topic to post something. Twitter allows people to instantly share ideas in a quick and simple way, in 140 characters or less. The irony with Twitter is that the constrained nature of the site and of the Tweets (text only, set characters) is what makes it so popular and endearing. It is easy to use, easy to follow, and is all about the message. Constrained = easier adoption, unique experience. Facebook and Google are constantly adding functionality and more "bells and whistles."
Twitter is a simple and easy way for people to connect with anyone, anywhere. Celebrities and political figures can connect directly with fans, people can follow people without permission, people become citizen journalists and can broadcast real time news, like pictures and information on the Tsunami, to anyone in the world - this is the new blogging - at its finest.
Twitter is a great example of how social media is leading to micro-segmentation. In the book Pandemonium, in Chapter 3, on the topic of the social web, the author describes segmentation through the lens of Old and New Marketing. In old marketing, segmentation was based solely on demographic or psychographic segments. In New Marketing, using the social web, there is micro-segmentation based on people's actions at a certain point in time. Twitter is a perfect example of New Marketing, because there is no way to classify twitter users or the follower/tweet relationship into segments.
Micro-segmentation is key to marketers because for the first time it allows companies to reach consumers on a more intimate basis....and with a better ROI. Marketing is not a nuisance if it relates to something that people want at the right time. In the article, "Seize the Occassion" by Rozanski, Bollman, and Lipman, the authors outlined 7 different usage segments. These segments correspond with how a person consumes the internet, and the segments identify differences in length of time, number of pages viewed, and number of sites visited. By tapping into the usage occasion segmentation, marketers can target their messages and content to consumers at the right time.
For example, if someone is in the "Information Please" stage, a marketer of a new bicycle can provide articles, information, or a Q&A section on different websites to connect with this individual. Then, through a strategically placed link or advertisement on community sites, marketers can try to convert this person after they have received the information they were looking for. The goal of this occassionalization is to market to people when they are the most open and susceptible to your message and marketing goals.
Understanding how social media has created microsegmentation, and then how to market effectively in this environment is important for CPG companies. Occassion based segmentation is the new way to get marketing messages out to internet consumers, and it is a far under utilized tool for most CPG companies.
