Last year I wrote a blog post entitled “If the news is important it will find me”.
The point was that we all live in so many social networks, that someone
will send us an update if something in the world happens that we would
be interested in. Back then I was guessing. A year later I have data.
For the 1st time ever, more people are finding my blog from Twitter
and Facebook referrals than via Google. The total number of people
coming to my blog is increasing. The percentage of people who find it
via Google is declining. Significantly.
That’s huge. Why ? Because of the behavior implications for users,
and because of the business implications for Twitter, Facebook and
Google.
What if I decide to follow someone on twitter or facebook who is a
guru on the types of cars Im interested in buying ? Could I not just
query them and get a response and referral to a site that gives me the
information Im looking for ? ie,
Anyone know a great source for information on Ford f150 trucks ? Need to buy one
@mcuban follow the @greatdealsotrucksguy
Anyone else like this guy
@mcuban I used it. Great source.
@greatdealsontrucksguy – any suggestions on where to get a used ford
f150 in Dallas ? @mcuban – Try this site. xyz.com They know their
stuff. Or the response could be. @mcuban whats your price point ? Or
it could just be a generic response. In either event, my actions are
going to be influenced. I followed this “person” for a reason. In this
case
The best example of this is #follow fridays on Twitter. Where users
recommend people to follow. Users being influenced by users. A far
different experience than the Google search experience. Its also where
Twitters anonymity will benefit it as users are able to interact with
privacy. Something you really cant do on FB. On FB if you have a friend
who knows about trucks. You just email them with a question. Maybe you
put it out there to your network. But chances are that network is
limited in numbers. Those limits are not in place for twitter.
From a business perspective, Im sure Im not alone in getting more
referrals from Twitter than Google Search. Thats money in the bank for
Twitter and FB for commercial accounts. There is no reason why a big or
small company, say Charmim selling toilet paper, cant set up a twitter
account and do whatever marketing they can to build the largest number
of followers possible. From there, Twitter could charge them on a
cost per referral click originating from their followers. As long as
they cost per click is lower than competing options, why wouldn’t they
do it ?
Things change. We are seeing a change in our referral logs right
now. That could translate into systemic change in user behavior and
business opportunity.
(Image source: blog.targana.com)
