Why I Like FaceBook Better Than Twitter
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FUN
Yup… that is the plain and simple answer.
Do not get me wrong… Twitter is a great tool but what does it offer other then micro blogging?
Well obviously nothing… since that is what it is… a micro blog.
OK so now you’re probably asking… whats the point?
Well are you providing FUN for your customers?
Now this is not some major revelation that I suddenly had by myself but rather something that Mike Hill in the CPA Tsunami course (not for sale anymore) reminded me of in his training material.
Basically what he talked about is ensuring you are looking at the total “life” value of your customers and be willing to invest in making them happy… not just proving what you initially promised them.
The cool thing is this is not always as difficult as you may think… take for example the punch cards you get at your favorite coffee shop… after a certain amount of purchases you get a free coffee. Yes it ends up costing money but it encourages return customers and loyalty and MAKES YOU MONEY!
Think about “Fun” things that cause you to get involved in things. Monopoly at McDonald’s, Roll up the Rim at Tim Horton’s (Canadian thing) and I am sure you can think of lots to add to this list.
OK, so why do i like FaceBook better… well they give me a lot more reasons to come back to them. Twitter on the other hand… well they are a little limited.
So what can you do to create “fun things” that will encourage your visitors to come back?
PS – Fun does not mean make them laugh… it is about engaging them and giving them something extra that gives them more reasons to come back then your standard offer.
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Funny, Facebook is starting to look a heck of a lot like Twitter.
I was thinking about giving away bags of custom M&Ms with a “J” on them…lol
I dunno about Facebook and Twitter, cause I personally have to force myself to use both with any kind of consistency, but you definitely make a great point about “fun”, especially in the IM niche. There’s a real lack of good-spirited sillyness…
I was an instant lifetime fan of yours when you did the episodes of the cow getting captured, etc. lol…what ever happened to stuff like that over here anyway?
Cheers
Jay
Yes Facebook is more fun, but I really think both Twitter and Facebook are primarily time wasters. Course I haven’t gotten caught up yet from changing computers.
Hi Jason,
It’s nice dropping by to your blog (I might doing it often
). You know, I couldn’t agree with you more on that. After my twitter account got suspended, I am too lazy to create another one. I might do that sometime in the future, but I don’t really force myself to do it right away.
Facebook in the other hand, have a lot of options other than “tweet” 150 characters. Some made money by playing game. The power of building network far advance in facebook. I think, it is becoz people are able to communicate and get in touch in more civilize way. It’s social networking, so people must have the facility to interact other than posting “shout out”.
Many communities build in facebook have a routine offline meeting. This is actually great. And make a big impact in marketing term.
——
Get Paid 3 cents for watching youtube
I think there is some differences between facebook and twitter that can not be compared. I like using twitter because it simplicity.
I’ve been trying to monetize Twitter, but it’s difficult so far. RSS Feeds from affiliate sites post directly to niche created accounts. Let’s say I’m a Hannah Montana fan. I grab a few RSS Feeds, RSSMix them together into one feed, throw it onto TwitterFeed.com, and it posts automatically to my Twitter account. I get traffic, but very little converting, even though only 1 in 10 posts to Twitter is to a money site. Any thoughts? Anyone have better luck doing anything “fun” with Twitter?
Matthew
I agree! Twitter seems to get old real quick and I can usually catch up pretty quickly. Facebook is where it’s at!
Twitter’s strength is that it tries to only do one thing well, and leaves all the whizzbang exciting stuff to third-party developers, of which there are THOUSANDS.
I prefer it to facebook, honestly. Facebook has turned into an application and advertising spamfest and there’s no way of just avoiding having to have it in your face.
I think you are right John. I also find facebook a lot more fun twitter. Twitter is really limited on some way. Thanks for this idea.
Jason, not all businesses & business models intend fun & fun as a recall value. No matter what the comparison or personal experiences are, it may not be value for customers (in some cases). What would be your views on that? When one doesn’t intend fun, what’s your criterion & tool of choice?
Fun is not really meant by make me laugh, what i mean more is to engage the end user in something that excites them…. there is not a business model out there that could not fit this in somewhere.
You are right, most of business models can fit in something that can engage end user into something that excites them. What would your opinion be on business models where the driving factor is negative.
Eg: People don’t get their insurance because of fun or excitement. They just want to save their…, well, stuff important to them, you know?
I agree with “bet” in the comment section. Although I only have a test Facebook page and don’t spend much time with it, I use Twitter a lot.
To be honest, I don’t think Twitter is all that it’s cracked up to be; especially when we’re talking about making money or driving highly targeted traffic to your site.
Now as to your article, well written Jason. It’s great when you can give your visitors something to do which can be “fun to do”.
I prefer facebook as well. However, for any business, I think you have to be careful with having customers/readers/viewers get used to finding you on facebook rather than on your blog or company website. I think too many businesses are too lazy to make their actual website fun/interactive and use facebook and/or twitter to do it for them,… this is not a good play IMO
AL
To me it seems like folks just place ads on Twitter and no one looks at each others ads. At least in Facebook you tend to keep friends that are close to you and go back and forth on subjects.
Oh yes, facebook offers many more possibilities. It seems to by a useful tool for any business. But I agree with Allyn, you have to be really careful with readers/viewers. So check what you write!
There is one simple reason FB is better than Twatter: it eats WAY less time.
Twitter has a lot of potential but for some reason, spammers take advantage of the application. What I like about facebook is that they make sure people who signs up are REAL and Legit people as opposed to twitter who have been recently flooded with bots!
I don’t even have a twitter account. I use Facebook quite a bit. It just find it a better way to stay in touch.
Like any tool in the toolbox, they both have a purpose and a function. The key is knowing how to master the use of them for getting the job done.
I think that Twitter is a waste of time for marketers. Is anyone really reading your tweets? I don’t read many, I have a small group of people I am following compared to others.
Jim Clary
Jim Clary Marketing
Yeah Facebook is the daddy and Twitter is the son. And now since Facebook just acquired FriendFeed, Twitter might become less relevant in the Future..
Thought provoking post.
I think that if we understand that they are still essentially different in what they achieve – just use both and enjoy both I say.
Anyway, interesting post as always.
Andrew.
Well Jason,
Facebook is really fun and entertaining also after they added the @replies feature it make it looks more like twitter but it is far more entertaining
Great post Jason, I really love your stuff!
Facebook is definitely more fun that twitter. But twitter is better for getting a read on the latest buzz.
I frequently do searches for terms like SEO or linkbuilding to see what is new out there.
The Twiter is very simple to use but it becomes very monotonous, while Facebook has several options to have “fun”
the spammers have too much on Twitter now. Until they get some control over all the spam, noone will trust a real marketer trying to keep in touch with their customers. this is especially true in the IM niche. most of the people I see are just spamming crap programs constantly, only a few posts I have seen are worth reading.
I believe lots of marketers are spamming the hell out of FaceBook and Twitter. FaceBook is way more fun and keeps you connected in a more personal way.
Tony
Facebook is great social networking site, it’s unique.
Twitter and Facebook are two distinct services both showing off different features and possibilities. While one way of looking at Twitter is “just a micro blogging service”, it also helps in connecting with people wanting to share information about something that is common to you, thus ensuring that you offer value to a person looking for something that you have to offer. At the same time Facebook is primarily a friend book and though you might get a few friends of fans there, I feel that the essence of business is lost when you start enjoying with friends and fans.
I am not sure if I like any one of these services…for me if you are addicted to Orkut…all others are distant 2nd.
I like more Facebook than Twitter, too.
It’s cool.
I use facebook for contact with family members and twitter for links to my hosting company
I’m pretty sure no one ever reads a tweet…
For marketing other than links the social networking thing is double dutch! to me… No matter how many times I’ve tried to grasp it.
Facebook allows you to add more content but I have found it easier to get more twitter followers.
Personally I prefer Facebook because I need it more for long term connection with my distant friends. I do not have time to constantly Tweet and read other people’s Tweets. So I vote for Facebook though Twitter comes very handy when it comes to business.
I read tweets from a select few and follow very few. Facebook is something I stay away from unless I’ve *nothing* constructive to do. FB is entirely too full of advertising to make it enjoyable and it’s more a time-waster than anything else. Both Twitter and Facebook don’t strike me as very useful in marketing. At least I haven’t “cracked the code” how to “make a killing” on either in spite of certain claims I’ve seen that you can.
I add new tweets if something is interesting but tend to only read tweets of new followers as really, who has time to read all of these tweets? I must admit that Facebook is still a list of my friends and I use LinkedIn for business.
Yes, I think too. Facebook realy very better then twitter
Seriously.. i think twitter is useless. Twitter is good only if u’re a celebrity or famous person. Who cares what u doing if u’re nothing? hehhe..
Facebook win!
I much prefer Facebook to Twitter, like you mentioned Jason, it’s all about engaging, and how can one realistically explain something properly with around 140 characters.
Thats if people bother to read them at all.
I guess its just a matter of taste. They both have there benefits. I prefer twitter because of the ease of use. But facebook is huge and is also a very good affiliate marketing tool.
I agree. Twitter is becoming a self-promotion hub for every home made guru.
Seems to me the most popular feature of Facebook is the status update section which is basically microblogging. If you use Twitter creatively then there are ways to engage your visitors and make Twitter “fun.”
Well I have to agree with you since I like Facebook than the other too. It is just you will just have some texting style message in a 140 characters.
People complain about spam on twitter, but I don’t really understand it. You CHOOSE who you follow back. Why follow back spammers?
Twitter doesn’t have to do anything. People just have to be more responsible about their own actions.
I see your point of view. How deep can you get using 140 characters? Twitter does, however, give you a way to keep in people’s minds. I can see that each are great in their own right.
[...] – I like TWITTER and recognize its overall potential, just that I feel there are two major rumours doing more harm than [...]
Also: facebook doesn’t work from a crap phone. And the world is FULL of crap phones.
yeeah, you right.. facebook is more important to me than twitter, because i can get more friend with facebook than i use twitter
I like Facebook over Twitter too, mostly because of the pretty pictures of freinds and family. But I have recently begun using Trillian Astra to ensure I can keep up with both in one interface.
Yeah I even thought I liked My Space more than Facebook until I started using it a lot more now I Absolutely love it!
Hey man, great entry. I like using Facebook and twitter together, though. Content leverage is what it’s all about, connecting with people in the medium that suits them.
Dave Wood
Nice post.. I personally prefer Facebook than twitter. FB has a lot of applications one can use for FUN and promotion.
I really love your site. I’m sure I’d come here more often. By the way, your readers might be interested in some FREE Marketer Tools. You also might wanna check it out. Thanks!
Trillian Astra?
I also agree somewhat with you. Facebook has a lot of features to offer to its members. But twitter is just about micro blogging. But, to tell you the truth, I’m more on twitter than on facebook.
I simply find twitter great.
Facebook takes way more time than Twitter. Personally I’m a fan of Twitter its just much easier to manage on a regular basis.
I think twitter better
Facebook no doubt has more possibilities for marketing that twitter. Twitter, as has been noted is handicapped from design.
True! Like @business logos said:
And most of facebook users are not interested for your content…unless you build a community there with the same interest.(I’m wrong I thought)
Regards!