Social media has become one of the most effective marketing tools over the past decade. However, this doesn’t mean that all social media channels are equally effective for digital marketers. For a few years now, pundits and users alike have pontificated about the future of Twitter. However, is Twitter still a worthwhile marketing tool, or has the social media channel passed its prime?

How Do You Use Twitter?

Marketing is no longer a one-way conversation where marketers tell customers how great their products and services are. Today, the customer wants to have input into how businesses talk to them and meet their needs. If you are using Twitter to post links to your product description pages or to your blog posts, you aren’t going to do well. However, if you are willing to engage with others on the site, you may notice a steady stream of traffic to your blog or sales page. You may also notice an increase of brand mention or customer reviews.

Do You Come Across as a Robot?

Twitter is notorious for fake accounts. Fake accounts generally spam other users with annoying or even harassing content. If your account comes across as fake or spammy, it is a good way to get your account banned. It is also a good way to make sure that your marketing efforts fail as your target market will ignore you or actively tell their followers to ignore you. However, if you make your tweets relevant and exciting for your readers you will be able to get a lot of really good feedback. Just be yourself. Add your own personality onto your account and you will be sure to see success.

Do You Rely Solely on Twitter to Market Yourself Online?

Relying solely on Twitter for your digital marketing efforts is like making a ham and cheese sandwich with no ham. In addition to Twitter, you need to be on other sites such as Instagram or Facebook. This is because most people use Twitter to find links to interesting content that they then share to a Facebook account or share on Instagram or Snapchat. Therefore, you are hindering your efforts to reach your audience by using only one site no matter how good or bad it may be.

Do You Use Twitter’s Paid Native Advertising?

You may also notice a difference in the results that you get when you use paid advertising compared to just posting on the site and hoping for organic engagement. Paid advertising through Twitter makes it possible to buy a trending hashtag or have your tweet put at the top of user timelines. This may make it easier to gain new followers or increase engagement because you are increasing your visibility. With millions of accounts, you may need to pay for exposure through Twitter and any other channel that you use.

Some Are Legitimately Turned Off by Twitter

There are many flaws as it relates to the Twitter platform. First, the site has a long history of allowing sexual and other types of harassment to go unchecked. It has also become a site where you don’t know if a follower is a real person or is an automated account. That makes interaction difficult and uneasy for some. Furthermore, there are issues when it comes to monetizing the site. Unlike Facebook that has seen its share price go up rapidly, Twitter has routinely lost money. At some point, investors may pull out completely, which means that there is no more Twitter to market through.

Is Twitter still a worthwhile marketing tool? That depends on how you use it and what your goals are. For now, it seems as if those who understand how to use the site and how their target audience uses the site can still make a good return on their marketing time and money.