Twitter has officially turned 10-years-old this week, and the company has not been shy about celebrating this milestone. CEO Jack Dorsey recently made media rounds regard his company’s 10th anniversary, but journalists were more interested in asking about the 140 character limit.
However, on its own blog Twitter controls the message. The company recently highlighted 10 ways it has changed marketing since the company launched 10 years ago.
“Today, of all days, we want to spotlight the myriad ways you have enriched the platform, and changed marketing and business forever.”
Here’s what Twitter calls out as the top 10 things it has done to change marketing:
- Brand Authenticity: Through interaction on Twitter, businesses have been able to create more authentic, human brands.
- Real-time Engagement: It can be argued that Twitter pioneered real-time marketing. These days, not a single major live event goes by without brands and marketers trying to capitalize on it.
- Cultural Movements: Cultural shifts for social good have been made possible with Twitter. Most recently, the company points out the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, and the #SpeakBeautiful campaign which ran during the 2015 Oscars.
- New Content Creators: Twitter has provided a platform for content creators to exercise their creativity in ways that weren’t possible before. The company points out General Electric’s 6-second Vine videos as an example of how brands are creating brand new types of content.
- Personalize Content: Brands and businesses can create more personalized content through a real-time platform like Twitter. The company points out multiple brands who have sent their followers handwritten notes, or make have made videos in response to a specific customer’s question.
- Multi-screen Experience: Twitter highlights the ways in which it has become a companion app for TV watchers, which has led to greater ad retention.
- Live Video: Thanks to Twitter’s acquisition of Periscope, we’re no longer limited to 30-second videos. Now we can stream live video for as long as we want, which has done well for several brands.
- The Hashtag: What more is there to say? Without Twitter there may never have been a hashtag. Now they’re ubiquitous, with virtually every social network using them.
- Better Customer Service: We’ve gone from having to dial a 1–800 number to speak with a customer service rep, to tweeting at the company and getting the assistance we want.
- Internet of Things: Thanks to Twitter we now have inanimate object tweeting from their perspective. For example, in 2012 during the London Olympics, there was a pool cam that would reguarly tweet underwater shots from the aquatic center
With all the negativity surrounding Twitter lately, from it’s new timeline to declining user engagement, it’s a nice change of place to reflect on the good the company has done over the past 10 years.
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