The Truth about Twitter

How 140 organisations are using Twitter, and who's getting it wrong

In this report we look at how 140 major UK and global organisations are using Twitter for marketing and PR purposes. The aim is to give you insight into strategies, techniques and initiatives that work best.

In addition to simple quantitative metrics, such as how many followers they have and how often they Post updates, we also look at qualitative issues, such as tone of voice, and how organisations interact with audiences on Twitter.

Broadcast vs engagement strategies on Twitter

In the Profiles section of this report you will find all of the information we compiled for each of the organisations, including a 140 character summary of how they are using the service. We have also included some extended profiles of a few of the organisations that we felt deserved to be examined in a little more detail.

In short, the analysis reveals that a broad spectrum of organisations from across the economy are beginning to use Twitter, and that usage is not limited to specific sectors.

Largely speaking, the majority of organisations on Twitter are still using the platform to broadcast news and Content from other sources - usually their own websites. However, an increasing number are seeing the value of engaging their audiences in conversations through Twitter.

We found organisations that use Twitter to engage with their audiences are more likely to employ an informal style of writing in their tweets, while those which primarily broadcast without engaging are more likely to use a formal voice.

Most of the organisations, whether they are broadcasting or engaging, display introverted behaviour - they only discuss their own brand and activities - but a minority are happy to discuss issues that are not always directly related to their own operations.

If you want more detail about our findings, please download the report by filling in the form below (NB. The report is a PDF and is large, 17Mb, as it contains over 140 images!)  

If you would like to understand more about Twitter strategies and techniques, then please download our first guide Twitter for PR and Marketing Professional .