When you’re selling hammers, every prospect looks like a nail. You’ve heard the expression before. The loyalty version of this is that many suppliers think every solution has to be currency based because that’s what they are selling.

I can hear the groans now, but don’t worry. I’m an advocate of data-driven marketing strategies that are measurable and, whether you like points or not, having a currency as the center of your loyalty program gives you an easy way to keep score. There are lots of other benefits too, an important one being that consumers who belong to the programs tend to allow the brand a mistake or two as they have a vested interest in protecting the value of their accumulated points or miles.

That said, there are situations that not so much demand a non-points solution, but enable it to the extent that points are not in the consideration set as a solution. I’ve categorized these into three models with a few brands as examples for each one:

• Price Driven: Walmart and Costco
• Brand Personality: Apple, Red Bull, Zappos
• Social Interactive: Tasti D-Lite and Carrabbas

Zappos is the subject of the day and although I had heard all the stories of how founder Tony Hsieh personally answers tweets to help resolve customer service issues (remember the famous tale from Tara Hunt on the subject?), the Zappos story truly came alive for me when I heard Jenn Lim, the founder’s spouse, make an inspired presentation about Zappos and her new business, Delivering Happiness.

Delivering Happiness was named after the 2010 book written by Mr. Hsieh and took on a life of its own after Jenn Lim and a core group of customer fanatic “Zappites” decided they wanted to spread happiness across the nation and across corporate America.

The spring of this Happiness that seems to be a renewable resource at Zappos is their company culture. Zappos believes so much in promoting a specific culture that it takes time to solicit the opinions of its employees, partners and customers in assembling its “Culture Book”. I was able to obtain a copy (all you have to do is ask) of the 2010 Culture Book and was impressed to read the 200 plus pages of testimonies from Zappos loyalists as well as see their culture documented in living color through the pictures in the book.

The Zappos Culture is based on 10 Core Values. You can get your own copy of the book, so I’ll just share my favorites from the list of 10:

1. Deliver WOW through service
2. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
3. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communications
4. Do More With Less
5. Be Humble

Creating a corporate culture is one thing, having the commitment to really live it out is quite another. Zappos has used its culture as the basis for a business that is set apart from competition and that has created customer loyalty without giving away points, miles, or other formal trappings of a loyalty program.

There’s something to be learned here, especially in the age of Social Loyalty. As another saying goes ….. if the shoe fits ……

Coming up with brilliant product development and loyalty marketing strategy is the foundation for business success but diligent pursuit of flawless execution makes an idea come to life.

Just the other day, I received an email from Zavee.com which got my attention. Not only did the subject line “Top 5 Mystery Merchants of the Month” stand out in a pile of freshly delivered email competing for attention, but I was compelled to click through the boxes to see which local merchants in my area were offering 20 – 50% cash back.

If you live in South Florida and aren’t a member of Zavee.com, you’re missing the boat. With a merchant group that numbers over 500 and continues to grow each day, you’re probably shopping at merchants in the Zavee social shopping network and missing out on great cash back deals. Membership is free and all you have to do is register the payment cards you regularly use while shopping locally and you’re in the game.

My curiosity had me clicking through each box starting with the 50% cash back and working my way down. One or two of the offers were available on the member’s birthday, one was triggered by first purchase at the merchant, and the other was an “always on” offer.

For example, Tropical Smoothie was offering a daily-deal style 50% cash back offer on purchase made on the member’s birthday. Red’s Backwoods BBQ offered the always-on 20% off with a 5% additional bonus for Zavee.com Gold members. All deals were active for a twelve month period and some encouraged bounce back, being good “on your next visit”.

My enthusiasm for the Zavee email really driven by the effectiveness of the email itself. Though I’m not a copywriter and can’t claim to be an email marketing guru, I can tell you what gets my attention and how to create customer engagement. I can also tell you from client experience what works and what doesn’t. The Zavee email had a subject line that drew me in and  a clearly communicated offer that spoke as much through simple graphics as it did text.

Even the best strategies can fall down if they are not executed well. This Zavee email should be considered a keeper in the daily deal space or for anyone hoping to cut through the email marketing jungle.

There’s a fascinating article titled “The Dawn of the Relationship Era in Marketing” that recently appeared in AdAge magazine. It’s written by David Rogers and Bob Garfield, the latter the same guy who caused a stir a few years ago with the essay “The Chaos Scenario” which (semi-correctly) predicted “the end of advertising as we know it”.

This piece isn’t quite so controversial, but it does point out that the role of marketing in the selling equation is changing. The authors posit that we’re witnessing the end of  “the Consumer Era” and are now moving into “the Relationship Era”.

The Relationship Era is based around the idea that companies that succeed in the future will do so because they’ve made some sort of human connection with their customer base. The belief is that in the Relationship Era, the big winners will be companies that people trust because they have “solid core values” and “transparent and honest practices“.

These companies will spend little on advertising—because they won’t need it. They’ve made a personal connection with a core group of customers who trust them implicitly, because they’ve backed up their core values with actions. They can then rely on these loyal customers to spread the word about their products and services and attract new customers. It almost seems the logical result that comes from a well executed corporate social responsibility policy.

The authors believe these brand-fan customers will: “…share your links and retweet you on Twitter and post a photo of themselves with your product on Facebook and like you on Facebook and generate all these network conversations, which go back to the top of the funnel and influence other customers in your network at their own stage of awareness, consideration, preference or action.”

So how do you get to be one of these beloved companies who people are tweeting and posting about? It starts with a purpose according to Rogers and Garfield. “You have to explain to all comers why you’re in business.” Among the companies identified as successfully “explaining” themselves and their values are Apple, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

One prime example that’s cited is outdoors outfitter Patagonia who for years has had a purpose that resonates with its customers: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. The company then backs up this mantra with real-world actions, donating 1% of its gross sales to environmental causes, promoting environmental sustainability in every aspect of its operations and providing progressive workplace policies like paternity leave and paid sabbaticals.

Another company identified as a having authentic purpose: Krispy Kreme. After a rough start to the decade, in 2009 a new management team went searching for the company’s raison d’etre and came up with: “Touching and enhancing people’s lives through the joy that is Krispy Kreme. Management then “decreed that the joy ethic inform every interaction at every level of the business.”

My take: I can buy into the Relationship Era—but only to a point.

It’s hard to argue with companies like Trader Joe’s and Patagonia, that have carved out their own unique niche in the marketplace with little to no advertising, but lots of positive word-of-mouth and social networking buzz. After all, what’s not to like about free advertising? But the fact is, these kind of companies are few and far between.

Put under a microscope, I’d say the majority of US companies would be unable to pass the “authenticity” sniff test. Even successful companies often aren’t nimble or visionary enough to coalesce around a single purpose and execute it in the marketplace. It’s just not in their DNA. For instance, I wonder if every Krispy Kreme franchise has really been able to add “the joy ethic” to every business transaction.

The good news: companies that lack a specific purpose their customers can rally around, have other ways to grow their business and increase brand loyalty. This includes doing all they can to improve the customer experience from pre-sale to post-sale. It also means enhancing customer engagement, so that customers are communicated with in personal, relevant ways across a variety of touch points.

What do you think—is the Relationship Era upon us?

The loyalty marketing landscape is changing – quickly and dramatically. Social Loyalty is a new concept to be understood and embraced.

Millennial marketing is a focus of Social Loyalty and I occasionally see posts about whether Generation Y (Millennials) can or will give their loyalty over a sustainable time period to any brand. Based on our study of Millennial behavior and backed up by recently published  research from Aimia on US and UK Millennials, we know that loyalty can be won, but not through traditional tactics.

One of the talked about tools to drive loyalty among Millennials is “Gamification”. The question is, how does game theory relate to loyalty marketing and how can it be applied in practice to get results, not just with Millennials, group but across the broader population segment known as Consumer 2.0?

I’m proud to be presenting “The New Face of Customer Loyalty: How to Engage and Motivate Customers in the Social Era” with a leader in the social loyalty space, Badgeville. The webinar will take place Tuesday December 6, 10am PST / 1pm EST and I urge you to register here to become part of the discussion.

Badgeville was recently selected to be part of Forrester’s annual list of social platforms for enterprise technology marketing in its report “Market Overview: 2011 Social Media Platforms For B2B Tech Marketing.” You can read more about that honor here.

There is a tremendous opportunity for leadership in this new world of loyalty marketing and I’m proud to be presenting tomorrow with Havy Nguyen from the Badgeville team to explore some of the possibilities.

Register here for this webinar and bring your tough questions about the future of Loyalty Marketing and Gamification to the event tomorrow.

I’m a former Borders customer and past member of the now defunct company’s Rewards Perks program. While I freely admit to moving a lot of my business to Amazon over the years, I was sorry to see Borders go.

Maybe it’s nostalgia, but every once in a while I like to walk into a book store, stroll the aisles, and leisurely look for a title or two I may have missed. Just like reading a physical book has a tactile advantage over an e-reader, I also think a physical store has a sensory advantage over a virtual storefront—which for me, unfortunately, ultimately gets trumped by the superior selection and lower prices of an Amazon.

But back to Border’s. When the pieces of the company were sold off, Barnes & Nobel made an important purchase that went beyond the chain’s physical inventory—they bought Borders’ customer contact info and importantly, their purchase history, giving them the opportunity to send out personally relevant communications.

The wooing has begun, as B & N is now attempting to turn me from a qualified prospect to a customer. They’ve sent me a few e-mails to date and while I think my scant recent personal history prevents them from sending truly relevant messages, I do appreciate their efforts.

From a communications perspective, I think they’ve made a smart progression from showing sympathy over the loss of Borders, to being transparent when revealing the use of my Borders’ customer data, to being justifiably “retail-y” as they seek my business. See the messaging sequence below:

October 1: Sympathy Over the Break-Up

Dear Borders Customer,

My name is William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble, and I’m writing to you today on behalf of the entire B&N team to make you aware of important information regarding your Borders account. First of all let me say Barnes & Noble uniquely appreciates the importance bookstores play within local communities, and we’re very sorry your Borders store closed.

October 15: Honesty and Transparency

Dear Borders Customer,

As a reminder, on September 30, 2011 Barnes & Noble acquired the Borders customer list. The transferred personally identifiable information in the customer list includes customer e-mail addresses and purchase history. No credit card data was transferred. If you would like to opt out of having your customer data transferred, please go to www.bn.com/borders by November 2, 2011.

November 7: Asking me out on a first date.
Subject line: Let’s get to know each other, starting right now.

You’ll always be welcome here. Nothing says welcome like an extra 30% off your first purchase at Barnes & Noble.

November 16: Attempt at a second date.

Subject line: A convenient 40% off at the always convenient BN.com

Your nearest Barnes & Nobel is open 24/7—at BN.com. Take an Extra 40%off one item.

I think Barnes & Noble is in a tough spot and agree with many that they’ll be the next domino to fall in the radically changing book industry. That said, I do think they’re doing a good job trying to convert prized prospects—former Borders customers like me—to the B & N fold. At least, they’re going down swinging.

Of all the social media communications channels I invest in, Twitter is the most enigmatic to me.

I use it and find value in posts from both followers and those I follow. At the same time, I encounter quizzical looks from friends who think I am somehow child-like and time-wasting to be spending time writing updates that are always compressed, sometimes cryptic and on occasion in-decipherable.

I’ll admit to a few things:

• Twitter presents the constant temptation to become a one-way broadcaster of self-promotional messages. All I can say is resist, resist, resist. In real life, people don’t fall in love with others who talk about themselves constantly. Why should it be any different online?
• I don’t always engage in conversations. Because there is such a thing as “real business” to attend to, I can’t sit and watch the stream all day, responding promptly to replies, DM’s, and other comments. Thankfully, there are some really great tools to help you manage your social medial channels and I use one of the best, Sprnklr. I do respond to just about everyone, but with timeliness that is often suspect.
• I’m not consistent. Social Media muse @TheDudeDean told me long ago to tweet consistently. I do my best, but there are gaps. This week is an example with cross country air travel and day-long meetings cramping my Twitter style. I acknowledge this but don’t necessarily apologize. We’ve got to have priorities and Twitter should not rule your life.

I read an article this week which mused that Twitter could be destined to “occupy a niche as addiction to few and irritant to many.”  I’m quite comfortable with this reality and take it into account when recommending communication strategies for clients.

It is not mandatory that every customer facing marketing strategy incorporate Twitter, Foursquare, or even Facebook. While it is absolutely right for some, others will find it a waste of time and resource.

If your customers are all online, talk to them through that medium. If they are sitting at the kitchen table reading their mail, you better find your way to that venue. Usually it is through a mix of several channels that you can create customer engagement. The big challenge is to identify which ones matter and to prioritize their importance.

To sum it up, there is wisdom in discerning between “everyone is doing it” and “I need to do it”.

Sounds like Twitter material to me!

What do you do when you have a solution in your hand in search of a problem?

If you’re the creator of the solution, you sell, sell, sell, crafting magnificent stories describing the power of your solution to change lives and create profits. That approach is mandated by fiduciary responsibility to those investors who brought your solution to market. The effort and persistence are admirable, but in time the substance of your solution will come clear, as will the reality of market demand for that which you are selling.

There are lots of examples of solutions seeking problems to solve. At the moment, contactless payment, many online reward applications, and almost every piece of exercise equipment sold through infomercials come to mind. One exception in the exercise category is TRX, which I’ve used and think is worth every penny.

I’m also thinking of QR codes.

I’ve written about QR codes before, highlighting the digital curiosity they can create and some practical uses they can provide to connect local merchants to their customers and enhance the value of print media at a time when it is teetering on the edge of destruction.

American Airlines seems to agree with my take, as the envelope I received this month with my AAdvantage frequent flyer status inside carried a big fat QR code on the back. If you own a smartphone and have just a wee bit of marketing curiosity in your blood, I don’t know how you could not click through the code.

I did and it took me to a landing page online which featured special fares and offers that American Airlines is promoting at this time. It took me all of 30 seconds to look at the offers and, while it wasn’t for me this time, I would check back for future offers if presented in the same way.

American’s use of the QR code is a practical example of how to create customer engagement and how to reap a little better return out of every piece of direct mail stuffed in the box. After all, there was nothing but white space on the envelope before this QR experiment, and the ROI calculation must be astronomical as the denominator (cost) is minuscule.

While solution sellers carry on with big promises, brands and marketers are wise to sit back and determine how they can put new technologies to use to meet their own needs. Often the answer is not the one being sold by the creator of the solution.

Some new technologies won’t survive your next brainstorming session. Others, like the QR code, can be selectively used to create customer engagement and help create incremental revenues.

Cycling commentators like to quip that the individual time trial is a “race of truth”. In other words there’s no place to hide as the man and machine face off against the clock.

The winner of the most recent edition of the Tour de France was decided on the final day in such a race, as Cadel Evans scorched his rivals and took the overall Yellow Jersey with the second best time of the day. Australia’s first overall Tour de France victor was undeniably better on this day – the truth was told.

Building a brand is much like a “race of truth”. Consumers are either for you or against you. And, there are only so many brands that stand out in today’s market evoking emotional response and nearly blind loyalty from their customers.

Starbucks, Apple, Coca-Cola, Facebook are brands that generate passion. Visa, MasterCard and Google register tremendous awareness but don’t necessarily conjure up “passionate” responses. I worked for Visa in the past and can attest to the fact that many consumers don’t understand the brand. I still get questions from friends asking if I can help fix their credit card problems! That of course is a matter between the issuing bank and the cardholder, not the domain of Visa/MasterCard.

Some brands are strong regionally but invisible outside their core market. Grocers Wegmans and Publix come to mind as do coffee chains Dunkin Donuts and Tim Horton’s. Dunkin is apparently embarking on national expansion, so the name may become more familiar across the U.S. soon.

Borders had a brand that was high profile, but became fuzzy. Some say that the lack of focus led to eroding customer loyalty and ultimately, the chain’s demise. You can read one assessment of Border’s failure here. IMHO, I’m not sure Barnes & Noble is doing a much better job in creating a brand that consumers care about – they just happen to be the last chain standing in the book-selling category.

Luxury brands drive customer loyalty through aspirational messaging, exclusivity, and, if backed up with customer experience that reinforces the brand, are sustainable. Nieman Marcus, Coach, Cartier, Tiffany are all brands that speak for themselves.

Some brands equate ubiquity with success. I wore Nike shoes in my early cross country days but my love of the swoosh waned as I saw the logo plastered on everything from golf balls to swim suits. Under Armour adopted the same approach from the starting gate as their logos seems to show up everywhere.

Does brand saturation create confidence or invite a suspicion of quality?

The brands that trigger emotion and sustain it over time seem to be highly focused. NorthFace and Patagonia have created aspirational brands among the outdoor and adventure travel set. I’m just waiting to see which one introduces the Bear Grylls line first!

Ironman has built a brand that oozes passion, commitment, aspiration, desire. Please write me if you know of another organization that sells out nearly every event it operates one year in advance, registering 2,000 people at the exorbitant price of $625, all for the privilege of torturing themselves through a 140.6 mile race.

With the ever expanding presence of the Ironman brand, it runs the same risk as Nike and Under Armour. The ubiquity of brand impressions in the market dilutes the core message to “best” customers and opens the door for competitors. As Ironman attempts to consolidate its hold on the endurance sport market, new race series have sprung up, most notably the HITS series using 6 time winner Dave Scott as spokesperson.

The importance of brand understanding for Loyalty Marketers is that we have to maintain perspective on the power of our brands to engage customers before any incentives are introduced. Every market is competitive and we need to study the range of customer choice in the market and understand the limits of impact for our loyalty strategies.

Organizations should adopt a holistic approach towards building loyalty strategy. Brand understanding is critical to crafting the value proposition that will complement core branding messages and further solidify relationships with our customers.

Attending the National Restaurant Association show recently, I solidified some perspectives on social couponing and collective buying schemes in a post here. The buzz from domestic restaurant marketers over how best to leverage collective buying sites such as Groupon, Living Social, Facebook Deals, and the myriad of copycats that have emerged over the past 3 years has been intensified with Groupon’s announcement of its IPO.

Commensurate with news of the IPO were published articles on the “checkered past” of Groupon’s Chairman, Eric Lefkofsky, and new articles documenting Groupon “merchant disasters”. For
restauranteurs and merchants alike, I thought it was time to share a brief guide aimed to optimize your social couponing efforts. If you’d like to learn more or talk in full depth on the subject, feel free to be in touch with myself or Hanifin Loyalty.

There are a series of work phases to engage in order to successfully execute a social couponing promotion:

1. Pre-Planning
2. Operational Considerations
3. Post-Event Evaluation
4. Communication & Next Steps

Pre-Planning
To properly evaluate and offer construct, consider the seasonal time-frame for the offer and build projections and financial models to support back-end evaluation of response profitability.

Include the following items in your consideration set as you build a financial projection for the promotion:

1. Projected number of responses across eligible time-frame
2. Average value of sale
3. Number of customers carried along with coupon event – buyer plus
4. Normal sales, traffic counts for time-frame
5. Gross, net margin
6. Incremental/complimentary sales – up-sell, cross-sell
7. Incremental expense – personnel, cost of goods, logistics, new systems, accommodations/concessions to satisfy customer experience

Operational Considerations
Once a promotion is evaluated and justified, the details of execution must be analyzed. Take these steps to meet with success in market execution:

1. Consider what it will take to support any spike in traffic and customer seating to deliver a consistent customer experience for all patrons. Both patrons whether redeeming a collective buying coupon and paying full price should be accommodated in a manner to complement your brand.
2. Inform your staff prior to the coupon going live so that they know what to expect. Good communications will ensure that your front-line associates are not only prepared for a possible new customer onslaught, but will greet customers with a smile.
3. Address any legal terms and conditions that you want to put into place to protect your return on investment, while maintaining the integrity of your customer service philosophy. Don’t comprise customer friendly and easy/fast/fun just for the sake of running the promotion.
4. Include your suppliers in pre-promotion planning and tactical execution plans to ensure you have sufficient provisions and inventory to meet customer demand. You certainly don’t want to run short on product supply, putting yourself in position to create backorders and issue “make-goods”. Remember this is an opportunity to gain new customers, so be certain you will be able to delight them, in turn encouraging return visit. Do this well and you will hopefully create an army of brand advocates through reviews and referrals via FourSquare and fans/likes on Facebook.

Post-Event Evaluation
No direct or loyalty marketer is worth their skin unless they measure results and know how to do better next time.

Let’s assume you survived what felt like an enormous volume of traffic and that your wait staff reported lots of new faces making a store visit. By all reports, the promotion registered positive results.

Now what? Specifically, what do you measure to gain confidence for the next time?

1. Was there any buzz in the form of reviews or Likes on Facebook?
2. Were there any negative comments on blogs during the redemption time-frame that related to the offer?
3. How much was redeemed and what was the breakage rate?
4. What tender was used for payment?  This helps for future promotional tie-ins with credit card issuers.
5. Can you tell who redeemed, how many customers were new, how many have returned for second visit?
6. Did you meet or exceed your financial projections?  Was it a positive return on investment?

Communications & Next Steps
The cardinal sin in social couponing is to be “one and done”. To build sustainable impact for the business, you must commit to doing this more than once.  What did you learn from your first dive into the deep end of the pool and, assuming you didn’t drown, what’s next?

1. Leverage insight on those who redeemed and adapt or personalize your e-mail communications to take advantage of what you learned. Make all communications as relevant as economically possible and as your data permits to improve open rates, click-thru in order to see new profitable transactions.
2. Are any new customers acquired having a birthday soon? Any new customers acquired having an anniversary or special event (graduation, etc.)? What will you do to create a stronger relationship with these folks?
3. Adjust the timing of the redemption window to best suit your seasonal traffic patterns
4. Gain new insight by incorporating a link to a survey page so you can learn more about your customers and other members of their household
5. Support franchisees with personalized communications custom to their location
6. Consider incorporating community events into your next wave of digital couponing. Choose from events unique to your location, whether music, promotional giveaways tied to beverage partners, or something else.
7. Adapt learnings from the coupon event to test/learn on new offers. Consider changing the threshold offer spend or offer something free. In either case, base your numbers on what was observed in the last transaction

Beyond good execution of your collective buying experiment, think about how you can use the platform to create additional offers that will strengthen customer engagement and build longer term customer loyalty. For restaurants, you might consider offering a complimentary benefit for dining with you again, or create a package offer with music or entertainment partners in the area.

Collective buying isn’t a strategy, it’s a tactic that, when solidly executed, can yield good results for a business. Following these steps in planning and execution will improve the chances of success and create a foundation for future promotional enhancements.

In the midst of the 23rd Annual Card Forum last week, I received a tweet that pointedly asked “Everyone is Tweeting, But is Anyone Listening?”

It came from my friend Jill McBride, who is well versed in the loyalty marketing business, and runs a well respected public relations firm based in Cincinnati. We had both noticed that the Twitter channel is increasingly a one-way broadcast medium which was essentially my response to her tweet.

My observation is that Twitter is like standing by a fast moving stream and watching the debris float past you. You tend to ignore most of it, but occasionally can reach out and grab something of value. If you’re excited about what you found, you can share it with friends by Re-Tweeting.  For those things you’re not so sure about, you can mark them as favorites and decide what to do about them later.

People constantly ask me if investing time in Twitter is “worth it”. I have to frame my answer in a description of how I use Twitter. For me, it’s a business tool and I am satisfied to use it both as a broadcast channel for my own content and other content that I find of interest from those I follow.

Another view of Twitter is to see it as a highlight reel of mashed up RSS feeds from your business contacts. If you follow “X” people in your area of business interest, you’ll probably see articles, news and insights that are shared to make the Tweeter look as if they are in the know. No one I know Tweets irrelevant stuff, at least not intentionally. Most everyone is doing their best to share relevant content and insights that are intended to be accretive to your knowledge base.

Then there is the listening issue. During Card Forum, there were about 200 tweets posted by a handful of Tweeple over 3 days. About 60-70% of the flow originated from 4 accounts (I combined accounts of different names that were clearly part of one organization).  One of these accounts, ironically the second most prolific, had no profile and appeared to be activated just to participate in the conference.

Affinion, Colloquy (et als), Citi, MasterCard were all present and the conference organizers, PaymentsSource jumped in on Day 2 to share some good quotes from the day’s sessions. I was there too, but logistics limited me to less sharing than I had planned.

Looking at the flow of messaging during the conference, it did seem to be mostly about broadcast. Inclusive of some re-tweeting that went on, few conversations were sparked. I shared a description of social media tools in the context of baseball some time ago and pegged Twitter as the “groupie” channel. I’m not so sure now since I would think groupies would be chattering away, comparing notes and making more noise.

Does this change my opinion about Twitter or tempt me to back away? Nope. It does highlight that Twitter deserves just so much investment of time and money, because if few people listen, then it is just a new form of broadcast media that was supposed to becoming obsolete as Consumer 2.0 becomes more influential.

The one caveat to this opinion is that Twitter does mirror real life in one way. There is a small group of people among my Twitter world who continually engage and encourage conversations around posts. This demonstrates they are not only posting, but reading, listening and interested to contribute towards a greater goal.

The Pareto rule interpreted by Twitter usage probably means that 5% of users spark 95% of the conversations. That in itself makes Twitter worthwhile for business people seeking a slight edge in a fast moving world.

What are your thoughts?