Two weeks ago, an internet frenzy went up due to Twitter’s CFO mentioning that Twitter could soon have an algorithm based feed introduced, similar to what you might see on Facebook. The reason for doing this? To “improve the relevance for users.” Or, as many have speculated, to appease Wall Street and their demand to increase users on the platform.

Naturally, die hard Twitter fans were (are) in an uproar. One of the greatest differentiating factors about Twitter is that you get a raw, unfiltered stream that comes through. Because of this, news can spread quickly and more rapidly and it allows every single person on the platform equal opportunity to possibly get the ear of someone. This the beauty of Twitter – it is information overload at times, but the unfiltered stream is what makes Twitter great.

Many businesses on Twitter use the 80/20 rule when marketing their services, products, or brand. They tweet information that they think their followers would be interested in 80% of the time, and post about their business 20% of the time. Businesses afraid to use Twitter for marketing miss out on one huge (and obvious) point: the fundamental unfiltered stream of Twitter allows you to possibly reach thousands of people. These thousands of people will see your promotions, sales, business information 20%-30% of the time. Out of those thousands of people, you will most certainly reach someone at the right time who needs what you offer.

(Yes, I understand it takes a while to get followers, but investing the time in getting quality followers is worth it.)

There’s a reason people are obsessed with follows, retweets, and mentions on Twitter. The more people that see your posts, the more likely they are to purchase services through you or tell their friends about you. The more active you are on social media, the more likely you will remain in the forefront of their mind. Interaction is the foundation of social media and the reason why so many people love it.

When you interact with people across social media, you are interacting with someone you may not have met otherwise. The whole world becomes full of potential clients if you know how to market to them.

So when we hear that Twitter may create an algorithm based stream, it creates panic, especially for people who use Twitter for their business. Business posts will be less likely to show up in someone’s stream, leaving only the 80% industry posts appearing to a follower (if you're lucky). Though this could still get potential clients, it will make it a lot harder. People will have to be sincerely interested in who you are, go to your profile, and click on the link within your profile to get to your webpage. That is a lot less likely to happen than someone just clicking a link within your tweet. The ability to reach people organically will decrease alarmingly.

Where does that leave us business owners? For myself, I will continue to write blog posts as much as possible. This means I will be able to tweet relevant industry information, but clicking on my link will take you to my webpage. Hopefully from there, the user will branch out and look at everything else, possibly converting them into a lead. Not ideal, but it's making the best of the situation should it happen.

The other option would be to pay for our content to be seen. This brings the platform even closer in similarities to Facebook. Depending on your business, paid advertising on Facebook either works or it doesn’t. Right now, the thought of paying for advertising on Twitter makes me want to gag.
I love the results I have received from Twitter. Like I mentioned earlier, the fact that I have had interest and inquiries just from my tweets or retweets is pretty amazing. It shows that if you put effort into social media marketing, you WILL get results…pure, organic results that are not bought.

What are your thoughts on this? Leave your comments below.

As always, may the Force be with you (and your tweets!).