The latest statistics from The Pew Internet & American Life Project’s Twitter and Status Updating (Fall 2009 Report) show that 19% of U S internet users (about one in five Americans) are actively posting updates about themselves using Twitter and other similar service. The latest estimates released by comScore put Twitter’s usage at 58.4 million unique worldwide visitors while eMarketer estimates Twitter will have 26 million domestic users in 2010.
With user numbers rapidly growing, Twitter has become an ocean of market research data just waiting to be explored. The Twitter search function allows you to quickly find mentions of products, services and companies in specific context, acting as a free repository of general and honest conversation where a wide range of information can be gathered.
To gain even more insights you can survey your Twitter followers directly and watch as your survey reaches others in the twitter community through re-tweets and hash tags. Whether you want to test out a new product concept or find out the most popular theme among your friends for a party, Zoomerang is a great tool for both personal and business surveys. You can use the Text Import feature to automatically program your survey to save you time and with Zoomerang you also have the ability to view real-time results of your survey as well as share survey results on your website or blog with friends, colleagues and site visitors.
5 ideas for a Twitter Survey
1. Gather opinions on current events
2. Get feedback about a recent webinar or podcast
3. Learn what tools people are using to promote their business
4. Ask your friends about their favorite apps
5. Collect feedback on events and conferences
For additional Twitter tips and suggestions be sure to read Chris Brogan’s 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business and Select Courses’ 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Twitter Research.