Pay with a tweet
The creators of Pay with a tweet have also discovered the value of Twitter as a means of payment. Pay with a tweet works as follows. Suppose a company has written a study or an article, but does not want to make it available to the entire world. By clicking on the Pay with a tweet button, the visitor sends a message to his or her followers with the message that he or she has received this product for free. The visitor gets the product and the company sends its message to all of the visitor's followers.
These constructions do put pressure on the credibility of messages on social media. If the consumer finds out that someone is paid to write a positive review about a product or company, it damages the credibility of the company and that person. Doorman and Marc Jacobs see it differently, of course. They see it as a way to thank their customers and fans for their support of the brand and the company. By sending such a tweet, the user also gives a ' vote of confidence ' to the product. This can cause problems if, after
sending the tweet, the product turns out not to be as good as expected.
How much is a tweet or 'like' worth?
Now of course the question that every company wants answered these days is: how much is a tweet or 'like' worth? Unfortunately, there is no clear answer to that question yet. SumAll , an analytics company, has put the value of a tweet from a company at $25.62 and that of a re-tweet at $20.37. But Rob May of Backupify puts the value of a tweet at one-tenth of a cent and a Facebook 'share' at 2.4 cents. While Eventbrite , an event search engine, puts the value of a tweet at $0.43 and a Facebook 'share' at $2.52 .
They agree that the value is different for every company and situation and that therefore there are different data. What does appear is that Facebook is more valuable than Twitter in this context. Facebook users have met more than 88 percent of their friends in real life, while Twitter users have never met 48.2 percent of their followers. So if you read a message that praises something or someone, most people will do more with it if it comes from a friend than from a stranger. This is supported by the fact that Twitter has 'followers' and Facebook has 'friends'.
It is clear that not everyone thinks the same about using social media as bahamas mobile phone number list a means of payment. Companies see it as a way to thank their loyal customers and spread their message in the network of those customers, while others believe that the value of a positive review of a product or company decreases if one is paid for it. But personally I believe that every relationship is based on a form of value exchange. I do something for you
and you do something for me. I 'like' or share something because I think it is funny, my followers might like it or because it has some other form of added value. The company gets something and I get something. Social media as a means of payment is therefore also a form of value exchange. The consumer agrees to this transaction because he gets something in return.
By using social media as a means of payment, companies gain more influence on the online conversation between consumers. After all, product experiences of consumers that are shared online influence sales figures and brand reputation. Companies must realize that the transaction is temporary. It is possible that the consumer only wants the product or the discount and does not want to build a bond with the brand. It is then important to retain this group and make them fans. So I see no harm in using social media as a means of payment, as long as both parties know what they are getting into. But judge for yourself. What do you think of social media as a means of payment? Permitted as a marketing tool or an ethical dilemma?
Photo intro courtesy of Fotolia.