Consumer engagement with brand tweets : measuring Twitter effectiveness

The increasing use of Twitter by businesses has created the challenge of how to measure its effectiveness for marketing communications. This study compares the performance of 30 leading brands from three industries on measures of Twitter activity and audience engagement over a six-month period. The results show that Twitter can be both an effective and efficient method of communication, with even FMCG brands achieving high levels of reach with limited Twitter activity. Using previously unexplored measures of user engagement - listing and favouriting - we find significant differences between companies in audience engagement with brand tweets. We propose that assessment of the effectiveness of Twitter communication should include measures of consumer engagement, particularly those which create electronic word of mouth, such as retweeting and listing.