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Twitter SWOT Analysis

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SWOT Analysis of Twitter Inc. 2018

Introduction :-

Twitter is the second leading social media platform. Its popularity among the social media users is high. In terms of user experience too, Twitter is the strongest rival of Facebook. The size of the online audience has kept growing fast with the global spread of Internet technology. While Twitter’s audience has grown globally during the recent years, its revenue and profits have not risen as fast. Its business has kept running in losses. However, losses have reduced fast in the recent years. Its nearest rival Facebook on the other hand has grown its audience and revenue manifold. Twitter is still an attractive social media platform and one can expect it to start earning profits in a  few years based on the current trend. The social media network is considered highly effective in terms of marketing. It is the platform of choice for marketers because of its effectiveness in terms of real time marketing. After the recent data scandal at Facebook, all the social media platforms are facing higher scrutiny and oversight related to user data.  Read more about Twitter in this SWOT analysis highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 

Strengths:-

Large audience:-

Twitter’s number of Active Monthly users is now past 330 millions. This is a sign of the popularity of the  social media brand. At the beginning of 2016, this number stood at 310 million. The online audience has grown fast in the recent years and  that has added to the user base of the social media networks. Proliferation of the Information technology and computing industry has led to growth in the influence of social media. Apart from the millenial users, social media sites like Twitter have an attractively large base of Baby boomer users.

Marketers’ platform of choice:-

Twitter has emerged as marketers’ platform of choice. Especially, when it comes to real time marketing, marketing mangers prefer it over Facebook. You can tweet to your followers and receive responses in real time. Moreover, the flowing tweets that  look like a newsfeed are highly effective in terms of marketing. The overall audience of Twitter may be limited as compared to Facebook but still marketers like to run campaigns on twitter for its reach and effectiveness.

Strong image:

As a social media platform, Twitter has maintained a strong image. It has faced less issues and troubles as compared to Facebook. It has also managed higher transparency and control through user participation.

Focus upon innovation and customer experience:-

The focus of twitter has always remained upon technological innovation for better customer experience. It is still focused at continually improving its platform and to provide its users with the best experience possible.

Weaknesses :-

Low Revenue & Profits:

The revenue and profits of twitter have remained much lower as compared to Facebook. The social media network has still not been able to generate any profits. The brand has lost billions since its launch. The revenue of Twitter in 2017 was 2.4 Billion dollars. However, its net loss was still 108 million dollars. Net loss of the social media network has kept reducing during the past three years and one can expect Twitter to start running profitably in some years based on hate recent trend.

High operational expenses:

Twitter’s operating expenses are running high. This is the reason that the brand has been unable to create high level profits like other social media channels. Facebook is enjoying a lot of profits and growth. Better resource allocation and adopting other efficient measures to cut down operating costs might help the brand increase its profits.

Online harassment:

Hatred and harassment are two of the most serious problems that social media has to deal with. This is not true only about Twitter but Facebook too found itself in some serious trouble while trying to tackle hate speech and abuse. Twitter has faced such several case where even celebrity users had to face serious abuse and harassment online. Such poor experiences can cause disenchantment among users. This is a problem that twitter is still grappling with and must sort out prior to everything else. Pressure on social media networks has increased to create better user experiences and prevent the spread of fake news, hate speech and cyber bullying.  Tackling abuse is not easy, however, some firmer steps by the management could help create the right environment that brings such issues to light instantly and prevent the perpetrators from causing further damage.

Opportunities:

Targeting new user groups:

Twitter can target new user groups to grow its user base. It is primarily used by the GenXers, Millenials and the Generation Z. However, Twitter can also target baby boomers and other segments that do not still use social media much through new marketing and targeting techniques.

Diversification:

Diversification can also be a good method to expand its market or user base and increase revenue. Facebook has been somewhat agiler than Twitter in this area. Opening new channels of growth and revenue will also help Twitter strengthen its core business.

Research and innovation:

Investing more in research and innovation will help Twitter grow its popularity and user base. Its expenditure on research and innovation has reduced in the recent years. In 2017, its investment in research and innovation reduced to 542 million dollars from 713.5 million dollars.  Investing in research  and innovation can also help drive user engagement higher and bring faster growth.

Threats:

Competitive threat:-

The world of social media has grown highly competitive. Apart from Facebook, the other social media channels are also creating heavy pressure on Twitter. The result is that the social media brand has to invest heavily in marketing as well as research and innovation. Competitive pressure is high and that is resulting in pressures related to user acquisition as well.

Regulatory threat:

Regulatory pressure on the social media networks is growing higher day by day. Since the Facebook data scandal happened, governments are even worried regarding the security of users’ data and its utilization. If user data is used for rigging elections and similar purposes the results will be devastating. It is not just Facebook but every internet business is feeling this pressure including search giant Google, amazon and even twitter, Linked In and the other social media networks.

Reducing attraction of social media:

The Facebook data scandal resulted in several problems. One was loss of trust and reduced attraction of social media. The attraction of social media reduced due to some other problems too. Cases of cyber bullying and user harassment including some celebrities and trolling have also resulted in falling attraction of social media. This can be bad for social media businesses and lead to fall in their revenues.

Currency fluctuations:-

Currency fluctuations are also affecting the revenues and profits of twitter. A strengthening dollar is affecting the income and revenue of the social media business. Twitter’s international operations leave it exposed to the effect of currency fluctuations  while it pays for its employees and operations in American dollars. In such a scenario, currency fluctuations can have a detrimental effect on the brand’s revenue.

Conclusion:-

Twitter is one of the best social media channels with a large user base. The monthly user base of Twitter has now reached past 330 million. To grow faster, Twitter has adopted new marketing and targeting techniques. However, the recent developments in the world of social media has brought fresh challenges related to data security, user privacy and content. the Facebook data breached came as nothing less than a shock for both social media websites and users. It gave rose to both some discontent and loss of trust. Social media websites including Twitter are now working to control user exploitation and harassment. Another problem Twitter is facing is that it has lost a  lot of money since it was founded. While Facebook is earning billions per year in revenue and net profits, Twitter earned a net loss of 108 million dollars in 2017. However, its net losses have kept declining in the recent years and things might grow better in near future. Twitter’s focus now is on growing its user base and making its platform more user friendly. It’s a platform of choice for the marketers and enjoys high level of popularity.