fool says Twitter is not for every small business

Maybe he was writing it to intentionally get a rise out of people – to artificially inflate the comments or get the blogosphere and Twittersphere in an uproar. I sure hope so, because this article on Duct Tape Marketing couldn’t be more misleading.

The author does give in a little if you read into the article and his response to some of the comments. Sounds like he’s saying that Twitter can be a part of your marketing mix but that it shouldn’t be the first priority – especially for businesses that haven’t nailed down the basics of their positioning, messaging, etc.

Any legitimate business (and probably some illegal businesses – but we won’t go there) can benefit from Twitter. Unlike most demand generation activities, it doesn’t require any money only a little creativity and time.

While the odd restaurant or coffee shop may be grabbing some headlines because of their tweeting strategy, most small businesses have far greater pressing foundational needs when it comes to the limited time and resources they can allocate to marketing.

This is a dangerous statement. What follows is even worse. The author outlines a list of 8 items he claims you must have before you “bother with Twitter or Facebook”. While the list does cite some of the more popular tools to use, it’s far from comprehensive. The list could easily be 4-5 times as long. We’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to creative social media promotions.

No one should question that a solid marketing strategy is the appropriate starting point. However, businesses of any size that underestimate the potential short and long-term impact that Twitter will have in the marketing mix are shooting themselves in the foot, or maybe the leg.