Like any curious or ambitious blogger, we like to see where we rank in the search engines. Since the content here is best categorized as Twitter marketing information, that’s what we usually check.

At first, everything seemed normal. Lot’s of articles on the topic as you’d expect. A guest post on Andy Beal’s (http://twitter.com/andybeal) Marketing Pilgrim titled “200+ Internet Marketing Gurus on Twitter” tops the list. ‘Marketing’ is in the domain, Twitter and marketing are in the title, it’s certainly on topic and has lot’s of links going to it. Wasn’t too surprised.

Then come some others that… hmm.. okay, I can see.

LameTwitterMarketing.com, Dosh Dosh’s article ‘Twitter Marketing: Why You Don’t Need to Mass Follow Twitter Users‘ (totally agree btw!) – these I can also understand.

Then there are some that really don’t belong, like a Craigslist post currently at #7.

Then it dawned on me. Where the heck is Twitter.com?! Search Google for ‘Google marketing’ and Google is #1. ‘Microsoft marketing’ #1 goes to a Microsoft.com page. Facebook gets #2. Yahoo #1.

So where is Twitter when you search for ‘Twitter marketing’? Would you believe #24?! That’s right, page 3. If you’re reading this, I’m sure that you’re familiar with the traffic that goes to the sites on page 3 versus page 1. Astounding.

How could Twitter let this happen?!

Here’s the kicker. That #24 result… goes to a Twitter user profile page that’s promoting a way to “Become a Marketing Expert with Twitter Traffic Machine”. Nothing to do with corporate, and even worse, it’s promoting something that could degrade the service.

Other sites on top of an actual page from Twitter include:
twitip.com
twitterholic.com
tweamr.com (woo hoo!)

And you’ve got to love this, an article on ezinearticles.com with the opening sentence…

If anyone should know about the power of Twitter marketing online and using social media sites for greater exposure, it should be chiropractors.

You can’t make that stuff up.

So where is Twitter’s corporate page ranked in Google? Not in the top 100, so it doesn’t really matter. The results on Yahoo! are a little different. A Twitter user comes in at a respectable #2, but the corporate site is still absent.

What I can’t figure out is that we know Twitter understands SEO. Search Google for your name. If you’re on Twitter, odds are your Twitter profile page will be right up there at the top along with LinkedIn.

Got a theory? I’d love to hear it. Is Google intimidated enough to pull some search magic when it comes to Twitter? Is Twitter intentionally holding off on any kind of marketing messaging until they have their business model fleshed out?

Whatever it is, I know one thing… I’m heading over to make sure I optimize the copy in my profile page!

AdAge and others covered the story of how Land Rover is planning to use Twitter.

Two things make this one unique.

First, Land Rover is including #hashtags ( #LRNY ) in their online and offline twitter marketing promotions. I guess you could say that #skittles was first to really do this as a brand marketing effort, but it sounds like Land Rover will take it further in terms of promoting the tags. While Land Rover is ‘pushing’ users to their tag, Skittles ‘pulled’ users with their Twiter search results page for their tag. My guess is that the Skittles strategy will be more effective but their brand is also better suited for that approach.

The second unique aspect (for a major brand) of Land Rover’s marketing on Twitter is that they are using Twittad as part of the campaign. Twittad is putting a twist on things by ‘partnering’ with existing Twitter users to leverage their followers. It sounds like they take over the users’ Twitter profile pages for a period of time and may send tweets to their followers and then the users are paid. It’s not immediately clear how the users are selected – for example, based on relevance to the topic or to maximize reach / minimize duplication, etc.

Land Rover is not likely to remain the only national marketer doing this for long, said James Eliason, CEO of Twittad, the Des Moines-based “social-media affinity network” Wunderman tapped to boost Land Rover’s launch.

Twittad may sound good at first, but it’ll be interesting to see how users respond. The model will almost certainly need to evolve in order to provide true, quantifiable value to their clients. Just because it’s inexpensive doesn’t mean it’s a good deal.

The blog, Online Marketing for Restaurants has started to build out a list of restaurants using Twitter. Some use it to promote deals. Others for customers service. Bottom line is that if you’re in the restaurant business you should be following each and every one of these guys. Doesn’t matter if you have your own small pizza joint and want to do some Twitter marketing or you manage marketing for a billion-dollar franchise, Twitter helps to even the playing field, gets you closer to your customers, helps you build relationships and can ultimately help drive 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.