Twitter Q&A CensusMay 2011

Analyzing the effectiveness of Q&A on Twitter

Summary of Findings‣ High follower accounts ask questions more frequently. Respondents with more than 100 followers are twice as likely to ask questions on Twitter.

‣ Many askers receive low quality answers or no answers at all. Nearly half of respondents indicated that they either never receive answers or that they are dissatisfied with the answers that they do receive when they ask questions on Twitter.

‣ Businesses and non-followers provide high quality answers, particularly to high follower accounts. Respondents with high follower accounts are more likely to to receive answers from non-followers or business accounts and are generally happier with the quality of answers that they have received.

‣ Askers generally receive good answers from businesses. Most respondents indicate that the answers they receive from business accounts are high quality and trustworthy.

‣ Businesses can likely earn more followers and generate more sales by answering questions on Twitter. Most respondents indicate that they are more likely to follow or make a purchase from businesses that answers their questions on Twitter.

Actionable Insights for Businesses‣ Proactively search for, and answer, relevant questions on Twitter. Nearly half of the respondents to our survey indicated that they either never received answers to the questions that they asked on Twitter or that the answers were unsatisfactory. Proactively answering questions that are relevant to your business can give you the opportunity to surprise and delight potential customers that would likely not otherwise receive answers.

‣ Donʼt limit your question answering to accounts with which you already have an existing relationship with. Respondents to our survey indicated that they were generally open to receiving answers from non-followers and businesses. You should feel free to answer any questions for which you can provide a high quality answer.

‣ Focus on answering questions from both high and low follower accounts. Respondents indicated that they are likely to follow and make purchases from businesses that answer their questions on Twitter. You should implement a question answering strategy that focuses on driving direct response actions regardless of the number of followers that a given asker may have.

‣ Develop direct response metrics and track sales coming directly from the questions you answer on Twitter. Respondents to our survey indicated that they are very likely to make purchases from businesses that answer their questions on Twitter. Make sure that you have the appropriate tracking in place to properly attribute sales generated from question answering on Twitter.

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“How many Twitter followers do you have?”

64% of respondents had fewer than 100 followers while 36% had more than 100 followers

Most accounts have fewer than one hundred followers

0%

18%

35%

53%

70%

<100 >100

36%

64%

% o

f res

pond

ents

# of followers

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“Have you ever asked a question on Twitter?”

High follower accounts are more likely to have asked questions on Twitter

0%

18%

35%

53%

70%

<100 >100

67%

33%

% o

f yes

resp

onse

s

# of followers

67% of respondents with more than 100 followers have asked a question versus only 33% percent of those with less than 100 followers

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“How do you primarily ask questions on Twitter?”

Most questions are broadcast, but low follower accounts are more likely to use @replies

0%

19%

38%

56%

75%

<100 >100

2%4%

25%

44%

73%

52%

% o

f res

pond

ents

# of followers

Ask all followers Send an @reply Send a Direct Message

44% of respondents with less than 100 followers send their questions as @replies versus 25% of those with more than 100 followers

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“How often do you get responses when you ask questions on Twitter?

Twitter is a more reliable source of answers for high follower accounts

0%

19%

38%

56%

75%

<100 >100

12%

22%

59%58%

29%

20%

% o

f res

pond

ents

# of followers

Always Sometimes Never

20% of respondents with less than 100 followers and 29% of those with more than 100 followers indicate that they always receive answers when they ask questions on Twitter

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“How satisfied are you with the answers you receive on Twitter?”

Low follower accounts are more likely to be unsatisfied with answers on Twitter

0%

19%

38%

56%

75%

<100 >100

13%

32%

63%

49%

24%19%

% o

f res

pond

ents

# of followers

Very Satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied

32% of respondents with less than 100 followers are unsatisfied with the answers they receive on Twitter versus 13% of those with more than 100 followers

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“Have you ever received an answer from a non-follower on Twitter?”

High follower accounts are more likely to receive answers from non-followers

0%

18%

35%

53%

70%

<100 >100

66%

44%

% o

f yes

resp

onse

s

# of followers

66% of respondents with more than 100 followers have received an answer from a non-follower versus 44% of those with less than 100 followers

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“Have you ever received answers from non-followers?” & “How satisfied are you with the answers you receive?”

Receiving answers from non-followers may increase answer satisfaction

0%

19%

38%

56%

75%

Yes No

31%

14%

53%

59%

16%

27%% o

f res

pond

ents

Very Satisfied Satisfied Unsatisfied

86% of respondents that had received answers from a non-follower were satisfied or very satisfied with the answers they had received versus 69% of respondents who had not received an answer from a non-follower

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“Have you ever received an answer from a business account on Twitter?”

High follower accounts are more likely to have received an answer from a business

0%

13%

25%

38%

50%

<100 >100

41%

21%

% o

f yes

resp

onse

s

# of followers

41% of respondents with more than 100 followers have received an answer from a business account versus only 21% of those with less than 100 followers

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“Would you like to receive answers from businesses on Twitter, assuming the quality is as good or better than the answers you receive from your followers?”

Most people would like to receive answers from businesses on Twitter

40%

45%

50%

55%

60%

<100 >100

59%

57%

% o

f yes

resp

onse

s

# of followers

59% of respondents with more than 100 followers and 57% of accounts with less than 100 followers would like to receive answers from businesses on Twitter

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“How would you rate the quality of answers you have received from businesses on Twitter?”

Answers from business accounts are generally high quality

0%

15%

30%

45%

60%

Better As Good Worse

20%

55%

25%

% o

f res

pond

ents

80% of respondents that received an answer from a business on Twitter indicated that the quality is as good or better than the answers they received from non-businesses

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“How much do you trust the answers you have received from businesses on Twitter?”

Answers from businesses are generally trusted

0%

15%

30%

45%

60%

More As Much Less

20%

54%

26%

% o

f res

pond

ents

80% of respondents who received an answer from a business on Twitter indicated that they trust these answers as much, or more than, the answers that they receive from non-businesses

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“Are you more or less likely to follow a business that answers your questions on Twitter?

Twitter users are likely to follow businesses that answer their questions

0%

15%

30%

45%

60%

More As Likely Less

12%

29%

59%

% o

f res

pond

ents

59% of respondents that receive an answer from a business indicate that they were more likely to follow a business account that answered their questions on Twitter

HOW DO WE KNOW?

“Are you more or less likely to make a purchase from a business that answers your questions on Twitter?

Twitter users are likely to make a purchase from businesses that answer their questions

0%

18%

35%

53%

70%

More As Likely Less

12%

24%

64%

% o

f res

pond

ents

64% of respondents that have received an answer from a business indicate that they were more likely to make a purchase from a business account that answered their questions on Twitter

CONTACT US

About InboxQ Joe Fahrner, Co-FounderJoe@InboxQ.com@JoeFahrner

(855) 3-INBOXQhttp://www.InboxQ.com@InboxQ

InboxQ delivers a realtime stream of questions related to your business, products, industry or general interests from Twitter, directly to your browser. You can download InboxQ as a Chrome extension, Firefox add-on or Seesmic plug-in.

Visit http:///www.InboxQ.com to learn more.

This data was collected between 4/29 - 5/3/11 through a web based survey of Twitter users that accessed the service during that period.

Up to 3.8M active Twitter users saw Tweets promoting the survey. 2,049 people began the survey and 1,825 (89%) fully completed it.

Respondents were not compensated.

About the Survey