Brief History of the Company
The first version of Twitter was used inside Odeo for correspondence between employees. On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey posted the first tweet: “just setting up my twttr” (MacArthur, 2020). From the very beginning, the name of the project was chosen – Twitter. However, at the time of launch, the domain twitter.com was taken. Six months later, the company managed to buy it out, renaming the platform to the name users are familiar with. The platform became available to the audience on July 15, 2006 (MacArthur, 2020). At the same time, the project gets the first mention in TechCrunch. By autumn, the service has several thousand users. In many ways, this was facilitated by the earthquake that occurred in August in San Francisco. Then users actively discussed the news via Twitter using short messages up to 140 characters long, appreciating the platform’s convenience.
Information About the Industry
Today, most people have the opportunity to access the Internet regularly, not only through a computer or laptop but correspondingly using mobile devices: smartphones and tablets. Their use allows people to be online constantly and receive information on the go (MacArthur, 2020). Due to this, people actively use social networks to communicate with each other. This creates a favorable ground for using their potential as a platform for advertising and promoting various goods and services.
Company Mission and Objectives
The company’s primary mission is to allow everyone to instantly create and freely distribute ideas and information. If it is necessary to consider its implied side, then it should be noted that the main fundamental task of any business is to obtain and maximize profits. The main goals of the campaign are to attract new users for the further development of the social network (MacArthur, 2020). Of the implied objectives, it is necessary to highlight the desire to create new opportunities for obtaining and stabilizing the income of the organization.
The Company’s Competitive Strategies
Among the main competitive advantages of Twitter, there are several main factors. First of all, it is the users’ attention and the audience’s size, measured by the number of views per day. In addition, the social network has a database of tweets, which contains comments, reviews, and opinions of the audience (Parker, 2019). A search engine can correspondingly be allocated, which searches for tweets according to a given search pattern in real-time and randomly. The social network is a powerful alternative media platform for distributing news, videos, and pictures. Twitter’s revenue generation model is based primarily on advertising.
Of particular interest are the promoted tweets, which constitute the primary strategy for attracting advertisers. Thus, for example, a tweet “Best Tablet Purchase” will appear on a request about tablet computers (Parker, 2019). Promotional tweets look the same as other publications and are part of the message flow. Another feature of Twitter’s competitive strategy is the desire to attract users relative to current trends. In this case, it should be mentioned the introduction of opportunities for NFT owners, as well as open opportunities for integration with cryptocurrency. Thus, the company strives to create an image that will correspond to users’ current interests and needs.
Analysis of External Environment and Internal Resources (SWOT)
Strengths
One of the company’s advantages is its importance for various socio-political movements due to the hashtag function. The social network allows people to learn about different opinions and positions of people in different categories. The platform becomes a place for various high-profile events, which serves as a basis for attracting new users (Parker, 2019). In addition, the stability of the company’s revenues should be noted, which amounts to about $3.042 billion in annual revenue in 2018 (Macrotrends, 2022). This is accordingly reflected in the steadily large and growing market share, which attracts investors.
Weaknesses
One of the apparent shortcomings of the company is its desire to develop mainly in the US market. Even despite the fact that the application is available in most countries of the world, the social network is advancing on the world market rather slowly and inactive. In addition, it is worth noting that the company’s permanent income is only from advertising options (Reiff, 2022). This may negatively affect the company’s business model, as there is a strong dependence on this particular source of income.
Opportunities
One of the main opportunities for the social network is the further development of integration with the cryptocurrency and NFT industry. These areas are relatively popularized; therefore, Twitter has the opportunity to become one of the leading players in the market. Twitter has a reasonably extensive user base from the United States, so there is an option to introduce various ways to integrate with social services. Consequently, the application can develop many built-in functions, such as payment, video streaming, and the ability to organize remote meetings and negotiations.
Threats
Because of its image as a social network that provides opportunities for discussing various socio-political events, Twitter is subject to several threats. This manifests in the fact that the company often faces a negative attitude regarding the decisions to block certain users. Accordingly, even more, possible problems manifest themselves in the fact that government agencies can impose stronger bans and regulations. This may affect user activity and, accordingly, reduce the advertising options (Reiff, 2022). In addition, the company is highly dependent on its image, as advertisers rely on what goals Twitter pursues.
References
MacArthur, A. (2020). The history of Twitter you didn’t know. Lifewire. Web.
Macrotrends. (2022). Twitter revenue 2011–2022. Web.
Parker, B. (2019). Twitter business model: How does Twitter make money? Business Strategy Hub. Web.
Reiff, N. (2022). How Twitter makes money: Advertising comprises the bulk of revenue. Investopedia. Web.