Twitter Cuts?

            Hi, I see you’re back again for another dose of marketing news! This week I’ve decided to stay on the topic of social media, specifically targeting Twitter. I discovered an article while browsing the web, looking at events going on in the world of marketing. It’s main focus stems from a statement saying, “Twitter’s sales and marketing divisions are taking the hit for the job losses, as it looks to become ‘more efficient’ and profitable in 2017”(Roderick).  This post will be focused on where Twitter is in the product life cycle and actions they have taken to give their platform a new spin.

           

So what’s exactly happening…?

             As a company, Twitter is cutting 9% of their workforce globally. The sectors in which this will affected the most consist of the marketing and the sales departments. Over the course of 2017, they are really hoping to spark user interest, become more efficient, and ultimately see better profit. In cutting the portion of their workforce with less value, they hope to have a steady income to fund those of higher value.  

The Product Life Cycle

            The product life cycle is described as, “The stages a new product goes through in the marketplace: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline”(Roderick, 244).  After a company is first revealed, it enters the introduction stage. This stage is supposed to be a time of slow profit because of the fact that the company is still being introduced. If all goes as planned, the company then enters the growth stage. The growth stage happens after there is a vast knowledge about the product and sales start rapidly increasing. This is the time period where repeat purchasers, or people who purchase the product more than once are seen. During this stage, competitors also become present. These competitors cause the initial company to aggressively price their products. The company may also think of other ways to distinguish themselves from their competitors. All of which are great examples of a company attempting to gain the competitive advantage within the industry. With the growth stage coming to an end, the maturity stage begins to set in. This happens when the growth begins slowing down and consumers show loyalty to certain brands. If profits just aren’t present and the company begins consistently loosing money, it enters the fourth and final stage. This is known as the decline stage, where the product can either be dropped or no longer marketed.

How does it relate to Twitter?

            When Twitter originally entered the social media business, their introduction stage was not approached efficiently. Although they generated “$436 million” in the first yearly quarter, they were still taking a “$162 million dollar loss” (QZ.com). This trend continued with twitter never being able to turn a profit. Their platform has essentially been in the decline stage since the beginning. With this being said, you can now see why Twitter would want to make the 9% cut out of their workforce and begin concentrating on being profitable.

                Twitter has recently taken action in order to make their company profitable by striving to give a personal experience. They have started doing this by implementing a live video feature. This function is able to serve users in the US as well as the UK. It can stream sports highlights live, during the game, keeping fans updated. Twitter also decided to partner with the NFL to live stream 10 of their games during the season. In the future they also expect to be able to make user timelines specific to the information and only the information that interests them.

            Although Twitter is stuck in a long pattern of loss, they are taking steps in the right direction to be profitable. These new functions will hopefully keep their loyal users content while also bringing in new customers from various target markets! I wish Twitter all the best in their quest for success but sadly, that’s all I have time for today. As always, check back next time for more intriguing marketing news.

Works Cited

https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/10/27/twitter-makes-job-cuts-as-it-ups-focus-on-personalisation/

http://qz.com/393814/twitter-has-lost-more-than-1-billion-since-it-went-public/

http://www.sporttechie.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/twitter-live-streaming-1.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/47/Twitter_2010_logo_-_from_Commons.svg/1024px-Twitter_2010_logo_-_from_Commons.svg.png

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2016/10/22/20161024_TWTR.jpg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/2665844e8bf3c92ccd3e91456517e83435d7624a.gif