How Twitter is evolving into a must-have tool for start-ups

Is Twitter moving from a niche player to a mainstream business tool? There have been several clues to its evolution in recent months, from its launch of an Australian office to its attempt to lure business users with $1 million in free advertising credits.

But, as with most things in the business world, the judgement comes down to the numbers. The online analysts at Global Web Index have found that Twitter’s active user base rose by a stunning 40% in the second half of 2012.

Across 31 different countries, Twitter now has 288 million regular users, comfortably outstripping Facebook in terms of growth during 2012.

“In our first wave of research in July 2009, we estimated that Twitter had just 35.47 million monthly active users across the markets covered at the time,” says Global Web Index in a blog post.

“Twitter, however, is shaking off that niche status with impressive style, and as we begin 2013, it is the fastest growing social platform on the planet.”

The Twitter surge is a little less pronounced in Australia than the average – around a 35% increase Down Under in 2012 compared to a global standard of 40%. Growth rates in China, the USA, Russia and Hong Kong range from 60% to 100%.

However, Australians are clearly embracing Twitter in such numbers that even business owners who consider themselves social media novices should be sitting up and taking notice.

As we’ve outlined before, Twitter, when deployed correctly, can help grow your business by connecting you to new customers and helping retain the ones you currently have.

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