Think Twitter is a Waste of Time? Let Me Tell You The Story of a $23,000 Tweet

Do you think Twitter is a waste of your time or marketing budget? I’m often asked, “what’s the ROI of a Tweet?” I have an issue with the term ROI; however, let’s go with it for the sake of this post, yes? This is a short case study of one tweet that won me $23k of work and is only growing.

The Redacted Backstory

In October of 2018, the unnamed client (I signed an NDA), tweeted out a generic photo at a conference with the hashtag #CouldBeAnywhere. I retweeted it saying, “This is why you hire professional content strategists who prep the boss for content ahead of time.”

An old-school retweet quickly turned into a conversation in the DMs. We commiserated with each other in those DMs. Being a marketer in tech is a challenge enough. Additionally, it’s pretty tough to write an engaging social post, when the “on location” team sends generic photos without a description. (I remember training my co-workers to take selfies and text them to me.) Needless to say, we became fast friends. 

How A Tweet Earned $23,000

Those direct messages on Twitter turned into emails. The prospect asked if I had room for another client. (I sure did!) They were wondering how could I help this “Marketing Team of One” with their tasks? After we met on Zoom, the seed was planted. Nine months later, they decided to get going and became a Twitter Lite customer for $250/month. 

To date, that one tweet has earned me $23,000. Over the last 19 months of our business relationship, that customer has spent an average of $1200/mo. I’m happy to say that over the course of our relationship, this client has increased their scope of work. In fact, for 2021, this client is projected to hit $30k/year. 

How did I get that business? I got it from one tweet. Yes. One Tweet. My client and I talk and laugh about it often. It’s funny and cool. And guess what else — it’s human. 

Don’t Be Afraid to Be Yourself

It’s possible that not everyone will like your sense of humor, how you handle your company online, or your face in general (as one of my friends always says, “it must be they don’t like my face.”).

You know what? Be yourself anyway. Not everyone will like you. Certainly, not everyone likes me. Be the best version of yourself, sure. Reply to people. Engage. Add to the conversation. Don’t be afraid of small talk. You never know whose attention you’ll attract and what budgetary authority they’ll have.