John Mayer Teaches Us a Big Lesson by Quitting Twitter

The news today is that John Mayer is quitting Twitter--again. Mayer, a pop singer of large stature, amassed 3.7 million followers on Twitter as a prelude to his recent "Battle With Studies" tour promoting a new album. He made news when he invited University of South Carolina fans to a free concert last February to launch his tour. But now, he says he's going back to the studio so he is quitting Twitter, closing his account and has vowed to communicate with fans via his blog.
There is a big lesson here for those of us who use Twitter for marketing and PR efforts: Twitter can be successful for short term campaigns. I have a hunch Mayer didn't just get up one day last week and decide he was tired of Twitter. My hunch may be wrong, but my guess it was an innovative way of using the mass texting service to gain a quick following for a short-term campaign...and it worked.

My other hunch is that Mayer is not going to lose popularity because he is quitting Twitter. His celebrity status is not particularly enhanced by Twitter, although it was probably a calculated contributor to the success of his latest tour.

I wonder what implications this has for Twitter as a marketing tool. Are we going to see more of these short-term campaigns on Twitter or does this hamper the very spirit of the 140-character universe. It will be interesting to see if this blazes a path for others.