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| (Courtesy of Twitter) |
Followers create credibility for any business. A significant following shows that people view you as an authority for your industry – or at least you often have something interesting to say. You become a “Pied Piper” of sorts for your industry or area of expertise.
There are plenty of social media websites that provide strategies for building a Twitter following. But is it a good practice to pile up followers as quickly as possible? Or is it better to invest more time in reading what others have to say and do more following?
In a perfect Twittersphere, it’s probably optimal to follow an equal number of followers. But since equalizing on a large scale is impractical, it’s best to stick to a targeted strategy.
As tempting as it is to automatically follow anyone who chooses to follow me, I do a little research first. I check their Twitter profile page and timeline to see who they are and what they’re tweeting. I’ll return the follow if the tweets meet these criteria:
- The tweets are related to my business or personal interests
- The tweets impart useful information (usually with links to Blog entries, websites and the like)
- The person tweeting comes across as an industry expert or insider
This practice isn’t about profiling or creating exclusivity, but striving for quality over quantity. (I’m highly unlikely to follow someone, for example, if their tweets mainly consist of out-of-context, semi-private @ messages to people I don’t know.) Of course, I actively seek out other interesting individuals to follow. You’re not likely to build a following by waiting for others to come to you.
Overall, I believe it’s best to do a bit more following. It gives the impression that you’re a good listener – that you care more about what people have to say than about broadcasting your own message. Few people like the loudmouth at the party who spends all his time talking about himself. Equal amounts of listening and tweeting are akin to a good in-person conversation.
What strategy do you use for building a Twitter following? Do you automatically follow everyone who follows you? Do you believe it’s best to get the largest possible number of followers by any means necessary? Share your ideas with me – I’d love to hear what you have to say.
Jeff, from all the reading I've done and people I've talked to, it seems that people usually use one of two strategies: Follow everyone that follows you or only follow those that "add value." I personally have tried both methods. What I have found works for me is following most people that follow me and adding them to a list ASAP via Hootsuite. This helps me to set up my streams according by list so I don't miss specific follower tweets I like to read everyday.
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about using automation tools to help manage your SM accounts?
Salina, I like your concept of following those who "add value," though there have been a handful of times when I've followed people out of intrigue.
ReplyDeleteI also use Hootsuite and have set up some streams for specific hashtags. What seems to work well for me is setting up a list in Twitter and then using Hootsuite to stream that list.
By automation tools, are you referring to Hootsuite and the like (where you can schedule your tweets)? Thus far, I prefer Hootsuite over Tweetdeck because I find it easier to manage. Are there others you like?