If you’re using Twitter regularly, you’ve probably wondered how to get more followers. Some may not even know why they want more, but they will go to great lengths to get them. As of this moment, if you Google the phrase “How do I get more Twitter followers?”, you’ll receive about 353 MILLION results.
There’s no doubt that having a large amount of followers on Twitter is a good thing (unless you tweet the wrong thing). It allows you to cast a larger net of influence, sell more products, and connect with potential clients. The more you have, the better… right?
Not necessarily.
For example, let’s say you run a company that sells a health drink containing a variety of vitamins and nutrients that are essential for people over the age of 50. You read an article somewhere that reveals the fact that your core demographic is one of the largest adopters of social media. You sense an opportunity, and decide that it’s time to devote time an energy to connecting with them on Twitter.
You’re not a social media expert by any means, so you decide to promote a recent college grad to the position of Social Media Coordinator for your company. This person has an enormous amount of followers on Facebook and Twitter, so they obviously know what they’re doing. After a few weeks on the job, your recent grad has increased the number of people following your company’s tweets significantly.
There’s only one problem. The recent grad is using the tactics that allowed him to grow his own follower base, which is attracting an audience that is much too young for your brand. This results in a higher amount of followers, but you aren’t selling any more product. The majority of people reading your company’s tweets every day have no reason to buy your product. At the end of the day, 50 engaged and motivated twitter followers are more valuable to you than 1 million followers who barely scan your tweets.
When developing a social media strategy, it’s more important to focus on the quality of followers you have, as opposed to the quantity. It’s easy to get caught up in the game of increasing your amount of followers, but you have to remember why you’re using social media in the first place. Keeping your social strategy in line with the rest of your marketing efforts will yield the greatest return on investment.
Tags: Business, Facebook, Online Communities, Social Networking, Twitter