Twitter Basics: Who To Follow On Twitter
Tintero Creative is thrilled to announce our March guest blogger: Beth Bridges Johnston of Social Bridges! Beth is one of our social media sisters here in the Denver area and part of the the Colorado Women In Social Media organization. She specializes in social media consulting and management for small startups. Her smile is contagious and her laughter will turn your day around. And, hopefully today, you’ll look at Twitter a little bit differently!
Do you ever wonder as a small business owner, “Who should I follow on Twitter? Does it really matter?”
Perhaps you’ve attracted a following on your account but aren’t exactly sure if you should follow everyone back. As well, some people just want to inflate their following to appear influential, so they may solicit (or trick) you into following them.
It’s important to be very discerning about the people and accounts you are following. You don’t want to clutter your coveted feed space with boring, bogus or even spammy tweets. Also, the accounts you follow say a lot about you and your organization. You want to ensure, as a business, you are sending the right message about your mission and vision by the accounts you allow into your space.
Here are some things to consider before hitting that “follow” button:
1. Do they have a legitimate profile picture and bio?
Believe it or not, a good profile picture and a sincere bio write-up is a great way to evaluate someone’s “follow worthiness”.
Avoid those who haven’t taken the time to upload a decent photo or logo/graphic. The default Twitter Egg is a sure sign that the account is either a spammer (or a Twitter newbie – which isn’t a bad thing, you just want to ensure the newbie in question is trying to move in the right direction). A custom background and an imaginative header image is also a good sign that the Tweeter is invested in maintaining their account.
Their bio speaks worlds about their ability to get their personality or mission across in just 160 characters. External links (website, blogs, etc.) are a good sign that they have some depth, but avoid those that tend to “advertise” a little too much.
2. Do they have positive Tweet Stats?
The best statistics to consider are right on the front page of the account: How many times they have tweeted, when their last tweet was posted, and what is their ratio of followers to following.
The number of tweets is relative to how long the account has been active. But someone with 100 or 1000 tweets is likely to be more interesting than someone with 14.
As well, are they consistently posting? Check the timestamp on their last few posts. If they aren’t current or consistent, the account is likely not active enough to be “follow-worthy”.
Lastly, someone who has more followers than those they are following probably indicates they are sharing things that are useful and/or interesting, and others have endorsed the account as worthwhile. Likewise, if the account doesn’t follow anyone, don’t expect a lot of interaction out of them.
3. Finally, is their stuff good?
Content is King. Review the posts they are making. If they consistently post pictures of cute kittens, and your business has nothing to do with animals, not a good fit. As well, if they use profanity or obviously subscribe to a belief system that doesn’t jive with your company’s message, avoid them.
What you’re looking for here are tweets that share compelling, like-minded, and interesting content. At the end of the day, some accounts may not have a pretty custom header, or a profile picture, but if what they are sharing is in-line with what you’re all about, it’s worth a “follow”.
The point is, don’t ever feel obligated to follow someone back just because they follow you or retweet some of your posts. Your company’s reputation is far more important, and developing appropriate online relationships is a huge factor.
Sometimes, less is more.
Beth (Bridges) Johnston, MBA, is a Certified Social Media Manager, with a passion for helping small businesses succeed in their online marketing through social media. She and her team at Social Bridges are dedicated to ensuring that your business capitalizes on the constantly changing social media trends.