During my last couple months at Firebelly, one of the major
things Duncan has taught me about social media marketing is that it is a
conversation. No matter what network you’re using, if someone responds to a tweet,
writes on your wall or sends you a message, the key to gaining loyal followers
is to respond.
Social media is a conversation, not a lecture.
Because I am in my early 20s, I’m going to use Jimmy Fallon
as support for my point. On his new talk show on NBC, Fallon is all about using social
media to connect to fans (See my past post on his social networking chops for more details).
Although Fallon uses Facebook, vlogs, blogs and everything
in between, Twitter is definitely his most popular social media site. On the day this blog was written,
Fallon had around 598,000 followers. (I’m
estimating the number because during the 30 minutes it took me to write this
blog, his followers jumped by 500). Comparatively, NBC’s “The Office” Rainn
Wilson, who has the same target market of
18 to 25-year-olds as Fallon, has roughly 398,700 followers.
Although their follower numbers aren’t too far apart, the
activity of both gentleman is vastly different. Both men @ reply. Both men
retweet (@RT). Both of these activities make conversation with fans, so both men are doing as Duncan instructs. They help
fans feel engaged. Knowing your favorite celebrity is reading your comments and
taking the time to respond builds loyalty unlike simply tweeting without
responding (aka using your Twitter as a diary rather than an instant messaging
system) ever could or will.
But Wilson could kick it up a notch. Let’s take a look at
the numbers on Tweetstats.com for both gentlemen’s Twitters to demonstrate why
in facts and figures.
Tweets last month (March): 349
Tweets per day last month (March): 7.5
Replies To: 58.23% of total tweets (more than half of his
tweeting is @s!)
Tweets last month (March): 179
Tweets per day last month (March): 4.8
Replies To: 14.12% of total tweets
See the difference? It can be inferred from this information
that if Wilson stepped up the tweeting, @s and @RTs, he could also increase his
followers to hit Fallon’s following number in no time.
So if you’re trying to market yourself or your business, get
@ing to your followers! Answer their questions, respond to their direct
messages, be engaged. Your fans will feel connected to you and, therefore, be
loyal. And loyalty is the key to any good marketing strategy, whether personal or for your company.
~ Alyson ~ @ Twitter
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