Who do you follow on Twitter?
I’m a Twitter junkie, and I make no apologies for it. As of the time of this post, I have 661 followers and I follow 487 people. Not huge numbers, by any one’s measure. However, I’m absolutely thrilled by the people following me and those whom I follow. Why? Because my take has always been quality, not quantity. I use Twitter as a sales tool, a marketing effort, a newspaper, a fashion magazine and a celebrity gossip rag. As a result, I follow people who fit into one of those categories, and I don’t get tied up in a numbers game.
In my experience, the folks who fit into one of my categories are of much more value to me than 10 times the followers who don’t fit in any category or basically serve as spam. As a result, I have very strict guidelines about whom I follow and I rarely deviate. Following my own rules has kept me interested in Twitter and resulted in tons of great information. I’m not overloaded with superfluous tweets, and I’m always reading things that interest me.
1. Location, location, location. I follow people who are in my area. Even in the virtual world of Twitter, I find that locals have more relevant news, events and recommendations. If you’re interested in your neighborhood and/or city happenings, locals are always the best ”follows.” Not to mention that you may actually get a chance to meet these folks in person. I’ve met many of my Twitter friends and they’ve become acquaintences and clients!
2. How frequent is the Tweet? I find that folks who only have 3 or 4 posts are typically “trying out” Twitter, and many drop off after the first few days. At the same time, folks who are tweeting 30 or 40 times per day actually seem more like spamers. Most of them don’t tweet about any significant events or they try to tweet about every significant event. The tweeps I follow typically have 3-10 tweets per day. These people are obviously involved in Twitter and they tweet when they have something to say — not just to hear themselves tweet.
3. Hey, you’re interesting! Typically, the best follows are people who share interesting information about my profession or my hobbies. I get a lot of relevant information this way. It’s similar to reading a trade publication or a newspaper every day, except it’s up-to-the-minute information.
4. We’re engaged. No, not in the wedding way, in the conversation way. After all, it’s more about the conversation than the content. If I tweet something and someone retweets or comments – I follow that person. Twitter is all about engaging conversation. If someone is willing to “talk” to me, I’ll “talk” back.
Do you have guidelines for Twitter follows? I’d love to hear about them. Maybe we’ll end up following each other!
Tags: social marketing, social media, Twitter