Your Twitter Following is Not What Drives Your Twitter Success.
Twitter is a fun Social Media platform. In 140 characters or less you can permanently imprint your thoughts on the Internet. Google indexes each Tweet as its own unique page. Yes, Twitter can be a powerful tool. But the truth is, it’s only as powerful as the people listening to your Tweets. Having hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of followers won’t mean squat unless some of those followers are actually listening to you.
But how do you know if someone is listening to your Tweets? How do you get your followers to start listening? And how many listeners do you really need anyway?
Twitter listeners will re-tweet what you have to say. They’ll respond to you with a @reply or send a DM (direct message for those not hip to Twitter lingo). And if the listener really likes what you have to say, she will be a part of the conversation with you and encourage others in Twitter-ville to listen-up and pay attention to what you’re talking about.
Think about the people you follow on Twitter. Why do you follow them? Of those you follow, who are you actually listening to? Why? What would make you start listening to someone new?
Your Twitter Success Can Significantly Improve with One Listener.
Whether or not you are a night owl, you likely know who Conan O’Brien is. Former host of NBC’s the Tonight Show, he decided to start Tweeting in late February. He said it’s because he was bored. I’d like to think it has something to do with a massive Social Media outpouring of love and respect. Between the I’m with Coco Facebook fanpage, which is still growing fans in record speed, and the Team Coco website to promote his “Legally Prevented from Being Funny on TV Tour,” the man clearly has some clout among his fans. Both of those sites are byproducts of his fans’ displeasure with his dismissal from NBC. His fans are listening. So when Conan decided to start Tweeting, it was a pretty big deal. He’s not allowed to be funny on TV, but he can be funny on Twitter. Conan decided not to follow anyone for about a week. Maybe he just wasn’t in the mood to listen to anyone. But on March 5, he decided to follow Sarah Killen aka LovelyButton simply because she likes gummy dinosaurs and peanut butter. Conan O’Brien was listening to her. And he wants to keep listening to her.
And the best part for Sarah? It’s not thatshe’s gone from having 3 followers to over 25K followers. Remember, it’s not about the followers, it’s about the listeners. Because Sarah found 1 key listener, she has been bombarded with gifts and media attention. Her life has completely changed thanks to just 1 listener.
True, that 1 listener is a pretty big celebrity and the likelihood of the rest of us reaching sudden fame like that is about as much as any of us winning the Mega-Millions. But, that’s not the point. The point is, it only takes 1 listening person to make a huge impact on your business.
Know Your Audience and Tweet What They Want to Hear.
The key to converting followers to listeners is to know who your audience is. Who are the people you are trying to attract? What do they want to hear? Notice i didn’t say “need” to hear. Most people are driven by wants, not needs. Conan O’Brien wanted to be entertained or amused. I suspect he was looking for something odd that would make him giggle. And he found it in Sarah’s Tweet.
If you are using Twitter as part of your Social Media plan to grow your business, be strategic with it. Paint a picture of that perfect customer – your listener – and Tweet directly to her. But, remember to balance your Tweets.Yes, you want to send little sound bites about your business, offer tips and tricks that will interest people, encourage interaction, and be useful to your audience. But, don’t be afraid to Tweet about something non-business related. The best Tweeters are the ones who can balance business with personal messages. That doesn’t mean you have to share what you ate for breakfast or how being stuck in traffic is boring. But, you could Tweet about watching your kids play soccer or how helping your 1st grader with Math helps you remember basic concepts about life.
When you get to know your listeners and start giving them what they want, they will love you. Why? Because they will know you are listening to them. And when they feel listened to, they feel important. And you will be the one they remember the next time they go looking for your product or service.
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