Do the number of Twitter Followers mean anything?

[andrewzarian]

As many of you already know social networking is a huge part of getting your content/brand out there. If used properly it can be an amazing tool that can make your brand, but what does the number of followers mean? Is it important to have as many followers possible? In my opinion the answer is yes and no. Its not the number of followers that matter, instead its the number of engagement that you have on twitter. I know many people with over 10k followers but have very little engagement with them. So whats the point?

Having a large number helps with first impression. you drive a BMW but have nothing in the bank. so whats better?

What do you guys think?

[ChaseShumway]

I agree Andrew, it's more about the engagement than the numbers. Especially on Twitter with all the 'bots' that are out there. I'll use a hash tag in a tweet and within minutes we'll have a new follower that is precisely related to that hash tag. And their feed is nothing but links to other sites or 'win an iPad' contests.

I'll admit, I don't spend nearly as much time on Twitter as I do on Facebook when it comes to our show. I'm not a fan of Twitter. But that's a whole other forum thread. On Facebook we have a little over 800 fans or likes or whatever you call them these days and we get more interaction than on Twitter with stuff we post, but still not very much. Mainly due to Facebook's stupid EdgeRank algorithm. Silly me for thinking that if someone likes our show page, that means they want to see all of our posts or any product or service's page for that matter. Facebook's servers disagree. Most page posts on Facebook only reach about 10% to 12% of your total audience, unless you want to pay money... and even then, your post still won't reach your entire fan base on there.

Anywho... back to Twitter. I always make it a point to respond to anyone who tweets at us directly or retweets something, etc. I also try and thank every person who follows us with a quick tweet, unless it's blatantly obvious it's one of those bots, then I don't even bother. I've noticed just by doing that it can have a ripple effect and bring in another follower or two that followed the person you just thanked.

I used to do what I called 'courtesy follows' where I'd follow anyone that followed us. But I realized that's really a disservice to both of us. They get a follower that isn't necessarily interested in their tweets (like one of those bots) and I get a clogged up Twitter stream full of stuff I'll probably scroll past. So I cut that practice out early on. Now I just thank them, and if I truly want to read their tweets, I'll follow them back.

One things for sure, nobody wants a show feed that does nothing but promote the show. I keep show promotion to a minimum. Mainly when we're about to go live and when the episode goes up for download the next day. Otherwise, most of the time I post stuff that I think the followers would enjoy. Articles, pictures, videos or whatever. Stuff that we would likely talk about on the show.

Ultimately I'd be happier with less, but more engaged followers than have thousands that just don't seem interested.... or aren't real people.

[William Thomas]

Not sure I have no followers on twitter and no one comes to my broadcast...you be the judge....lol

[Chase Nunes]

Personally, I don't think it matters how many followers that you have. It's a matter of engagement. If you're having a conversation back-and-forth with your most engaged followers, then your meeting the goal of Twitter. Personal communication is the key here.

I care less about how many followers I have. I just love chatting with the ones that engage with me!

[podcastcoach]

Rob Walch of Wizzard Media / Libsyn did a post about this a little while back and the stats show there is no link between podcast downloads and twitter followers http://podcast411.libsyn.com/twitter...ast-listeners-

[andrewzarian]

I would love to see what type of shows he used in his study.

[Sheena Mathieson]

I would prefer to have both, the no. of my followers and also their individual engagement, because if you only prefer or set to one then it would look/feel like a one-way entertainment if you view it on some points. Well its just my opinion

[Podnutter]

I see people on twitter that have only a few thousand followers and their engagement levels are much higher then people who have 35k. It all comes down to who is following you.