I often marvel at Tweeps that have a follower count north of 100K. I’m talking about non-celebrities of course. This is quite a feat no matter how one arrived at this number. While there are hundreds of Twitter tools out there that can assist in getting followers, it still takes time. You could use every trick in the book, including automated services (usually a no-no which violates Twitter’s TOS), and it would still probably take a year to get over the 100K line. While I’ve always found it to be an impressive number, I know it’s not a real number. Our followers include Bots and inactive users. Everyone has their own definition of an inactive follower, but I would say someone that hasn’t sent a Tweet in an over a month to be inactive. So how many inactive followers do you have?
SocialBro is a tool that allows you to manage and analyze your Twitter Community. It helps in getting your arms around the question in the title, and plenty more. Other Tools include monitoring a hashtag, analyzing your lists, Best time to Tweet, and analyzing competitors. SocialBro also provides a dynamite filtering system where you can isolate certain groups of users.
The chart above from SocialBro shows number of followers and when they last sent a Tweet.
Twitter Followers – 12,018
Tweeted in the last Month – 9,047 (Active)
Tweeted over a Month Ago – 2,971 (Inactive)
So based on my definition of an Active Follower (Tweeted in last month) my percentage is 75.3%. It is actually a bit higher than I anticipated. However, it also means that almost 3K or 24.7% of my Followers are dust. Valuable information that gives you a better grasp of your Twitter account. There isn’t any reason to follow these inactive Tweeps. If you’re serious about your Twitter account, this Tool in SocialBro gives you the foundation to do some cleanup.
Real-Time Analytics – Drum roll please…Earlier this week SocialBro unveiled a Real-Time Analytics feature to its Tool set. This allows you to view active users, and shows their total number of followers, that have tweeted in the last 5 minutes. The screen updates automatically every 10 seconds. This is some great stuff. The picture a below is a screenshot from Tuesday.
Damn, only 86. I actually watched over the last two days, and 97 was the highest it reached. So with over 12K Followers (yes I know about 3K are inactive) there are only 75-97 actively using Twitter at any one time. Ugh. Just to give you some perspective, my 2nd Twitter account started a month ago and just shy of 300 followers, was running between 15-20. This account is primarily filled with people I know. So 86/12,018 versus 17/291. Well, you can do the math. While you can’t control who follows you, being more selective of whom you follow should lead to a more efficient Twitter account.
So do you really have 100K followers? Well not really. Go over to SocialBro and find out your real numbers.
513 
578 
394
This is arguably More Important than Content…
Content is King! Content is King! Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I know Thoreau would be envious of your work. Unfortunately, if no one is showing up to see your incredible content, then what’s the point? Marketing and bringing people to read your blog posts arguably trumps content, at least in the beginning when you’re building an audience. The “Build it and they will Come” mentality doesn’t apply in this world. Over the last year
I’ve viewed hundreds of solid blog posts, and I’m always shocked on how many have little or no shares and no comments. They are not getting the exposure that their writing deserves. Are you getting the exposure you deserve? If not, you have to take it upon yourself to bring readers to your blog.
Facebook Groups: There are Facebook Groups out there where it’s all about sharing and reciprocation. Many FB groups are about helping each other. I’m sure many of you reading aren’t even aware of these groups. They work. If you’re interested in joining a FB group, ping me or leave comment. I’ll be happy to assist and get you started.
StumbleUpon: Yes, I wrote a post a few weeks ago dedicated to StumbleUpon. Maybe if you keep seeing the name, you’ll jump on board and take advantage of the traffic SU can bring to your blog. I’ve had over 2K visits from StumbleUpon in January, and average time on site was 1:32. Even from past posts, I’m still getting traffic daily from SU. These articles stay in StumbleUpon, and do not go off to pasture immediately. Please do yourself a favor and join SU today. The traffic is waiting for you.
Triberr: Bloggers helping Bloggers. Triberr is a fantastic way to get readers to find your blog. While Triberr was by “invitation only” last year, it is now open to all. Triberr is a community where you share posts with other bloggers in your tribe. These posts are sent out with a link through Twitter. A general rule of thumb is to have at least 500 Twitter followers. If you’re serious about your blog and gaining traffic, Triberr is a must. If you blog about Social Media, Technology, or Marketing and are interested in Triberr please let me know.
Empire Avenue: While Empire Avenue isn’t for everyone, if you do decide to register there are communities and missions within EA which are very helpful to bringing readers to your blog. Empire is a Social Network where you buy and sell other players in a virtual stock market. Your Social Media activity influences your score. Empire requires a fair amount time the first 4-6 months as you build up your portfolio.
Share Buttons: I see many blogs that only have Facebook and Twitter share buttons. I highly suggest at minimum you have the following: Facebook, Twitter, Google +, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn. Other share buttons to think about adding are: Digg, Buffer, Reddit, and Pinterest. Yes, there is a Pinterest share button now available. Update your site, and make it easier for your readers to share to their networks.
Comment on other Blogs: I understand it takes time to read a blog and then put a couple of sentences together, but most appreciate it and will reciprocate at some point. Do not comment with “nice post” or “nice article” and nothing else. That tells me you probably didn’t read a word, and are just leaving a message to leave a message. Start commenting on a few blogs a week to start. Inevitably you’ll be learning something new by reading the blog, and commenting is good practice that will help you get comments in return.
Keywords: Keywords can take on a life of its own, but at least try to come up with some Keywords that aren’t so highly competitive that you’ll have a good shot of landing on page 1 in Google. Social Media is a highly competitive keyword and is not a good choice for most of us, but think niche and chances are your work will show up in some organic searches.
Having a nice new shiny car is fantastic, but if you don’t put gas in the car it’s pretty useless. Go out there and put some gas in your blog.