Photo Credit: criana
Hi Social Media ReInvention Community Members,
We've migrated Social Media ReInvention's website to a new WordPress site!
I made this move to improve my services to my readers. Please continue following, reading, and subscribing to my blog at our new location.
Many thanks,
Tony Faustino
Photo Credit: Matt From London
Earning Twitter followers for new users can be challenging. Are there best practices for organically increasing Twitter followers? Yes!
A quick Google search for “best practices for increasing twitter followers” generates 28,300,000 search engine results pages (SERPs):
28 million-plus! No wonder new users find building a following daunting. Who has time to rifle through SERPs totaling more than the individual populations of Peru or Afghanistan?
Here are 11 important Twitter best practices to increase followers. 17 research articles validate these best practices. I hope this post saves new users precious time (and frustration).
Fill out your Twitter profile completely. People won't follow eggs (or take those profiles seriously).
Source 1: Dan Zarella -- [Infographic] 5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Get More Followers
Source: Dan Zarella -- 5 Scientifically Proven Ways to Get More Followers
Tweet short. 70 characters is killer. Make your tweets easy to share. You’ll earn more RTs (and followers).
Source 3: Fast Company: THE PROVEN IDEAL LENGTH OF EVERY TWEET, FACEBOOK POST, AND HEADLINE ONLINE
Source: Fast Company: THE PROVEN IDEAL LENGTH OF EVERY TWEET, FACEBOOK POST, AND HEADLINE ONLINE
Posting lots of helpful links earns more followers. Positive correlations exist between high follower counts and high link sharing.
Source 4: Dan Zarella: New Data -- Tweet Lots of Links to Get Followers
Source: Dan Zarella: New Data -- Tweet Lots of Links to Get Followers
Tweet a minimum of 3 to 5 times daily. Your followers probably didn’t see your first tweet. “Second-chance tweets” help you reach 30% of your Twitter audience.
Research shows higher engagement later in the week (especially on weekends). Click Through Rate CTRs) and retweets (RTs) are higher.
Source 8: Kiss Metrics — The Science of Social Timing, Part 1 -- Social Network
Think of the “.@twittername” as an "Email Reply All.” It makes all the difference in gaining new followers (for you and the account you mentioned). Not including the “. (period)” shares your tweet with a smaller subset of his followers and yours.
Source 10: Twitter: The Basics -- What are replies and mentions?
Many Twitter sharing widgets automate only the article / blog post title. Go the extra mile by tracking down and mentioning the author's Twitter handle in your tweet.
The Internet rewards intentional and consistent acts of kindness in the long term.
Source 11: 7 Ways I Accidentally Got More Twitter Followers (and 7 Ways You Can on Purpose)
Hashtags create strategic opportunities for non-follower discovery. They differentiate your tweets from the herd. Hashtags increase the chances of another account noticing and taking action on your tweet.
That action could be “a follow."
Source 12: Buffer — 10 Surprising New Twitter Stats to Help You Reach More Followers
Source 13: CoSchedule: Best Practices Guide For Making Sure Your Posts Look Good on Social Media
Source: Buffer — 10 Surprising New Twitter Stats to Help You Reach More Followers
Review these charts from Buffer’s research. Images are everything.
Source 14: Buffer — How Twitter's Expanded Images Increase Clicks, Retweets and Favorites
Most #FF / #FollowFriday tweets cram as many Twitter handles as possible into one tweet. It’s great this person wants to introduce seven new people to her/his following:
The Problem. What's the reason for following these accounts?
The Solution. Personalize your #FF tweets with specific recommendations.
The Result. You may make someone smile.
Source 15: Ask Aaron Lee: How To Do Proper Follow Friday on Twitter
Source 16: Search Engine Journal: How to Get Twitter Followers
Link your Twitter profile with important online assets: your social networks (i.e., LinkedIn and Facebook), blog, website, and email signature. Include your Twitter profile on key offline marketing collateral (e.g., business cards, company letterhead, etc.).
Integrate your personal brand assets.
Source 17: Search Engine Journal — How to Get Twitter Followers
Photo Credit: Danny Sullivan
What did I forget?
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you. I’m also here to read, listen and learn from YOUR PERSPECTIVE.
Comments are open. Let’er rip!
Ideas that spread win. You can subscribe to my blog via email (and can unsubscribe any time). Please share my work with your friends. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Photo Credit: Gerard Stolk (vers Noël)
Thank YOU. Publishing and writing for Social Media ReInvention Community Members brings me immense joy and fulfillment. I can’t thank you enough for your amazing support and generosity to read and share my content. Thank you of sticking with me for five and half years! Time's flown by.
If you missed some of these, you can check them out here:
1. Lesson 2 of 6: Reinventing You After Age 50 Case Study -- Michael Ovitz and Shifting Your Behavior
2. Mark Zuckerberg's 5 Point Plan for Facebook's Future Growth and Mobile Domination
4. 3 Career Management Lessons for a Social Media Age I Learned From My Dad
5. Lesson 3A of 6: Reinventing You After Age 50 Case Study -- Michael Ovitz and Developing Validators
6. Book Review: The New Rules of Sales and Service by David Meerman Scott
7. #FAIL: #AppleLive Debacle Exposes Apple's Real-Time Marketing Weaknesses
8. 4 More Gifts to Support Others That Power Your After Age 50 Reinvention
9. 3 Tips on Writing and Storytelling from Twitter's Investor Relations Team
10. Tim Cook's Killer Innovation Hack: Diversity in Thought in Apple's Ecosystem (with a Capital D)
That’s Kind of a Big Deal. I’m grateful because I reached that achievement through your support:
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Share-worthy links Social Media ReInvention Community Members can enjoy during Sunday brunch:
1) YouTube: Enhance Your Lighting - GE Commercial. Jeff Goldblum provides a brilliant and hysterical performance in the GE advertising campaign for #EnhanceYourLighting. Views continue exploding (1,394,000+ when I wrote this post). GE takes mundane advertising and transforms it into funny, memorable, and campy content.
Hat Tip -- Fast Company: JEFF GOLDBLUM GETS TOPLESS FOR GE, NYC GETS A NEW HEART: THE TOP 5 ADS OF THE WEEK.
2) YouTube: Introducing the Post-it® Plus App. No, I won't shut up about this app because I'm a Post-it® geek. Welcome to The Collaboration Age. Enjoy this video and wear your Post-it® geekiness as a badge of honor.
3) Forbes: Gone From Microsoft, Ballmer Begins A Surprising Second Act. George Anders wrote this great profile about Steve Ballmer (former Microsoft CEO, now owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise). Anders' article about how Ballmer is approaching this phase of his professional life is a great example of personal branding and reinvention:
4) Forbes: Finding Alibaba -- How Jerry Yang Made The Most Lucrative Bet In Silicon Valley History. Parmy Olson reveals Jerry Yang's second act reinvention after leaving Yahoo in 2012. He's now a venture capitalist, Founding Partner of AME Cloud Ventures, and power broker.
Olson's article proves trust and familiarity are the heart and soul of business relationships (versus Excel spreadsheets forecasting ROI). Jack Ma (Chairman and CEO of Alibaba) and Yang's friendship started in 1997 (and may save Yahoo).
Not convinced? The Forbes article cites 36 billion reasons.
5) The New York Times: New York Times Plans to Eliminate 100 Jobs in the Newsroom. Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. (Publisher) and Mark Thompson (Chief Executive) announced the cuts October 1st. Here are some direct quotes:
I admire and respect how a revered publishing institution like The New York Times attempts to adapt a Lean Startup mindset and culture. Yes, they're conducting experiments, validating learning, pivoting, etc.
But, it takes more than carefully sprinkled buzzwords in another announcement explaining job cuts. Organizations like The Times (and others) must wake up to the painful realization that lean startups do not require 1990's staffing levels and infrastructure.
Why doesn't the New York Times "just get on with it." They will thrive as a digital publisher. If it wants to go fully digital, why not commit now and:
But, it won't.
So, the bloodshed continues ...
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Share-worthy links Social Media ReInvention Community Members can enjoy during Sunday brunch:
1) MarketingLand: Up Close: Ello, The New Social Network That Is So Hot Right Now. I read / curated many articles on Silicon Valley's latest social networking sweetheart. Martin Beck's comprehensive review is a must-read:
2) Fast Company: LOVE POST-IT NOTES? YOU'LL LOVE THIS NEW PRODUCTIVITY APP THAT DIGITIZES THEM. 3-M developed this brilliant iPhone app, Post-it(R) Plus.
I'm a visual person. Post-It(R) Notes are my storyboarding savior (colleagues say I have an illness and should seek professional help).
3) TechCrunch: Closing The Gaps In Mobile Health. Dan Pelino's piece describes the IBM-Apple value proposition and long term implications of the Apple econsystem in a real-world example. Look out healthcare this strategic alliance wants to disrupt your industry. Their solutions will focus on physicians and patients.
And, speaking of IBM ...
4) Fortune: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty Gets Past the Big Blues. IBM's first female CEO shares her thoughts on the Apple alliance and her strategic vision for Big Blue's latest transformation:
5) Budweiser: Global Be(er) Responsible Day | “Friends Are Waiting” Campaign. The #FriendsAreWaiting spot to discourage drunk driving is storytelling brilliance in 60 seconds or less (almost). This video hits all the right notes: emotional, memorable, conflict, and resolution. Somewhere, Pixar creatives are smiling.
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Exciting news for the Social Media ReInvention Community! LinkedIn Pulse is featuring my post #FAIL: #AppleLive Debacle Exposes Apple's Real-Time Marketing Weaknesses in its Social Media Channel!
This is a HUGE honor. The LinkedIn Pulse Team is highly selective when it comes to featured posts. When LinkedIn Pulse selects and promotes your content, you gain increased access to millions of LinkedIn members. For example, the LinkedIn Pulse Social Media Channel has 3,043,607 subscribers!
At the time of writing, the post has received on LinkedIn:
This is the second time LinkedIn Pulse featured my content in its Social Media Channel. 3 Tips on Writing and Storytelling from Twitter's Investor Relations Team was featured in August 2014.
I couldn't have achieved this success without your continuing support, generosity, and loyalty. I'm absolutely thrilled!
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
To say today's #AppleLive stream event went poorly is an understatement. I tried to watch from my iPhone, but the audio glitches with simultaneous translation and poor video quality made it unwatchable. Apparently, I wasn't alone in my frustration:
Instead, I monitored the Twitter streams of the Wall Street Journal's Johanna Stern, Geoffrey Fowler, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Brian Fitzgerald, and Wilson Rothman. Kudos to them for providing the real-time support and updates #AppleLive failed to deliver.
Apple acquired Topsy in December 2013. It was a brilliant move to bolster their real-time and mobile capabilities in their products and services because consumers live in a one-screen world. So with all this rich Twitter data, why isn't real-time Twitter communications with its rabid fanbase a strategic priority among senior leadership?
Let's examine how Apple's Senior's Leadership used Twitter during the biggest and most important live event in the company's history in five (5) years:
It shocks me Apple's top digital talent posted a total of four (4) tweets during the live event. 4. That's it. Why was he silent during the #AppleLive stream meltdown? Why wasn't he communicating with fans during this crisis?
The media hype teed up this event as an unprecendented public relations coup for Apple. Didn't Apple remember the negative criticism it and other Silicon Valley royalty received in recent months about gender imbalance and lack of diversity?
Therefore, why wasn't Angela Ahrendts a visible part of the whole damn event and the introduction of Apple's most important product in recent memory? She transformed Burberry into one of the most coveted and successful global luxury brands. The Apple Watch pricing is clearly positioned for the luxury demographic.
Instead, we get this. One (1) tweet. Are you kidding me????? Why was one of the world's greatest marketers silently sitting on the sideline????
The #AppleLive stream disaster exposed the consequences of Apple deciding not to participate in real-time communications during the Steve Jobs era. Sadly, they're continuing on the same path with Tim Cook.
Smart competitors will capitalize on this opening. If you can't compete on size and brute force, compete on speed and agility. That's how David beat Goliath.
Bonus #1: Check out Dan Munro's LinkedIn post: Apple's Colossal Marketing Mix
Bonus #2: Read Emmanuel Kolade's LinkedIn post: Apple Pay - Why Apple is Giving 500 Million People a U2 Album for Free
Bonus #3: See Georgia Wells' Wall Street Journal article: ‘Songs of Innocence’ Giving You Vertigo? Remove U2′s Free Album From iTunes
Bonus #4: Go to this Apple Support page to remove U2's "Songs of Innocence" album from your iTunes Music Library and Purchases:
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Last week Ryan Holmes, Hootsuite's CEO, published "What’s (Really) Behind Gender Imbalance in Tech Careers" in the LinkedIn Publishing Platform. He also published an earlier version titled, "Culture or Nurture? Getting to the Bottom of Tech’s Gender Imbalance," on the Hootsuite Blog.
So far, Ryan's LinkedIn post earned:
Wow! I'd love to drive traffic and engagement levels for my own LinkedIn content!
Yes, Ryan holds LinkedIn INfluencer status. On a daily basis, he cultivates and promotes a prominent and trusted personal brand. He's CEO of services utilized by scores of digital marketing practitioners (including myself).
Paraphrasing another media influencer, Ryan Holmes is kind of a big deal.
I'm not a big deal. I suspect most self-publishers in LinkedIn's 313 million membership base aren't either. But, LinkedIn inFluencers aren't the only members with valuable writing, thoughts, and experiences to contribute to the LinkedIn Community.
Through disciplined practice and study, we can learn how to create great content (just like inFluencers like Ryan Holmes). Let's examine Ryan's post for clues on what to "steal." In the words of Pablo Picasso ...
Easier said then done. I changed my headline 20+ times. It's an iterative process. Here are the headlines Ryan published for the Hootsuite blog and LinkedIn:
Notice the tight precision of both headlines. In Ryan's LinkedIn post, "(Really)" caught my attention and caused me to click on his post. The Hootsuite blog example poses a question. If we want to learn Ryan's conclusions, I have to read the post. Great link bait.
Check out the efficient number of characters (with spaces):
See how both headlines are Twitter-optimitized. Each leaves lots of room for retweets (RTs) and additional comments for Ryan's ~52,000 followers.
Bonus: Buffer's articles for writing compelling headlines:
The picture Ryan selected and credited cuts straight to his argument. It's ironic, humorous, and to-the-point. An unforgettable lead-in to initiate an important discussion.
Bonus: flickr's Creative Commons Photo Galleries. Talented, generous photographers share their art in return for proper attribution. When using their photos, do the right thing and link back to their flickr gallery.
The gender imbalance issue in tech gained news momentum in late May 2014 when Google released its workforce diversity numbers and accelerated when Facebook released its workforce diversity data in late June 2014:
Workforce diversity in tech is an important, high traction news subject. Ryan re-framed this situation by opportunistically:
His leadership in understanding of this particular situation is a case study in top-down, CEO-driven, real-time communications and newsjacking (the art of introducing your ideas into breaking news stories). It's 21st century, CEO media savvy and tactics at its finest.
Pay attention to breaking news events. They may inspire your creativity for your next post.
Bonus: HubSpot Inbound Marketing Blog -- The Inbound Marketer's Complete Guide to Newsjacking
Ryan distinguishes his communication by writing a first-hand account acknowledging gender imbalance in both Hootsuite and the technology industry. His Hoosuite Blog and LinkedIn Publishing Platform posts cite his company's diversity numbers among 600 employees:
In his words:
"This comes out a bit better—but certainly not much—than at the other companies**. What exactly are we doing differently and, more importantly, what we can we do better?"
**Note: "other companies" refers to Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Intel, and Twitter (mentioned in Ryan's previous paragraph).
He follows his acknowledgement by proposing solutions at both industry and company levels:
Bonus: About The Next Big Thing Foundation's YouTube Video --
Ryan concludes his Hootsuite Blog post with an inspiring CTA: Help Us Change Tech's Gender Imbalance. Wow.
I understand why he wrote a different CTA in his LinkedIn Post. But, I believe he earned the right to publish that CTA in both posts.
Reid Hoffman founded LinkedIn on the promise of network intelligence mutually benefiting a community at mass scale. We have to put ourselves out there and be vulnerable. Holding our knowledge, ideas, and writing hostage benefits no one.
Ryan Holmes does all of the above (and more).
More importantly, publishing his LinkedIn post and stating his call-to-action on the Hootsuite Blog may positively impact ONE woman's professional career prospects (maybe her entire life).
Making a difference in one person's professional life doesn't require 33,000+ views. It takes ONE VIEW of ONE POST.
That post could be yours ...
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
After reading David Meerman Scott's blog post on Silver Oaks Cellars (it's also published here on LinkedIn), I checked out their website to learn which social media channels anchor their digital marketing strategy. I discovered a remarkable, content marketing strategy sharing three (3) types of visual stories emotionally connecting:
1. Special moments with amazing products (as described in David's post).
2. Remarkable people who craft amazing products.
3. Beautiful locations and special moments with amazing products and remarkable people.
Silver Oak Cellars unifies and tells these visual stories through multiple social channels:
Here's a look at how Silver Oak Cellars uses their visual, multi-channel social media strategy to emotionally connect special moments with their audience.
When I combed through Silver Oaks Cellars multiple social channels, these visual stories emotionally connected with me. That emotional connection differentiates a brand, a service, a product, or a company from its competition.
And, that emotional connection is unique for each of us. That unique, individual meaning defines special moments.
How do you emotionally connect with your audience? What works for you? Is it images, video, words, voice, or something else?
Please let me know in the comments. I want to connect too.
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Earlier this week, Twitter released its 2014 Q2 Earnings Report. Here are highlights as reported by The Wall Street Journal's Yoree Koh:
How Twitter's Investor Relations Team (@TwitterIR) framed these positive results is worth studying. Their critical and judgmental audience includes (but is not limited to):
Writing and storytelling skills are important in the financial and investment community. Investor Relations Teams are tasked with building credibility, trust, and transparency. The ability to convey confidence with a compelling and memorable story (particularly when financial performance suffers) makes or breaks organizations.
Real-time, Internet speed and scope, play a crucial role in addressing public scrutiny. Here are three (3) writing and storytelling tips I learned from the Twitter Investor Relations Team.
Twitter recognized before any social media network the competitive advantages and implications of real-time communications. It knew consumers were moving towards a mobile, one-screen world.
And, it maximized this competitive advantage during the July 29th earnings call. Topsy analysis shows @TwitterIR's (Twitter's Investor Relations Team) published 23 real-time tweets supporting the earnings presentation.
Communicating financial analyses (or other complex information) into simple, bite-size messages isn't easy. Twitter's Investor Relations Team addresses this challenge head-on knowing they have to frame a memorable, compelling story in "pulses" of 140 characters or less. I'm sure their rehearsals resulted in multiple iterations of tweets to constantly refine and simplify the gameday message.
According to Topsy, here's the top tweet during the July 29th call ...
... and it clocks in at 136 characters (with spaces).
As an individual Twitter investor, I appreciate and respect the Investor Relations Team sharing key metrics like quarterly revenue, EBITDA, and net income. But, the tweet has too much math for my simple brain.
The hyperlink and chart are vital. They impart two (2) positive impressions:
The high "retweets" and "favorites" by the conference call attendees indicates this important information was share-worthy and memorable:
Leverage your strengths. Be brief. Draw pictures. Define your story's outcome from the beginning. Structure the argument.
That's hard. But, your audience will love you for it.
If yes, please share it with your friends and subscribe to my blog. Many Thanks!
Tony Faustino is a marketing and corporate strategist. He thinks and writes about how The Internet reinvents marketing strategy in his personal blog, Social Media ReInvention. Follow his tweets @tonyfaustino or circle him on Google+.
Inbound Marketing Certified Professional and Author, Social Media ReInvention Blog
Recent Comments