Numbers do lie: the case of 4,000 indifferent Twitter followers

Relationships, not numbers, are vital in social media

Let me tell you a true story. I call it the “Case of the 4,000 Indifferent Twitter Followers.”

I recently took on a new client that wanted to leverage its existing social media assets (fans on Facebook and Twitter followers) to drive more visits to its Web site. This company had been building a social media presence for more than a year, and was unhappy with the lack of Web site visits that resulted from its efforts.

I was told that the client’s Facebook group was active and had almost 500 fans. The Twitter account boasted an impressive 4,000 followers. These followers didn’t give a lot of online feedback, but the client said some of them were committed. The highest priority for the client was to figure out why these social media efforts were not driving more people to the Web site. I was hired to come up with a strategy to resolve this issue.

I took the challenge, and I want to share a few observations about why social media wasn’t working for this client and how it can work for you:

Observation #1: The most important number isn’t the number of followers, it’s the number of engaged followers.