Brands must engage on Twitter or risk losing 15% of new followers
Follower retention metrics and management are more important than ever as businesses invest in Twitter advertising to increase the size of their communities, new data has shown.
Follower retention metrics and management are more important than ever as businesses invest in Twitter advertising to increase the size of their communities, new data has shown.
Follower retention metrics and management are more important than ever as businesses invest in Twitter advertising to increase the size of their communities, new data has shown.
According to Twitter management platform SocialBro, businesses on the social media site will lose 15% of new followers within three weeks unless they make an effort to engage early. Sample data from the company has shown that famous or influential individuals (100,000+ followers) will lose one to three per cent of new followers in the first week and 10 per cent after three weeks.
This rate will increase to five per cent and 15% for companies, while ‘ordinary’ individuals can expect to lose 20 per cent of new followers in the first week and 40% over three weeks unless they make an effort to engage with these users.
In a bid to increase follower numbers, brands are spending more on social advertising than ever before, leading to Twitter’s recent announcement of ad revenues of $220 million in Q4 2013; a 121% increase on the same period in 2012.
Javier Buron, CEO and founder of SocialBro, says: “Unsurprisingly, the more influential you are, the more likely your followers are to stick with you. But the bigger your community, the greater scope there is to gain an edge over your competitors by engaging your followers.”
He argued that brands must “Make an effort to ‘follow back’, using lists to listen to your most important followers. Behind every profile is a real person, so do your best to interact with them, just as you would if they came in to your shop. Mention them; thank them for following you; favourite their tweets. Obviously you need to prioritise those that are real accounts and those that represent a real opportunity, but try not to ignore new followers or they will soon say goodbye.”
Back when I used Twitter seriously, I was delighted to lose 20 per cent of new followers in the first week and 40% over three weeks, because a high proportion of new followers were bots.
Regarding the observation that more famous or influential accounts keep their followers longer: this is exactly what you’d expect if the lost followers are bots, because famous/influential accounts will get a larger number of real people joining them because of the whole “famous” thing, and hence a smaller proportion of bots.
If you engage with bots, e.g. by following them back, they certainly stick around because that’s how they are programmed, which is consistent with these figures.
So, is this report about all accounts, in which case I think what’s happening is that bots are joining and then leaving unless engaged with, which you probably don’t want. Or just genuine accounts, in which case the advice is good?