Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Everyone Wants Real Twitter Followers but No One Tells You How...


Do you need Twitter followers who are real people, and are interested in your story or product?

Have no idea how to find them?

That's what we do.

I'll get right to the point:

We find people who are interested in your message or what you are selling, and let them know you exist.

The process is very similar to the advertising industry's. First, we identify your goals for your Twitter account. Personal, business, or a combination, and what you would like to accomplish in the short and long term. How they integrate with your overall social media strategy and personal, company or product goals.

One of our clients, an international labor union leader, had the goal to increase his awareness with government and elected officials and the media, so that he and his union would have a bigger impact on the political stage. We implemented our strategy which included starting his Twitter account, growing it in six months to 75,000 followers, helping him with how and what to tweet for the highest impact. He is now being followed, and retweeted by Senators, the press, the White House Press Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor, along with other labor leaders across the world. He also receives direct messages and communicates with his followers in a way that he would never have been able to do without Twitter. It took a bit of work but we got it done.

An Advertising CEO wanted 2,000 followers BEFORE his first Tweet, which would be sent out in less than a month. That was a bit complicated since tweeting attracts followers, but we also got it done. Now only a few months later that client has 10,000 followers.

​One of Forbes 2014 Top 50​​ CMO's​​ hired us to create his personal Twitter following from Day One. He now has 10's of thousands of CEO's, CFO's, CMO's, industry leaders, and journalists following him.​ And his Mom, of course.

A movie critic/entertainment business client was becoming stagnant -- he was getting less work, and his listener-ship was falling on his main radio show. We used Twitter to increase his visibility in strategic areas and in 60 days, he received five completely new entertainment contracts/shows that he had never been offered in the past. Since then, his awareness is up, his ratings are up, his Q is up and he continues to get into meetings and get new projects. Our client recently broke 65,000 Twitter followers after just 9 months.

The next step is to identify the targets of your Tweets in broad strokes.

This can be current and/or future clients, industries, interests like motorcycles, geography, demographics, click throughs to your website, where ever the client's priorities lead us. Most people have a number of targets, based on their goals. We are also willing to change mid-stride. It's not rocket science. Priorities can and will change. And the nature of new media is flexibility.

One of the keys to the way this works, is that you follow all your Twitter Followers back. Only celebrities and rock stars can afford not to follow people back. For them it is a sign of status. A status many of us wish for. If you aren't willing to follow people back, I can't help you.

The reality is that no one "needs" to follow you. You have to form a bond with your Twitter Followers. They have to trust you and your information. The simplest form of showing that trust is to care enough about your Twitter Followers to hear what they have to say.

So how do we build your Twitter following? It is a bit science, a bit art, hard work, and a lot of experience.

We find people on Twitter who meet your unique set of criteria, we follow them, and if they don't follow back, we un-follow and find new followers. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. The tactics change a bit as we reach Twitter milestones and our client's milestones.

Our team does this by using existing public software, proprietary software we created, reading individual bio's & tweets, and hard won instinct. We literally scan every possible follower's account, and push a button to follow them. It can't be done with software alone. The final arbitrator of whom to follow is one of our highly trained associates, based on the strategies that we develop for each of our clients.

We will find "real people" interested in your work or message. We Never "Buy" Followers -- We "Earn" them. And it is a very labor intensive process.

If your goal is to create large numbers of Twitter followers, and it doesn't matter who they are, if they are real or not, or if they are even listening to you -- we are NOT the company for you. We build a fan base that will interact, and has a propensity to be interested in you and your message. To Like, ReTweet, and/or click on links.

That's not to say you won't end up with tens of thousands of followers. The difference is that the "Custom Twitter Fan Base" we create for you -- will be real people interested in your ideas and musings. When you Tweet something, it should be ReTweeted or commented on by your followers.

Finally, we help you tweet more efficiently and effectively. You have made a career communicating ideas to people. We show you how to maximize it on Twitter. The use of #HashTags to target your message is an important part of this. Time of day, number of Tweets per day, and the number of characters used are also factors. And how to use a combination of the information you want to communicate along with information that your targets want to engage with and hear.

In many cases, we even do the Tweeting for clients. Sometimes to help them create a voice on Twitter, or to supplement their content. We develop and execute their new media strategy.

We are proud to say that we specialize in working with "Verified" Twitter accounts. A
​ Verified​ TV ​Producer with 600 followers 2 months later had 15,000 industry followers. An Entertainment Executive's Twitter following grew by an astonishing 10,000 followers in just 30 days.​ She now has nearly 30,000 followers.​​ ​We helped an Actor with a Verified account grow from 6,000 followers to 10,000​ ​in​ just​ 7 days. His fans wanted to follow him -- they just didn't know he was on Twitter.​ ​All on strategy, all on point. Being "Verified" is Twitter gold!

Please note: We can NOT get you "Verified". That is up to you.

How much do our services cost?

Our services are a lot more cost effective than Twitter's "Promoted Ads" (cost of $0.50
​ ​to $3 per click), and more efficient in building a following based on your strategy. While not inexpensive, we are very cost effective.

Tweet me at @TomHall
​ ​or email me at TomTheMaverick@gmail.com​ ​for the details and costs based on your goals!

Happy Tweeting!

Tom Hall is the CEO of The Maverick Group, a Santa Monica based New Media Consulting firm