bullshitWhy follower count is

@MACKFOGELSON

and a whole lot of reasons why you should be measuring social media success differently.

Ω

Ω

For the last two years I’ve been building a following on Twitter.

@MACKFOGELSON

alright

That’s a total of 24 months 104 weeks

728 days 17,472 hours not including leap year.

@MACKFOGELSON

It has not been easy.

@MACKFOGELSON

Allow me to share a few ofthe things I’ve been doing. !This is just some of the stuff that has helped me to build an audience.

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

I wrote 14 blog posts on .

@MACKFOGELSON

At 3,500 words per post, that’s like an encyclopedia.

(Remember those?)

!

P.S. has one of the largest and most respected search marketing communities

in the world. !

Millions of people visit their blog each month.

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

I wrote 25 blog posts on the Mack Web blog .

@MACKFOGELSON

I also wrote 5 more posts on other respected blogs.

(I know. I get around.)

!

There’s more than the writing of the blog posts.

@MACKFOGELSON

hang on

@MACKFOGELSON

I read, curated, and shared more than 3,000 posts.

(On social media that is.)

!

I attended 7 conferences. I spoke at 5 of them. That’s one solid week of work per conference once you’ve researched, written, slide-decked, and practiced your talk.

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

Plus all of the live-tweeting and in person stuff, too.

(The online really doesn’t work without the offline.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

We also did some other stuff as a company.

(We wrote a book on community building. There’s llamas in there.)

!

After doing all of that work, guess how many followers I earned?

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

1582,

That’s right.All of that work and I only earned

2,851 followers. (sigh) !

@MACKFOGELSON

Thing is, if I used follower count to calculate the ROI of all my efforts over the last two years, !!I’d consider myself a failure.

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

And I’d probably be living in a van down by the river.

(With Chris Farley, RIP.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

But what my follower count doesn’t tell you over there

is that there’s been all kinds of crazy success going on over here.

@MACKFOGELSON

Each year for the last two years, Mack Web has experienced

40% revenue

growth

The traffic to ourwebsite has increased

by more than

1,300% @MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

We are starting to become recognized as industry leaders.

(It’s quite flattering.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

This recognition has awarded me speaking opportunities.

(All over the world.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

This exposure sends more than enough leads to our company.

(Makes us feel like we’re kind of a big deal.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Most valuable to me are all of the friends and mentors

who have helped me to grow the business and stay reasonably sane.

The sad thing is that you can’t tell any of this stuff if

you’re only looking at follower count.

So quit doing that.

@MACKFOGELSON

You can still have numbers. They’re just different ones. !!What I want you to hear is, there’s a better way to gauge your success on social media.

@MACKFOGELSON

to measure the right things.

@MACKFOGELSON

work

Follower count is easy to measure, but it doesn't mean anything.

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

There are 3 metrics that you should be measuring by now.

(But in case you missed the memo…)

!

Conversation

@MACKFOGELSON

Amplification Applause

1 2 3

@MACKFOGELSON

Conversation communicates that you’re human.

(And that people want to talk to you.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Amplification communicates that you’re interesting.

(And that people want to share you with their friends.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Applause communicates that you’re likable.

(And people either like you or they don’t.)

!

You can calculate all of this stuff using TrueSocialMetrics or Sprout Social.

@MACKFOGELSON

You can also calculate true engagement based on your community size. Read this.

(http://bit.ly/true-engagement)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

will help you determinewhether you’re actually making a difference.

@MACKFOGELSON

engagement

Rather than just measuring how many followers you’re adding.

@MACKFOGELSON

But if you want to experience real growth on social media, it can’t operate in a silo. !!It takes more than social to build an audience.

@MACKFOGELSON

You also need to embrace integrated

marketing and employ channels

other than social. Social likes help.

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

Channels like: Content

Email Search Offline

(and stuff)

@MACKFOGELSON

That way you can measure how both social media and other channels

are working together to help you accomplish the goals for your whole business.

And then you can measure all kinds of stuff that goes way beyond follower count.

@MACKFOGELSON

Like…

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

Once they get to your website are they downloading stuff?

(Make sure you’re properly setting up goals in Google Analytics.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Are they signing up for your email marketing?

(Measure your increase in subscriptions.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Are they staying longer and coming back?

(Track bounce rate, time on page, page depth and return visits.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Are they remembering your brand?

(Pay attention to increase in branded traffic and mentions.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Are unexpected opportunitiescoming your way?

(Like speaking and blogging gigs that bring exposure.)

!

You’ve got to measure all of it.

@MACKFOGELSON

Because the thing is…

@MACKFOGELSON

Social media may not be the

perfect match for things like direct conversions

if you’re a B2B company.

@MACKFOGELSON

But it may be the perfect match for supporting and increasing micro conversions. !Like email signups, downloads, lead forms, and other things (like reading your blog) that you really want people to do on your site.

@MACKFOGELSON

All of these things lead to business growth.

@MACKFOGELSON

(We’re living proof.)

@MACKFOGELSON

But none of these things can be measured using follower count.

@MACKFOGELSON

So remember, kids…

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

Real growth on social media will take some time.

(I started two years ago.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

Measure social in context with other integrated efforts.

(It’s fun. You’ll like it.)

!

@MACKFOGELSON

And don’t equate success with follower count.

(You’ll be better for it.)

!

That’s all I have to say about that.

@MACKFOGELSON

@MACKFOGELSON

read the Mack Web blog http://mackwebsolutions.com/blog !download our community building guide http://bit.ly/community-building-guide !connect with us http://mackwebsolutions.com/connect