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If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times — (paraphrasing, of course) “When it comes to social media measurement, the number of fans or followers a brand has won’t tell us anything.”

I’ve thought about this philosophy a lot, so much in fact that I’ve become slightly OCD about it. It’s hard not to when the majority of the PR thought leaders I respect have at one time or another made a statement similar to the one above and followed it with contempt for agencies or “so-called” social media experts who only focus on these numbers.

If there was a way to un-fan fans and un-follow followers, I’d have done it by now. But they won’t go away and clients keep asking about them, so I’ve kept thinking about just what, if anything, these numbers actually tell us. And here’s what I’ve come up with:

I want to revise the statement, “The number of fans or followers a brand has won’t tell us anything.” Well, really, I just want to change one word — “The number of fans or followers a brand has won’t tell us everything.”

Fans and followers do tell us some things. They provide us an “at least” number of people that have visibility to the messages a brand shares via its Facebook and Twitter presences and the number of people who might share that message. In other words, Gatorade currently has 326,543 fans and 2,314 followers. That’s “at least” 328,857 (326,543 + 2,314) people who have visibility to a conversation on Gatorade’s wall or Twitter feed and who could share that conversation with their friends, followers, colleagues or anybody else.

Why is that 328,857 number important? Because we know a few things:

1. We know if Gatorade really needed to get a message out, say about a crisis, that message is likely to have a greater reach and be shared by more people if the company has 326,000 fans as opposed to 32,600. It’s purely a numbers issue.
2. We know people trust people and consumers more than they trust organizations. As Gatorade gains more fans, it gains more chances that a story about the company (e.g. helping a customer with as service issue on Facebook) will be told by the fans as opposed to the organization. And that’s a reputation win for the brand considering the source. How do you think Gatorade and other companies gain the majority of their fans and followers? Via word of mouth endorsement, of course.
3. We know that brand fans are an audience that serves as advocates for our clients and we want them to have stories to tell. And while we can’t guarantee that all fans or followers of an organization are actual brand fans, I think we’re safe guessing that the fans and followers of a company would be a good place to start when looking to engage fans of that brand.
4. We know the majority of people who participate in online social networks and take the step to fan or follow brands — not the first steps a person usually takes when dipping their toes in the social media waters — are more likely to engage with a company or tell a story online than those who aren’t as active in the online space.
5. Finally, we also know about perception. And I can tell you — based on recent conversations with clients, peers, colleagues, tweeps, fans — the perception is that the more fans and followers a brand has, the more successful that brand is with social media. And the more successful a brand is with social media, the more progressive that company is. And the more progressive a company is the more successful it often seems. Is that perception wrong? Well, I’d lean toward calling it incomplete.

If fans and followers are the only measures of success you’re tracking, then I agree that doesn’t tell us much. And that’s where I fall in line with the gripe against some agencies that base the entire social media strategy they’re selling on those numbers. The most significant thing about fans and followers is the audience they create for a brand to engage with. That’s where the real strategy comes in.

Think about it this way. When you go to a networking event, you may not know much about the organization or the people when you get there. Over time, you may get to know the organization and the people in it better. You’ll probably form opinions about the group and share stories about your experiences. But for any of that to happen, you had to show up at that first meeting.

Successful PR is still about building relationships — always has been. When a person fans or follows your brand, that’s just a relationship starter. They decided to come to that networking event. Or since users can fan or follow with the click of the mouse, you could argue they’re making much less of a commitment. But even if it took five seconds, the person still made a conscious effort to engage. Where the relationship goes from there is largely up to you.

I was lucky enough to see Brian Solis speak in Kansas City tonight and he offered a lot of great food for thought and insight into “the conversation” and “influence” that I’m still thinking about and continue pondering for a while, I’m sure. But one thing Brian said tonight came to mind as I sat down to finish this post — (I paraphrase again) “If we’re not in the conversation, it’s easy to fall off the radar screen, disappear.”

To me, when you look at a brand’s fans or followers, you can get a rough idea of how many “radar screens” that company is on. And you’ve got to be on some radar screens to keep from disappearing. But you can’t tell a whole lot more than that without digging much deeper.

Fans and followers are a starting point. They tell you something. But the companies and agencies that run into problems are the ones who don’t keep going. There’s a lot more to a conversation than the introduction.

What are some of the companies you know that have a lot of fans and followers? Did those numbers change your perception of the brand? How did you hear about those companies? Do those brands do a lot to engage their fans and followers?

Presented at TWTRCON, May 31, 2009

Summary:
Current Twitter users are early adopters of technology, entertainment and emerging services. They are more likely to use social networks and Internet 2.0 technologies to stay connected and be informed. Most are eager to learn about new products and services. They are loyal users, with 70% likely to continue using Twitter. As such, Twitterers leverage the power of word of mouth and are a valuable audience.

1. Twitter users are super engaged consumers.

• Typical Twitterer is a technical or creative professional in their 30s, who tends to adopt new products or trends more quickly than others. Almost all are on other social networks, two thirds watch online video, read blogs, and play video games. Over half have HDTV, forty percent have DVRs and about a third have smartphones.

2. Consider it the Oprah effect—most of the U.S. knows about Twitter.

• Over three quarters of Internet users are aware of Twitter. While friends (43%) have driven greatest awareness, a whopping 35% heard about it through television. Other sources of awareness include websites (22%), social networks (18%) and family (17%).

3. What does Dr. Horrible, coffee, Tom’s Shoes, flowers and a Sony Vaio have in common?

• They were all purchased because of Twitter. 40% of Twitter users regularly search for products or services online via Twitter. About 20% follow at least one product or service. Specifically, 12% note they’ve chosen a service or bought a product online because of information they found on Twitter.

4. Is the social networking and Twitter phenomena half empty or half full?

• It depends on the user. While 44% believe that Twitter has long term value, 52% believe it’s a trend.

5. Brands beware! Use Twitter wisely!

• 40% of Twitterers note the way a brand utilizes Twitter affects their perception of the brand. Two thirds would use Twitter to communicate good or bad information about a brand.

6. Make social networkers loyal: Cues from Twitter: easy, fast, and well designed.

• Social networkers note community and friends as top reasons they’re spending more time on social networks. Variety of activities (46%), ease (39%), and speed (30%) are key.

7. Search and find most popular, multimedia not fully adopted.

• About half of all Twitterers are using search and find. Less than a quarter are updating to blogs, posting photos or posting videos.

8. Ashton vs. CNN: News actually trumps celebrities! (but not by much!)

• About half of all Twitterers are interested in news and entertainment. Other popular Twitter themes include politics, products and services, sports, celebrities and restaurants.

9. Social networks and Twitter: It’s not just about finding your old prom date.

• Two thirds of all social networkers use them to connect and communicate. However, about a quarter use them to follow news, play games or professionally network.

10. Smartphones: A Twitterer’s best friend.

• Twitterers are almost twice as likely to own smartphones than Internet users. Top two phones include BlackBerry (15%) and iPhone (10%). Twitter users have advanced mobile behavior: half take photos, a third go online and twenty percent play games regularly. About 25% of Twitter users update some type of social networking status regularly via their mobile phone.

From a thinktank research study of Internet, mobile and social networking users, fielded May 2009, n=1,850, twitter users, n=665. (For the full report, contact Robin Boyar at thinktank research. The full report is available for $495 or $995 with an in-person presentation)

• If you are a household brand name, like Virgin America, by all means use it. Followers will be looking for you.
• If you are a well known in your category and people are already seeking you out, use your name in your handle. Again, people will want to find and follow you because you’ve already built a personal reputation offline.
• If you fall into the category of virtually unknown, like most of us, consider using a descriptive name in your title, for example @winedinetv. Building my following would have been much easier had I used “public relations” or “social media” in my twitter handle.
• If you use your company name and/or your personal name and you don’t have a significant offline following, describe what you do in your profile.

2. Fill Out Your Profile Completely

• Think of this as your introduction to your followers. If you were at a networking event you would introduce yourself and at some point get around to telling people what you do for a living, your philosophy on life, the books you’ve written; whatever you want people to know about you.

3. Post A Photo Of Yourself

• This proves you are indeed, human. Leaving the Twitter icon up looks like you might be a spammer (this is the equivalent of talking to a wall at a party and no one wants to relive THAT experience). We found when we had our logo posted we did not get as many followers. When we posted my personal picture, the numbers of followers increased greatly. Again, going back to @winedinetv, they use their brand name, but put pictures of themselves up on their page.

4. Do Not Lock Your Updates

• Locking your updates tells potential followers that you’re not interested in having a two-way conversation with them. We have a client who was complaining that no one was following them, but they had locked their updates. We unlocked their updates (and changed a few other things) and followers poured in.

5. Follow Your Followers

• The whole idea behind participating in social media is to have a two way conversation with the folks in your group. If you don’t follow people who follow you, it’s like you are staring mutely back at someone who ask you a question.
• There are a few exceptions and I may be a prude, but there are some people who I don’t follow back because of the content that they are tweeting. Some of that stuff I just don’t want to see pop up on my screen!
• If you don’t follow your followers, you may find that they stop following you.

6. Follow Your Follower’s Followers

• If your followers like your content, their followers are likely to be interested in the same topics.

7. Be Consistent With Your Tweet Content

• This allows people to find and follow you based on content. With few exceptions, I consistently tweet about social media marketing, public relations, wine and restaurants. If someone is considering whether to follow me, they will have a good idea of what I’m all about and decide if that’s information they are interested in receiving.
• If your business is geographically specific, i.e. you run a furniture store in West Hollywood and you know your customers come from a 15 mile radius, you need to mention “West Hollywood” in your tweets as many times as appropriate.

8. Give Back To The Community

• It’s fine to send people to your website for specials, deals, information etc. But if you only do that, you will earn a bad reputation as a taker, you will lose followers and break the trust of your followers.
• Find articles that talk about your area of interest or retweet other posts.

9. Avoid Following People With Locked Updates

• Do you really want to try to have a conversation with someone who is already telling you they don’t want to talk to you?
• I have found that these people are less likely to follow back

10. Tweet (seriously)

• I realize this seems obvious, but clients will tell me that they can’t understand why no one is following them, but they posted three totally lame (and you know who you are) updates months ago.
• You need to post on a regular basis with relevant, helpful information. Except for your parents, few people care that you can’t find matching socks in the morning.
• We recommend that client’s tweet at least every 48 hours.

11. Don’t Over Do It

• If you are tweeting too frequently, unless you are reporting breaking news, you are probably sending out too much information too frequently that can overwhelm people and turn them away.

Check out our 26 Tips On Social Media Participation.

PHOTO CREDIT: AcousticSkyy

We started off at BREADBAR where they delivered on the promise of a near perfect bun coupled with a nice angus burger. We all agreed they earned double added bonus points for the house-made ketchup. 

For a little less bun and a lot more filling, we hit up The Bowery, where you have the option to add “the works” to your enormous patty, and try to hold it all inside the English muffin bun.  Messy, (probably not a good first date choice) but loaded with flavor from the super thick sirloin patty, your choice of cheese (I went with gruyere), grilled onions, and sautéed mushrooms.

Next up we went with the rumored Waygu Wonder at O Bar & Kitchen downtown.  Piled high with pickled shallots, bacon, provolone horseradish aioli and tomato confit, this burger delivered all of the traditional flavors, but each ingredient turned up the flavor a notch. 

As we neared our decision, we elected to try out another long time Los Angeles bad boy landmark, The Shack Sports Grill. The burger is good, but really might be a heart attack on a plate with a sausage and a patty. Suggesting it as the best would be akin to homicide, which is apparently against Ink Foundry policy. Go figure.

With almost 20 different hamburger creations at 26 Beach, it’s challenging to choose just one. There is definitely something here for everyone including a peanut butter burger that no Ink Foundry staffer has been brave enough to try.

Finally I recalled the Pug Burger at the Hungry Cat.  I fondly recalled the bacon, avocado, and bleu cheese burger topped off with an egg. 

So how would the long esteemed Office Burger measure up?  Although we had some incredible burgers, there was no denying the Father’s Office burger “no substitutions” combination of dry aged beef, caramelized onion, applewood bacon compote, gruyere, Maytag blue cheese, and arugula was the winner of the Ink Foundry Great BurgerQuest 2009. Although we don’t have trophy’s (hey, we tried, but received a “you want budget for what?!?!” response), we will be there often drinking craft brew and eating as many burgers as any pr girl can handle.

I think I’ll tackle pizza next. Any suggestions?
 
TOP SIX
 
1.    The Office Burger, Father’s Office, Culver City & Santa Monica
2.    Bowery Burger, The Bowery, Hollywood
3.    Waygu Burger, O Bar & Kitchen, Downtown
4.    Pug Burger, The Hungry Cat, Hollywood
5. Angus Burger, BreadBar, Century City, Beverly/Fairfax
6. 19 Burgers Choices, 26 Beach
 

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Ink Foundry reached out to local charities and social organizations in each participating market, and the groups, in turn, invited their supporters to attend and participate in these educational wine-tasting experiences.

Impact

Based on the initial success of “Wine Down Wednesdays,” Ink Foundry produced a turn key event series easily replicated by any in house staff at Fleming’s locations nationwide. The individual Wine Down Wednesdays garnered coverage in both traditional media and social networking and niche blog sites. The events also resulted in repeated return visits by event attendees who had not previously dined at the restaurant.