When considering social media, one of the key metrics we all look at is the number of followers, re-tweets, likes and favourites etc. – these are of course important, but small business owners need to think about potential return on investment in social media terms. Every minute you spend on Twitter is a minute you could be spending doing something else; every pound you spend on social media management is a pound you could be spending somewhere else – so you need to know your time and money is worthwhile.{Tweet}[responsive]

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What this doesn’t mean is that you should ignore social media – it’s hugely important and a vital element of any content marketing campaign, being one of the key channels for disseminating any content you produce. However, it does mean you need to think about the types of people you’re connecting with and how the time and money you invest in it can be best put to good use.{Tweet}

Should I Buy Twitter Followers?

The takeaway point we’re trying to make here is that small business owners should think long and hard before purchasing followers or likes – offers which are easily available from a number of sources. It’s an issue of quality vs. quantity.

These types of offer are widely available and the idea of buying 10,000 followers on Twitter can sound like a great one; but is it worth spending $70 on this when the vast majority of these followers are likely to be accounts in a country far away from your primary market, and from people working in an industry that you do not serve? That is, if the accounts are genuine in the first place!

In our experience, if you feel the need to go out and purchase thousands of Twitter followers or Facebook likes, then you’re probably not seeing engagement from your current channels – and that means you’re doing something wrong in terms of the content you put out, or the way in which you engage. Buying followers won’t solve those issues.{Tweet}

The approach that is probably of more value to most small businesses is to go out and network with people in a similar space, share ideas and talk about your industry. Also, use the search feature we talked about in our last blog post to find some local clients, or potential local clients – people who might actually want to buy your product. Engage them socially and ask about what they do, what they tweet about, how their business is doing – Twitter and Facebook are not the place to do your hard-selling. Be open and honest; try and show genuine interest in other businesses.{Tweet}

What to Talk About on Social Media

You have to be involved in both sides of the conversation; ask some questions, answer some questions, direct people to your blog posts, tweet about other people’s blog posts or tweets; comment on other businesses Facebook pages, be generous with likes and favourites. If you do this enough, Twitter and Facebook can be great places to generate some leads, as well as to learn more about your industry or how practices from other sectors could be applied to yours. In time, you’ll probably end up with those 10,000 followers you were going to buy, and they will be far more engaged with you and the products you sell or the services you provide.

In short, social media is exactly that – social! If you try to get around that fact by purchasing thousands of followers and likes, you’re probably not thinking about it in the right way! Next time you think ‘Should I buy Twitter followers?’, think about how having more people following your account will impact them, and whether that will impact you.{Tweet}

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