Jets Fans are some of the most loyal fans in the NFL. They are also some of the most generous and will stick together with their fellow fans. A normal trend on Friday on Twitter is for people to recommend to their existing follower base users they may be interested in, called #FollowFriday or #FF.
There are typically two ways to go about it:
1. Tweet as many usernames that will fit in 140 characters with either tag: #FF or #FollowFriday
NYJPapi: #FF @e_man @Baranyar @filmbuffdude @dvdvill @ahhhgolf@ViMed26 @Chris726 @PortugalBoy @Jetswookie @rbnyASN @JETS_fan_UK
This is the most common usage I see of people using #FF. It’s an honor to get one of these, but my only gripe is that reading the above tweet I really don’t know WHY NYJPapi is recommending these users. (I actually do know, they are all Jets fans but any of his new followers would have to click on their names to see if they would follow them).
2. Tweet one user and explain why your followers should friend up the person you are recommending.
Adam_Greenbaum: #FF @sportsyenta Loves sports, the #Jets and….OY! You get it, go follow her!
In this example, Adam used the tag #Jets to alert people searching for the New York Jets to see his tweet. He also used one of her common words she tweets to add sportsyenta’s personality to the recommendation: ”OY!”. This method is so much more affective and will most likely get users to follow her.
I’m not condemning method 1. because to even get a #FF is an honor but to really get more followers, method 2. is really the way to go!
3. Get Creative, Experiment!
I like to experiment from time to time on Twitter and last week I saw a tweet from a user that said they wanted to add 100 new followers that day. I got the idea to tweet out multiple times my “mission” for that day:
e_man: Ok, I have a #FF challenge for my followers! Let’s see if we can get@Adam_Greenbaum to 400 followers! Who’s with me?
e_man: 26 new followers for @Adam_Greenbaum in 25 minutes. Keep it going!
e_man: My mission is to get @Adam_Greenbaum to 400 followers! He’s at 341! Come on #Jets Nation, let’s boost his numbers! #FF him! thx @Jetstwit
e_man: Why u should #FF @Adam_Greenbaum ! He is the @Adam_Schefter for the NY Jets! You need #Jets Info, this guy HAS GOT IT!
e_man: Wow, you guys are awesome! @Adam_Greenbaum ’s followers just shot up! Make sure you do your own #FF for him! Plse RT this!
My strategy was to hone in on ONE user only! Here is what I decided to do:
- I only #FF Adam through multiple tweets. If I sent out multiple #FF I was worried about spamming.
- I set a Goal and told everyone I wanted to get him to 400.
- I updated on twitter how we were doing during the course of the day.
- I thanked my users for their efforts so far!
- I asked for them to RT my messages.
- I celebrated victory at the end.
The Proof is in the Pudding!
Now, I cannot take full credit for getting Adams count past 400, but I’d like to think that I helped in a small way. Can you see from the above chart the affect honing on ONE user can do! It also helps if you have a large follower base in addition to having influence in your community.
Putting my ego aside because I just want to make a point of why this worked:
- I have a blog http://www.jetstwit.com/ – Users have come to know me as a source for Jets information.
- All I EVER talk about is the New York Jets on Twitter.
- I have multiple conversations with fans about the Jets.
- My goal is to try to help other people simlar to me with their content, blogs, whatever their missions are online. *My mantra – Give first *
To simply summarize the above bullets, it was Influence. Nothing more, nothing less.
Method 3 worked for because I had influence. It’s not going to work for everyone right away. You also have to remember that I have been on Twitter since 2006 (user #11,000 t0 sign up) and it has taken me 3 years just to work up to 2500 users. Unless you are a celebrity or have really mastered twitter, your numbers are not going to sky rocket, but that’s not a bad thing. I would rather have 2500 Jets fans than 10,000 users with all topics. That just happens to be my goal, right or wrong.
