It’s all a question of influence intensity.
Of course Ashton Kutcher can influence more people than I can–he has about 2,500 times as many Twitter followers. But I have more influence over my average follower than he has over his.
The average Ashton Kutcher tweet generates 12,500 clicks on Bit.ly–that’s quite a bit of influence.
Meanwhile, the average Chris Yeh tweet generates only 50 clicks on Bit.ly.
But notice–while Ashton has 2,500 times as many Twitter followers as my meager 2,874, he only generates 250 times as many clicks.
In other words, I’m 10 times as influential for my followers as Ashton Kutcher is for his.
Now all this might seem like a casual exercise in linkbait (which it is) and semantics (which it is). But there’s an important point here.
Do you think it’s easier to get 250 people like me to tweet about your company/cause? Or to find a way to get to Ashton?
In the world of Twitter influence, we get so wrapped up in the big numbers that we may neglect the small ones which actually give us a better chance to drive meaningful results.
(My post was inspired by this post from my friend Miguel, who actually *did* manage to get a tweet from Ashton Kutcher. Go Miguel!)
There is another aspect, often overlooked: do I really want to be RTed by Ashton Kutcher or would I rather be RTed by Chris Yeh? I know what the answer in my case is. And as they say on the web YMMV.
Shefaly,
I'm touched! YMMV indeed.
Chris: I think it depends on one's audience and one's aspirational audience."Source credibility" matters. And in my audience, CY has better source cred than AK. Such is my chosen life. 🙂
I agree with you Chris. Ashton's tweet to his 6 millon followers in Twitter has sent 23 thousand fans to my PadMapper video so far.
Actually, his Tweet click through rate must be a lot lower than you said because he also posted the video on his Facebook page where he has 7 million fans!
At any rate, Ashton kind words did indeed made my day and my PadMapper client is thrilled to say the least.
I take your tweets over Ashton's any day. What can we do to get you to 6 million fans now!
Too often people focus on the big fish for endorsements but A) they are often more difficult to get to and B) they often don't have as dedicated a following as the "middlers" do.
In my experience, it's impossible to measure whose tweets get the most clicks or at what time is the best time to post a tweet for maximum clicks, because it all depends on the content of the tweet. You have to make funny or interesting tweets for them to be clicked on, and not all tweets will get the same interest.
Yep. It's all about context. Outside of your well-connected social circle, people pay attention to you because you write about something they care about. Everything off topic (for them) is ignored as static.
BTW, I love this quote: "Do you think it's easier to get 250 people like me to tweet about your company/cause? Or to find a way to get to Ashton?"
Very well said.
Rich
@heyrich
@spotinfluence
Can I get an AMEN!!!! 🙂