How 3 Months of Social Media Strategy Affected My Personal Influence

It’s impressive how little time it takes to see personal influence growth.

Three months ago in January, I had a Klout score of 10. Currently, in April, I’m at to 50.11, with a high of 52.43 in that time period. Starting out, I had 575 followers on Twitter and today I have 593. That might not seem like much of a change but that’s 18 new followers and ultimately a 3.13% growth. Although I did not benchmark my Instagram followers at the beginning of this semester, I know my following has increased with new friends, brands, and bloggers. However, while gaining followers might be the desired outcome, any sort of engagement is a plus in my book.

To start off with, let’s talk strategy.

Some things that worked (which is shown within my top posts):

  • Shoutouts to celebrities and bloggers – More likely to get engagement and people would see my handle
  • Incorporating trending hashtags – Brings in a larger audience
  • Growing my following list – On Twitter especially, whenever I would follow a new account, I would gain a follower or two that was similar to the account I just followed.
  • Commenting on posts – On Instagram, other people would take notice of my handle when I comment on someone else’s post

Some things that didn’t work:

  • Video – Video posts on Instagram don’t perform well for me surprisingly. It may be because it’s still too new of a feature or it gets lost while scrolling. I posted a throwback carousel of two videos and a few photos from a concert. It only received 29 likes, which is significantly low for me.

Twitter Top Posts

#1

Impressions: 2,893, Media views: 831, Total engagements: 292

media engagements: 247, detail expands: 26, likes: 8, profile clicks: 4, hashtag clicks: 3, retweets: 2, replies: 1, link clicks: 1

This incorporated two trending hashtags, which is why this is my most viewed tweet. I also included rich media, specifically of this scene because everyone was talking about this part on Twitter and about Krystal in general.

#2

Impressions: 1,770, Total engagements: 25

detail expands: 11, likes: 5, profile clicks: 3, hashtag clicks: 5, replies: 1

Follow Friday’s crack into a trending hashtag and open up the person mention’s audience. Monthly makeup subscription creator @Madison89Miller responded.

#3

Impressions: 2,893, Media views: 831, Total engagements: 292

media engagements: 247, detail expands: 26, likes: 8, profile clicks: 4, hashtag clicks: 3, retweets: 2, replies: 1, link clicks: 1

This was me jumping into a celebrity’s conversation. Looking back, I should have included #InternationalWomensDay and/or #FixerUpper.

#4

Impressions: 213, Total engagements: 83

(from the original moment) opens: 57, unique opens: 42, completion rate: 42.86%

(from the tweet) link clicks: 51, details expanded: 25, likes: 4, profile clicks: 3

I reshared this tweet later in hopes of more engagement.

#5

Impressions: 419, Total engagements: 64

media engagements: 56, likes: 5, profile clicks: 2, replies: 1

I tweeted this image out because I thought the bright colors would attract people. Looking back, I should have included #foodie to bring in more viewers.

Instagram Top Posts

#1

When I was a kid, I finished books in one sitting and spent my Saturday mornings at the library with my mom. I have vivid memories of my parents yelling at me because I would grab the newspaper before they did and could never refold it neatly. In my middle school/teenage years, I subscribed to @teenvogue and @seventeen, and would rip out pages to add to my wall collage until there was no space left. As I reminisce now, it makes total sense as to why I've chosen this industry. Reading, writing, and creating have been my love for so long. There's so many directions I feel comfortable going in after graduation. So I'm #positive I made the right decision in coming to Newhouse for my master's degree. ((even though I'll be in debt forever 🤷🏼‍♀️)) #NHsmtp #dreamsdocometrue #hardworkpaysoffs

A post shared by april 🌻 (@aprilarink) on

I threw some hashtags in here and tagged the magazines in hopes of engagement on their end, which never happened. Moral of this post: people like hearing positive things.

#2

While this wasn’t an assignment, I threw in quite a bit of makeup-related hashtags in the comments which brought in 10 or so people.

#3

While I didn’t hashtag in this photo, I did include the location which helps to draw in people who might be in that area or searching that area. This post was also a carousel, which I find time and time again to attract more engagement than a photo collage would.

#4

For this post, I included the location and the popular hashtag of Sunday Funday. These pictures also use the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, which I believe catches the eye of scrollers.

#5

This post had 341 views but only 82 likes, though it was one of my top performing Instagram posts with the class hashtag. I included several hashtags and the location, which only brought in a like or two. In my opinion, videos just don’t perform as well on posts. Videos and boomerangs perform much better as Instagram stories.

Overall, it was interesting to see what has worked and what has not. I wish I would have benchmarked my Instagram followers because I know from just daily use of the app that I gained several followers each week. To complete this analysis, I utilized Twitter Analytics and Klout. However, some other tools I have found useful throughout executing this social media strategy are: Tweetdeck, Social Rank, Sysomos, and Crowdtangle.

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