Personal Influence Growth and Analysis & Top 10 Tweets/Posts

Posted on by Emily Feller

Influence

Social Media, specifically Twitter, has consumed my generation and will continue to do so for generations to come. Twitter was never a platform that I was all that familiar with. In high school, I created an account for a short period of time. I found myself to never use it and shortly after deactivated it. Coming into COM 427, I was not familiar with how to utilize the platform to its best ability. I created my Twitter account @emilyfellerr at the start of the semester. As I was new to Twitter, I started with 0 followers. Once my account was created I began to follow classmates, celebrities and friends to engage with. Today, November 28th, I have a total number of 42 followers which makes my percentage of growth to be 100%.

Being new to Twitter, I first found myself spending a lot of time searching through the platform trying to find what exactly a post should look like. However, over the past few months I learned many skills that guided myself in running my own Twitter account as well as learned how to increase my influence and network.

Some techniques that worked for increasing my influence and network include:

  • Using multiple and trending hashtags in tweets
  • Sharing images, GIFS and memes
  • Tweeting about trending topics
  • Tweeting and replying to influential accounts
  • Posting at prime hours (daytime or during a trending topic)
  • Favoriting and retweeting others tweets
  • Following and engaging in accounts with similar interests as myself

Along with these techniques that worked, some techniques for increasing my influence and network that did not work include:

  • Using one or no hashtags
  • Long character counts
  • Posting too personalized to myself
  • Tweets not engaging enough (don’t draw out any emotion from audience)

Execution

The following tweets show my top 10 tweets/posts from this semester.

Twitter: 

  1. Quote Tweet 

      Analytics:

  • Impressions: 869
  • Total engagements: 11
  • Engagement rate: 1.3%

The above tweet was my top tweet of the semester. I quote tweeted a tweet from Bachelor in Paradise which is a verified account with 280k followers. Quote tweeting allowed me to share the voice of another while sharing my own. I posted my tweet while the ABC hit show Bachelor In Paradise was trending due to the conclusion of the season finale. I also utilized trending hashtags in my tweet which I found using Tweetdeck. The combination of hashtags as well as the time I posted allowed me to reach the widest and most prevalent audience at that time. I received 2 likes, 2 profile clicks and 1 hashtag click on my tweet, which at the time was a lot for me as my account was fairly new.

2. Target Micro Influencer

      Analytics:

  • Impressions: 787
  • Total engagements: 24
  • Engagement rate: 3.0%
  • Media views: 119

In this Tweet, I targeted a micro influencer, Michael H. Weber, in the Newhouse network. I tagged Michael’s account @thisweber, @SyracuseU and @NewhouseSU to try and gain the accounts impression. He saw my tweet and replied which I believe helped my engagements. Along with the analytics above, I had 8 profile clicks  3 likes and 3 hashtag clicks. I believe hash tagging #NewhouseNetwork also allowed my tweet to reach a larger audience. The hashtag #NewhouseNetwork is often used within the Newhouse and Newhouse alumni network. Additionally, the GIF I chose brought in more viewers to my tweet because the media allowed my post to be more engaging and portray to my audience how excited I really was.

3.  Recreated Past Assignment: Create a “flow”

Analytics:

  • Impressions: 779
  • Total engagements: 11
  • Engagement rate: 1.4%
  • Media views: 75

For this post, I monitored trending topics in Tweetdeck. I found that national days are always trending and the day I was drafting the tweet happened to be National Nut Day. I have previously (in the image below) done a tweet for a national day and felt I had a lot of engagement and therefore chose this tweet to replicate for a class assignment in which we got to choose any successful twitter assignment from class and recreate it. I included the hashtag #NationalNutDay and #NutDay in hopes to engage with others who are celebrating the holiday or with those that were mocking it. I carefully chose a GIF that I thought would get a reaction out of people. I chose a GIF of Kevin McCallister from the movie Home Alone being excited, as I thought including the GIF of someone overly excited could be comical when paired with the tweet for such a small and random holiday. This tweet got attention from others looking into the holiday as I receive 4 likes, 1 hashtag click and 2 retweets, one being @AroundMainLine who is a social influencer with 17.4k followers.

4.  Original GIF Tweet

    Analytics:

  • Impressions: 773
  • Total engagements: 29
  • Engagement rate: 4%
  • Media views: 122

For this tweet I created an original GIF using imgflip. I believe that this tweet worked because of the timely aspect of it. I posted it while the date was relevant and topic was trending. I created a GIF of Squidward from SpongeBob Squarepants that I thought would engage my audience. In the show Squidward tried a cheeseburger and fell in love with them. I thought his excitement about the burgers connected to my tweet of wishing everyone a happy national cheeseburger day. I used the hashtags #NationalCheeseburgerDay as well as #cheeseburgersto reach those who like or search cheeseburgers or the holiday. This tweet received my most amount of organic likes which was 11. I also got 6 profile clicks and 2 hashtag clicks. I use rich media in a majority of my tweets as I feel that if tweeting with some media aspect, tweets typically perform better than those without. Additionally, I added in exclamation marks and emojis to add more emotion and excitement into the holiday.

5. Twitter Webcard Tweet

    Analytics:

  • Organic Impressions: 665
  • Promoted Impressions: 47,733
  • Total engagements: 909
  • Engagement rate: 16.7%

The above post was part of my marketing plan for my viral content challenge. This post was made via Tweetdeck and promoted through Twitter ads. I spent 5 dollars promoting my tweet and had the tweet promoted for 24 hours. My primary goal was to relate to many different people of all ages and make people laugh and want to share the meme. In my tweet, I tried to engage other accounts by using the question who can relate? I did this in attempt to get replies. I also utilized multiple hashtags one being #meme. I used this in attempt for a wider reach as others sharing and looking at memes can find mine. The other hashtags that I included were topics related to the meme itself. I used #yes, #food and #leftovers to get the attention of others of similar interests. I feel that my tweet was successful as it received a lot of attention. My tweet brought in 4 new followers. I also got 10 retweets, 5 replies, 86 likes and 161 profile clicks Additionally. I received my largest engagement rate to date.

6. Emulating Voice 

    Analytics:

  • Impressions: 637
  • Total engagements: 5
  • Engagement rate: 0.8%
  • Media Views: 75

For this Twitter assignment we had to post a tweet that emulates the voice of someone that we admire on Twitter. As a fan of Simon Cowell, I chose to emulate his voice. I chose someone that is well known to allow many people to understand and relate. I also chose him as we all know that he can be a bit angry and harsh sometimes. I believe that his typical actions and emotions were portrayed in the above video. I thought that my voice of my tweet successfully matches the video. I got inspiration for this tweet when I was hanging out with friends and one of them was constantly playing the same song over and over again until I began to get annoyed. I received one reply, 1 media engagement and 1 profile click. In the future, I know that I could better this tweet by tagging Simon as well as  include more hashtags.

7. Introducing Virtual Self

    Analytics:

  • Impressions: 561
  • Total engagements: 18
  • Engagement rate: 3.2%
  • Media Views: 91

This was one of first Twitter post for my account. For this assignment we had to introduce our virtual self and tell our followers something about ourselves. I chose to tell my followers about what I am currently studying at Syracuse University. To increase engagement with my tweet I added in a cute GIF to appeal to my audience’s emotional side. I chose to discuss my obsession for dogs as this is something that I love and something that many people can relate to and are passionate about. I believe that by tagging @jmgrygiel I was able to generate more exposure. Also, as this was the first assignment for class I felt that I received many of my engagements from my classmates. I gained multiple followers from this tweet as well as 6 profile clicks, 2 likes and 1 hashtag click.

8. Tweetstorm

Analytics:

  • Impressions: 532
  • Total engagements: 14
  • Engagement rate: 2.6%
  • Media Views: 80

This tweet was part of a two part tweet storm for a class assignment as shown below.

After posting the above tweets I realized that I had a spelling error in the second tweet. I had already received a significant amount of engagement at this point so I chose to not take down the tweet. This mistake taught me that tweets with spelling mistakes can still do well and some people do not always notice while scrolling thorough social media. However, I learned to be more careful while posting and always triple check my grammar and spelling. I chose relevant media to attach which was a contestant receiving the golden buzzer to draw emotion out of viewers, so those who were not familiar with what a golden buzzer can also relate. These tweets were relevant in time as the show was trending on Twitter. America’s Got Talent is an emotional show that I believe has a strong fan base which is why I used the #AmericasGotTalent. In the first part of the tweet I tagged one of my favorite contestants who has a verified account, @CourtneyHadwin, I also  used #AGTFinale to expand my reach. I found this tweet to be successful as it reached other America’s Got Talent fans and one even retweeted my tweet.

Instagram: 

In class we expanded from using Twitter to now using Instagram. Similar to my Twitter account, I created my Instagram account for this class and therefore started with 0 followers. I now have 36 followers. My Instagram account was not able to get as many followers as my twitter however, I came close. Instagram was a platform that I am both more familiar and comfortable using. I have a personal Instagram account that I have been running for years now but by starting a new account I felt that I needed to again introduce my virtual self and set a voice for my followers.

9. Engaging Filters

Analytics:

  • Likes: 11
  • Comments: 2

Filters are always something that I use when posting an Instagram. The above post was a combination of the filter Ludwig as well as adjusting brightness and the contrast of the image. I like to keep my Instagram flow consistent and bright which is why I found this filter to be engaging. The combination of filters and editing brightened up the image and made it more clear which I find to be more appealing than an unedited image. I chose to use a picture of my dog as there are many people who adore dogs and can relate to their own lives. I also used #PuppiesOfInstagram to connect with other people who post pictures of their dogs and so that people who are searching dogs are able to find my post. I added in a dog emoji as well to help get the attention of other accounts. For the amount of followers that I have, I found my tweet to be successful with 11 likes and 2 comments.

10. Share Photo 

View this post on Instagram

Missing the beach and warm weather. #nhsmc #beach

A post shared by Emily Feller (@emily_fellerr) on

  • Likes: 10
  • Comments: 2

The above post was my first Instagram on my new account. The class assignment was to share a photo on Instagram. I chose to share an original photo that I took while on vacation in Aruba with my family. As Syracuse gets extremely cold I cannot help but think of warmer places like being on a tropical island. This post was posted on October 16th so the weather was starting to get cold. I felt the caption that I chose can relate to others as the beach is a popular place for people to go when the weather is warm. I thought that 10 likes and two comments was good considering the amount of followers I had at the time and it being my first post. I used #beach so that people interesting in the beach can discover my post.

Final Analysis: 

Over the course of the last four months I have learned many skills and resources that I know I will continue to use for personal, professional and academic use. I learned that using rich media such as photos and videos help receive more attention as it helps to get viewers attention. I learned how to utilize hashtags to have a specific audience find my tweets as well as use hashtags to engage with others of similar interest.

Another take away for myself was that I learned the importance of time and trending topics. Before taking this class, I never thought about the timing of a post. For the most part I would typically post at a random time of the day, but after realizing the affect of timing, I am now able to determine some of the best times to post. I found that posting between the hours 10am-3pm worked best for myself. However, I had many successful tweets posted around 9pm-11pm. Besides these skills and others that I learned, I became aware of what it means to be social and how to be active on social media platforms. To be active you need to do more than just post photos. You need to engage with others-  like and comment on others posts, mention and follow different accounts – and connect with others.

Social Media for Communicators was more than a class for me, I learned so many skills that I will take with me to help guide and enhance my career. Being able to increase influence and network is a skill that I will continue to use and grow upon no matter what career path I decide to take.

 

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