Zero to 100 (or 23) real quick

Posted on by Rachel Jacobs

When I started my twitter account for this class, it was the first time I had been active on Twitter since middle school. I used to tweet all the time and had a large following, however I was embarrassed of my old tweets so deleted the account. So, I started my class Twitter with zero followers. Now, after a semester of tweeting and learning and instituting a bunch of different techniques, I have 23 followers. Although not a huge number, I am very proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and tweeting again. I found that networking amongst my peers and fellow classmates helped gain followers a lot. Many of us were in the same situation trying to grow our following so we mutually benefitted from supporting each other. I also think using trending hashtags was extremely beneficial. I know know how difficult growing an account can be. My growth from zero followers to 23, was an 100% growth which I am very happy with. Below, are some examples of techniques that were successful for me when growing my following organically.

 

This was the meme I created for the viral content challenge. I gained 408 impressions and 35 engagements for a 4.8% engagement rate. I think it resonated with my audience because it was around Thanksgiving when many people are thinking about spending time with their families. It was very timely and for that reason, did well on my account.

I think posting pictures gains more engagement because people spend more time viewing the content because of the aesthetic. These pictures I took when I was on vacation in Cabo San Lucas. I received 639 impressions, 19 engagements for a 3.0% engagement rate.

 

Again, I am seeing a trend that my posts with photos perform better than those with only text. On this post, I got 181 impressions, 15 engagements for an 8.1% engagement rate. I also think using the native Twitter video feature helped gain engagement on this specific tweet.

 

On this tweet, I not only used a photo, but also added a trending hashtag to my Tweet which gave me way more exposure because my tweet was placed in front of a larger audience. I also replied into a thread which increased my engagement. I received 1648 impressions and 18 engagements for a 1.1% engagement rate.

 

 

Before this assignment, I had never posted publicly on LinkedIn. I always felt like people did not care about my successes and that it sounded sort of pompous. However, after posting and seeing the positive feedback from my peers I would now use LinkedIn in the future. I received 42  likes, 6 comments and over 4,000 views on this post.

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On this tweet, I shared an article and gave a brief synopsis of it using the #ICYMI hashtag. Mental Health has always been a taboo topic in our society however recently it has become something that more people are talking about. My tweet is an example of a model spreading awareness by peacefully protesting and I think that resonated with my audience. I also used other hashtags with broaden my audience. I got 316 impressions, and 6 engagements for a 1.9% engagement rate.

The assignment for this tweet was to share something that will make a difference. Israel has always had a large place in my heart and when they were being bombarded with hundreds of missiles in one day, I knew I wanted to show my support on twitter. I have followed StandWithUs across their many platforms for a long time and when I saw this particular tweet it resonated with me as my cousin is getting married soon and I know how important a wedding day is. I think I was able to get a lot of impressions because it also resonated with my audience and it was very relevant at the time I shared it. I received 410 impressions, 11 engagements for a 2.7% engagement rate.

This tweet received 217 impressions, 20 engagements and a 9.2% engagement rate. Again I am finding that my tweets with pictures or GIF’s perform better. Also since I tagged some of my friends and they favorited it, it appeared on their followers feed so it reached more people.

For this tweet, the assignment was to use GoogleTrends to analyze two different things. As a big hockey fan, I chose to “listen” to the New York Rangers compared to their biggest rival the New Jersey Devils. I was able to gain a lot of impressions by using hashtags that are broad. I believe that showing the trend graph and then giving my point of view helped too. I received 137 impressions, 3 engagements and a 2.2% engagement rate.

Lastly, I think using the ICYMI hashtag draws a lot of engagement from a wide audience. It gives the ability to highlight events in the past that are still of importance. Since it is such a widely used hashtag, my  tweets that feature it get a lot of attention compared to my others. I follow a lot of pop culture news accounts to keep up with my favorite celebrities. I have watched the series Friends multiple times and wanted to share with my followers that it was their 25th anniversary. To celebrate, there was a pop up in New York City which made many fans nostalgic of the show. So, I shared a post from E! News and the best 25 episodes using  ICYMI to make it relevant. On this tweet, I has 223 impressions, 1 engagement for a .4% engagement rate.

 

Overall, I learned a lot of helpful social media strategies that I will continue to use on my Twitter and my other media accounts. I am proud of my progress even though it was relatively small.

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