Personal Influence Growth & Analysis

Posted on by Dani Shoflick

PART 1: INFLUENCE + BENCHMARK

At the start of the semester, we were advised to use Twitter and Instagram to post for the course. We were given the option to either use our personal accounts and grow our following from there or start from the beginning. I decided to create new accounts for both Twitter and Instagram because I was in the process of creating new professional accounts aside from my personal one and thought it was the perfect time to engage with a different audience. I started out with 0 followers on both social media platforms (Twitter & Instagram).

By using these accounts frequently to post and scroll through my feed I have been able to connect and learn more about the importance of networking, posting, engaging, and informing through social media. Now that the semester is winding down, I find myself using Twitter more than I ever have in the past and it has allowed me to be more informed about topics that I would have missed otherwise.

On Twitter, I started with 0 followers and ended with 30.

On Instagram, I started with 0 followers and ended with 32.

The % of growth for both my Twitter and Instagram accounts was 100%.

WHAT WORKED?

Looking back now and assessing my growth and influence over the semester I have been able to determine what worked. Some techniques that allowed me to succeed were posting relevant content that others could relate to, being timely, funny, and posting images/gifs/videos to further engage my audience. Also, I believe using hashtags that were both relevant to the content, or trending allowed me to get the most engagement, and they also allowed me to connect with those who were not previously following my account. Aside from those techniques, using websites like Twitter Analytics, and Later.com (for Instagram) helped me gain more influence by seeing what areas I could work on.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK?

Though I succeeded in several areas, there were instances where my techniques did not work. I found that the posts on Twitter that did not include an image/gif/video performed worse than those posts that had rich media. Also, tweets or Instagram posts that had fewer hashtags or irrelevant hashtags also performed worse than they could have. In the end, I know now that it is important to create strong tweets and Instagram posts that have both rich media, or relevant hashtags.

Before I get into the posts on Instagram and Twitter that used the class hashtag, I wanted to share the original tweet of my meme that I used for the viral content challenge that performed well for being relatable.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 1,654
  • Engagements: 125
  • Engagement rate: 7.6%
  • Likes: 24
  • Retweets: 8

EXECUTION

Over the course of the semester, I used the techniques that worked above to create content that both my followers and other audiences could relate to. Below are my top ten posts on both Twitter and Instagram using the class hashtag.

1. 

Analytics

  • Impressions: 628
  • Engagements: 28
  • Engagement rate: 4.5%

How did I execute this?

  • For this tweet, I tagged and included rich-media of my current favorite beauty influencers. By using the hashtag #followfriday I was able to receive engagement from those that do not follow me but have similar interests. I also received alike from one of the influencers I tagged!

2.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 551
  • Engagements: 3
  • Engagement rate: 0.5%

How did I execute this?

  • After seeing on both Twitter and Instagram that it was the official birthday of one of my favorite skincare/makeup brands, I decided to tweet at them to show my appreciation. I tagged the company, the founder, and included hashtags that were relevant. I am so proud of this tweet because the founder of Glossier – Emily Weiss liked my tweet!

3.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 405
  • Engagements: 13
  • Engagement rate: 3.2%

How did I execute this?

  • For this tweet, I included a gif that I created on Imgur.com of Greta Thunberg and Barack Obama. By posting about someone who was relevant in the news and media meeting our former president, I was able to perform well on this tweet by also using rich and engaging media that was also timely.

4.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 330
  • Engagements: 4
  • Engagement rate: 1.2%

How did I execute this?

  • In this tweet, I included a trending hashtag about a relevant topic and also included the article so that my followers could better understand the surrounding issue and read more. It performed well because I saw what was trending on Twitter and posted to Twitter accordingly using hashtags and news sources.

5.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 330
  • Engagements: 19
  • Engagement rate: 5.8%

How did I execute this?

  • In class, we were advised to create a tweet that included a petition to stop a controversial topic in society. For this assignment, I decided to include something that I am very passionate about, the horse carriage rides in NYC. I believe that animal cruelty in this form is unacceptable and I wanted to share with my followers the change.org link to help me stop the abuse of horses in NYC.

6.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 321
  • Engagements: 8
  • Engagement rate: 2.5%

How did I execute this?

  • For this specific twitter assignment, we were advised to reach out to a Newhouse alumni and engage with them by tweeting. I used the hashtags #NewhouseNetwork, #Newhouse and #SyracuseUniversity to effectively reach the alumni, and I even got a reply!

7.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 266
  • Engagements: 14
  • Engagement rate: 5.3%

How did I execute this?

  • This specific meme over the course of the semester was extremely popular. I added a screenshot of the meme and then added my own relatable text to express how much I missed my dog. By using rich media like this specific gif I was able to succeed by being timely, relevant and funny.

8.

Analytics

  • Impressions: 254
  • Engagements: 13
  • Engagement rate: 5.1%

How did I execute this?

  • For anyone that is a loyal Marshall Street Starbucks customer, you understand the struggle of mobile ordering at this location. On this particular day however, the mobile order stand was less busy than normal and I decided to share my experience on Twitter. I found this tweet to be effective because it was relatable, funny, and used rich media (video).

9.

Analytics

  • Likes: 16
  • Comments: 3

How did I execute this?

  • I decided to share a photo from my summer vacation in Las Vegas. I used relevant and trending hashtags like #latergram, #instagood, and #lasvegas to effectively engage my audience. It worked because I not only got engagement from my followers but from people in or visiting Las Vegas!

 

10.

Analytics

  • Likes: 15
  • Comments: 1

How did I execute this?

  • For this Instagram post, I shared a photo of the beautiful green lakes in Syracuse, New York. I included relevant emojis that we learned about in class and also tagged them and added the hashtag #greenlakesstatepark to show others who have visited or who are looking for things to do in Syracuse. This content was effective because it was aesthetically pleasing and engaging.

 

In all, I am very proud of the growth of influence I’ve had on my new Twitter and Instagram accounts. After learning how to use tools like Twitter analytics and Later.com I am confident that my following will continue to grow even after this course has ended. By having access to these professional accounts I will be able to engage with future employers and with those who share similar interests.

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