My followers and Klout score have greatly increased since the start of the semester. I had 31 in followers in September and now I have 105. As of September 5th, my Klout score was 18.69 and now it is 39.63. This jump proves that my influence definitely expanded throughout the semester. I believe this is attributed to my growing activity on twitter, increased use of hashtags and greater engagement with followers, old and new.
First of all, sending at least two tweets out every week for an entire semester definitely jump-started my Twitter activity, which was almost nonexistent previously. I soon noticed that simply sending out two tweets on a consistent basis allowed me to garner more followers — specifically those who related to or took an interest in the content I was tweeting about. For example, as a class, we were required to tweet about a number of topics, such as big data and social media marketing strategies. Every time I sent out a tweet pertaining to those subjects, at least one new person would follow me, retweet or like my tweet. I soon realized that tweeting more about specific subjects and using the appropriate hashtags would allow me to not only increase my presence and engagement on Twitter, but also expose me to an even wider audience of people. Additionally, on Novemeber 22, I noticed that I had a 90-day Klout score high of 40.49. This came after my various viral content challenge posts and various promotional tweets for my fitness blog, so I can see why my Klout score would grow after all of this constant Twitter activity, uses of hashtags, and sharing of links.
Additionally, using Twitter analytics, I found that my tweet with the most impressions was one that I used a link and multiple hashtags. This definitely makes sense to me, as the more content you share and promote, the more people are going to be drawn to the tweet and take interest in what you are talking about.
Additionally, I realized that engaging with people and organizations that liked or retweeted my tweets would gradually increase my followers. I did this much more at the beginning of the semester. When I stopped following people back or engaging with them, I realized I started losing followers. At one point, I actually had 108 followers instead of the 105 I have now. This made me realize that a lack of engagement and response does not work when trying to increase your followers and all around influence. I am now making a conscious effort to engage more with the people who engage with me, as I realize this tactic is much more effective when trying to establish a more expansive Twitter presence.