Many celebrities how have over one million followers on Twitter. Kevin Smith (@ThatKevinSmith), the famous movie director, actor, and comic book writer, is one of them. However, unlike most of the One Million Follower Club, Mr. Smith actually routinely interacts with many of his followers. What’s more, Kevin Smith has also began using Twitter as a sort of stage, performing marathon Tweet sessions where he responds to questions posed by his followers. Unlike many other celebrities, Kevin Smith isn’t just on Twitter. He is actually using Twitter to build his brand and he is doing an incredibly effective job at it.
One of the most powerful benefits of Twitter is its versatility. Tweets can be sent and received in any number of ways. Twitter allows people from all over the globe, with all levels and types of communication technologies, to interact in a seemless conversation. A person can choose if she wants to talk with one other person or one million other people. This represents an incredibly powerful tool with almost limitless potential. However, sadly, many Twitter users think that a successful Twitter campaign means having lots of Twitter followers. That’s a myth. A successfull Twitter campaign uses Twitter to build, grow, and communicate with an audience.
Kevin Smith understands this. He uses Twitter on a regular basis to <gasp!> actually interact with his followers. This results in Mr. Smith building a relationship with his followers. He responds to what they Tweet. He answers their questions. He offers up his Twitter account as a way for his fans and followers to “speak” directly to him. Even better, because of this relationship, his 1,000,000+ followers actually pay attention to what he Tweets. Because Smith has built a relationship with his followers, his Tweets matter more to them than most of the others they follow. Kevin Smith has found a way to use Twitter to get his audience to pay attention to what he Tweets. How many Social Media Managers working for big corporations have yet to achieve something like that?
One of the ways Kevin Smith has been so effective at using Twitter is the way in which he responds to his followers. He doesn’t simply obide by the typical @UserName <insert response here> format. What he does is this…
See the difference? In his response Smith includes the question along with the Twitter user name of the person who posed it. This may seem like some stupid little detail, but it’s not. Because all of his followers can now see, in the same Tweet, the question and the response, the Tweet has more meaning. Had he used the typical @UserName <reponse> format, the only one would understand the response in its propper context would be @UserName. Most of his other followers would have no clue as to what Smith was responding to, and without context, it would have no meaning to them. As a result, they would simply tune it out.
Kevin Smith is using Twitter more effectively than most. He has used it to grow his audience, build a relationship with that ever-increasing audience, and found a way to add value to his Tweets in the minds of his followers. He talks with them, not at them. Anyone, or any organization, seeking to do the same would be well advised to pay very close attention to Kevin Smith and his Twitter account. He’s showing how it’s done.
-Dan Cheek
www.LaserBurnMedia.com
dan@laserburnmedia.com
I has a limo
