SocialBro research reveals cost of ignoring new Twitter Followers

Engage early or be disengaged – that’s the message from SocialBro’s latest figures. Their data shows that businesses on Twitter will lose 15% of new Followers within three weeks if they don’t make the effort to engage early on in the relationship.

According to SocialBro’s Cassie Hayes, “famous or influential individuals (100,000+ followers) will lose 1-3% of new followers in the first week and 10% after three weeks”, which is nothing compared to what businesses stand to lose.

SocialBro reckons that, if you’re a company on Twitter, that churn rate can be anything from 5% to 15% and if you’re just an ordinary person using Twitter expect to lose 20% of new Followers in the first week and 40% over three weeks if you don’t make the effort to engage.

So, what can you do to stop new Followers disengaging?

“Make an effort to ‘follow back’, using lists to highlight your most important followers. Behind every profile is a real person, so do your best to interact, just as you would if they came in to your shop,” advises Javier Buron, SocialBro’s CEO and founder. “Mention them; thank them for following you; favorite their tweets. Obviously you need to prioritize those that are real accounts and those that represent a real opportunity, but try not to ignore new followers or they will soon say goodbye.”