There are lots of “tweeple” with very large followings.  Chances are they were early adopters of this communication channel, social media is their primary business, or they have set up auto-pilot features to automatically follow anyone who follows them.

Whether or not you automate certain aspects of your twitter brand is dependent on what your business objective is.  The larger your following, the less targeted your demographic is and the more difficult it is to engage meaningfully with your followers.

As for me, I like to check out bio’s and twitter pages before I follow back.  As the channel gets more popular, I’m starting to see some rather shady looking tweeps out there.  Plus I won’t follow back if their bio talks about making a fast buck, politics, or exercising. 

Don’t get me wrong here…lots of followers can be great.  But make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. So go forth and engage with your followers consistently.  The more engaging you are, the more your following base will start to represent your target market. 

Just keep it real!

~Susan

P.s., here are a few tips for finding quality followers:

• To find good followers, use the weekly #followfriday event.  And remember, it’s a two way street!
• Use keywords in your tweets to attract your target market
• Turn off your notification setting when new folks follow you.  It’s easier to review and follow followers directly from the “followers’ link from your Twitter page.