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Survey Results Revealed: Content Makes You Influential on Twitter

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Categories: twitter

Twitter Street SignLast week I  posted a survey to see what the Twitter community thought about the question of “Influence on Twitter”. This is the first survey in my “Twitter Power Poll” Series that asked  “What Makes A Brand or Person Influential on Twitter?”. After over 330 people voted the results were. (Thanks to those special people in the  Twitter community who took the time to vote) 

  • The number of followers 8%
  • The quality of their followers 16%
  • The number of followers retweeting their tweets or updates 16%
  • The quality and value of the links that they tweet 22%
  • How often they tweet or update 6%
  • The ability to make other people take actions on Twitter 18%
  • The quality and popularity of the website or blog that is on their Twitter site 7%
  • They are already well known or famous 5%
  • Other 2%

So if we look at the numbers, what comes out loud and clear is that the Twitter community values the content being

  1. Tweeted
  2. Retweeted 
  3. Making other people take actions after reading  the content 

The most important thing the communities on Twitter value is great content and if you are creating, sourcing, finding, publishing and promoting great content on Twitter you are “Influential”.  

Note: Today I came upon an interview of Guy Kawasaki on “Hubspots Blog”  …by the way his Twitter followers are over 180,000, his blog “How To Change The World” is in the “Top 500″ worldwide” and his “Twitter Grade” is number 5 in the world and he constantly tweets great content. Do you think he might be influential? When he posts your content on his blog your traffic takes off.. I had over 1,900 hits to my blog post in 24 hours when his “Allpost” blog put up one of my posts.    

These three choices in the survey total 56% (not insignificant… and by the way that is a majority in democratic terms).

So on Twitter “Content Is King” 

What do you think …..”Is Content King” on Twitter or is  it… “Conversations” ? or …? Love to hear your thoughts


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  • Rick Ladd

    Content is virtually all that matters to me. It comes either in the form of a useful link – generally accompanied by a concise intro to, or explanation of, what the link is about, or in the form of interesting conversation that entertains or enlightens me. All else is fluff, from my point of view. If I want that I can go to the MSM.

  • http://www.smartdigitalspending.com Eric Melchor

    Great poll Jeff. Since being on Twitter, I’ve come to recognize that certain people consistently tweet good content and as a result, whenever I see their profile pic, there is a good chance that whatever they are posting (providing a link for) is worth reading.

    Eric Melchor

  • http://www.skagitmarketing.com Julie Burgmeier

    Thank you for the research. I manage 5 different twitter accounts for clients, and I’m always looking for relevant & interesting content to retweet. Before I retweet I check out their website, note their follower to following ratio, and take a quick glance at their tweets. Customer testimonials from king twitterer’s (respectable-see above) are especially fun to find.

  • http://www.twitter.com/jeffrshearer Jeff Shearer

    Yeah this poll seems to make sense. I’m not surprised to see # of followers as of relatively low importance in finding influential twitter users. I think what matters most is if your followers notice, click, and respond to the info you tweet.

  • http://strategyweb.wordpress.com/ Oscar Del Santo

    I am actually relieved by this survey’s results. Other than stirctly personal use, quality content is most definitely what makes following someone on Twitter worth it.

  • http://returntweet.com MG

    I agree. Good content is king. I’ve been creating original content on my blog while I had the option to automate it via RSS but few people like to read regorgitated news. Good post. thanks.

  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/BarbChamberlain Barb Chamberlain

    When asked just yesterday by our human resources director if Twitter really was that valuable or if it was just the latest shiny new toy, my answer was all about the content.

    I gave her several quick examples:
    -professional development (links to free webinars & great reading, real-time Q&A from the pros who are so generous with their time and people in the trenches like me)
    - personally recommended resources instead of Google search results (“Twitter: Better Than BING”)
    - and from her discipline’s viewpoint the ability to establish a professional reputation or go looking for jobs/job applicants.

    She was convinced.

    @BarbChamberlain

  • http://rogerewingblog.com Roger Ewing

    Good poll. I think content is only as good as the WOM that results in views. Great content is not enough, obviously. Conversation on Twitter is more important than content. Experience tells me that one is willing to engage in conversation results in more response than posting blog information.
    Happy New Year

  • http://correlationist.wordpress.com correlationist

    Jeff – excellent post. I could not agree with you more!!

    I think you will like my post – Darwinism & Social Media. I surmise on why content is king. http://ow.ly/ZXog

    I would be delighted if you checked it out. Feedback from great folks like you is the only way I can improve :)

    Cheers,
    Prince

  • http://www.catherinewhite.wordpress.com Catherine White

    ‘War and Peace’ or ‘Anna Karenina’ are great literary works that stand the test of time, because they were written in the context of the times.

    There’s a lot of celebrity without content because it’s within the context of the times.

    Content reigns when it’s in context.

  • http://clayfranklin.com Clay Franklin

    Thank you for the Poll results.
    I agree content is king.
    For me I only follow links that have great descriptions about what to expect when clicked.
    Like I clicked on your tweet about this survey that was retweeted by someone I follow.

    @ClayFranklin

  • http://www.studiopopsicle.com Jacqui Popsicle

    I am new to Twitter. This is really great info on how to understand and better use and enjoy this medium and have meaningful influence for my brand. Thanks

  • http://twitter.com/mnburgess Mark Burgess

    Thanks for sharing the survey results. I like the “quality” of followers vs quantity response.

  • http://www.joeatwal.com Joetherealtor

    I’ve noticed I use twitter two different ways since I’ve been using it for a few months. One, for the past few months I’ve used it for short conversation with other attendees if I’m at a convention or larger seminar. Two, searching for new or current trends & information on a daily basis .

  • http://www.njhessassociates.com Nancy J Hess

    I am constantly amazed at how my scanning ability continues to sharpen on twitter so that I can zero in on content. I think of a laser that cuts through massive layers of fluff to get to the substance. I am not a gaming buff but Twitter has a gaming element to it in the speed and learning curve involved in making things happen.

  • http://leadremarks.com Jay

    Great article. Thanks for providing good content on twitter ;-) I followed you.

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  • http://www.eltalearning.com jignesh

    This is really worthy and useful survey, and i am totally agree with the result as the quality of your links and content you are sharing is very much importnant.

  • http://www.viadeo.com/recherche/profil/index.jsp?memberId=0021c49c7tvm9hym&distance=2&fullNa Francis Bélime

    Content is always the reference when speaking about social medias. Even with only 140 caracters, the message has to make sense as well as it’s recommended when writting a post in a blog.
    Good stats on Twitter and great to follow your tweets from Down under…

  • http://www.nashandassociates.com Brian Nash

    Content, content and more content, Jeff. 140 characters doesn’t leave a whole lot of room to have a MEANINGFUL conversation. I agree with some of the prior comments – there are certain people whose tweets will typically have links to great content. They typically are the ones my eye focuses on when watching tweets fly by. They make it to my Favorites folder on Twitter for later reading and are the ones I subscribe to – you being one of them, BTW.

  • http://jscotthypnosis.com Jennifer Scott

    I found this survey interesting and not surprising.

  • http://www.jeffreyogden.com jefflogden59

    Content is king, Jeff. And great content is even more important. Could not agree more with this post.

    Jeff Ogden
    @fearlesscomp
    http://www.findnewcustomers.net

  • bidaelgran

    That’s really true

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  • http://partyaficionado.com Cheryl Lawson

    If content is king, then relationships must be queen.

  • http://preciouspebble.com Yoli

    Thanks for the great post Jeff. Conversations are nice, but content is king… :)

  • http://twitter.com/kjkeef Kelly Keefer

    This is an excellent post. I believe that the quality of content posted is the biggest reason Twitter users follow one another. It is important not to flood the Twitter feed with endless posts, especially when they are same blog links.

  • http://harounkola.com Haroun Kola

    Great article. I wish I knew what the secret is to be influential, I’d use it :)

  • Lezlie Davis

    I agree! Great content is valuable. This info is great validation!

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  • http://budurl.com/rbxx Michele Price

    Ok Jeff, I love that you take a temperature test, we both agree on a lot of things and I see a hole in this conversation…

    Content is relative. What one person finds valuable another sees as noise.

    Yes, it would seem that a conversation cannot happen in 140 characters yet it does everyday.

    What I have learned is that no one cares about the content you are tweeting unless they like, respect and value YOU.

    They might check out a link once and if it is not meeting their needs they will hesitate to check our anything else you say.

    We might be missing an opportunity for content to be also inspiration, to be listening and when someone tweets about their own needs you RESPOND (from a place of caring)

    Content can be a commodity, caring about people and sharing solutions creates sustainability.

  • http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/kitty/kelso Kitty Kelso

    I hope the %’s will increase, or the titles will change someday. 100% would be a good score for a Twitter Tweeter who enjoys and has people who enjoy coming to that site just because they find the content interesting and just might jump in a Twit for the first time ever. That would make me happy. Thanks for keeping score! Best wishes, kte

  • http://sociallyexposed.com Eugene Lavatman

    Content can only be king if you have a lot of followers :)

  • http://twitter.com/PeruEmprenddor Eddy Garcia Vega

    EFECTIVAMENTE, A SIMPLE VISTA SE VE QUE EL CONTENIDO DE INFORMACION EN TWITTER ES MUCHO MAS VALIOSA QUE EN FACEBOOK…

  • http://twitter.com/PeruEmprenddor Eddy Garcia Vega

    EN TWITTER EL CONTENIDO ES EL REY, SI UN INDIVIUO TUVIECE LA POSIBILIDAD DE REVIZAR LA  MAYORIA DE LA INFORMACION QUE SE VIERTE EN ESTA RED, SE DARIA CUENTA QUE ES MUY ENRIQUECEDORA Y SUSTANCIAL…

  • Gilly P

    It makes so much sense. Content is the way to grow not just on twitter but through all mediums. I am pleased with my own followers for a small new enterprise and now know how to make this even more succesful.

  • Gilly P

    It makes so much sense. Content is the way to grow not just on twitter but through all mediums. I am pleased with my own followers for a small new enterprise and now know how to make this even more succesful.

  • Rayhzor

    I really think content is impactful if it is concise. Influence is a response in Twitter. Whether it be desired, or just plain ignored.

  • Anonymous

    Interesting content spurs quality conversations. They are both equally necessary.

  • Anonymous

    Interesting content spurs quality conversations. They are both equally necessary.

  • Kimberly Davis

    Content needs to be quality & variety & yes 9x out of 10, it will always be King!