Measure your social media success

Don’t get frustrated if your new social media activity hasn’t yet made you a Twitter celebrity. Quality matters more than quantity when it comes to social media, says Blane Warrene, co-founder of the social media archiving firm Arkovi, now a part of RegEd. “Don’t grade yourself by number of followers, [but] by engagement,” Warrene says. Rather than focus on the return on your investment, pay attention to your ability to influence others on social media, says Victor Gaxiola, social media expert at Actiance. “Are you contributing and adding value to the conversation? Are you changing minds and establishing yourself as a thought leader?” To measure how influential you are on social platforms and to find influencers in other industries, use Klout.com, suggests Michael Kitces, an active social media user, blogger and partner at Pinnacle Advisory Group. Eventually, you can focus on scaling your Twitter messages, says Matthew Halloran, founder of Top Advisor Coaching. To that end, forge as many connections as possible. “It is the law of large numbers, get your messages out to as many as you can,” says Halloran.