What Chad Johnson Can Teach Us All About Social Media
Whatever you want to call Chad Johnson — Chad Ochocinco, the reality tv-star, the well-past-his-prime football player, husband of Evelyn Lozada — he has developed a dedicated following through social media, and particularly Twitter, that is eclipsed by very few people. With over 3.5 million followers on Twitter, Chad has fostered a community of followers that are completely in-tune with his every tweet, and the often over-the-top nature of his conversations are, quite frankly, brilliant and very rewarding for fans of the football superstar turned Twitter personality.
And for any individual, and even any business, Chad has exemplified exactly what it takes to successfully develop a community that not only effectively markets something but also rewards those that are active within that community.
Here are just a few lessons that we can learn from Chad Johnson about how to foster an engaged community through social media.
Be Active, Engaging
To this day, Chad has tweeted over 35,000 times. Having joined in May of 2009, that means that in his 3 years since joining the network, he has tweeted nearly 32 times a day. Wow.
Obviously, for anyone, regardless of how active they are, that probably sounds like a ton. And, to be fair, in most cases it is.
But it’s also an indication of how active and engaged Chad is with his community of Twitter followers. During any one day, you might see him conversing with many different fans from around the country, responding to questions, compliments and even criticisms.
And for any person or business hoping to develop a responsive social media community, being active is extremely important. It shows that you’re listening, but it also encourages individuals to tweet at you because they know that those tweets won’t go unread.
Be Interesting, Funny
Perhaps the biggest difference between Chad and every other professional sports athlete on Twitter is that, more often than not, Chad writes about the interesting or ridiculous things that are going on in his life. Whether he’s reflecting on being robbed while at a Starbucks or proposing to his girlfriend while never breaking his focus on ‘Call of Duty’, the absurd nature of a lot of his tweets and conversations is often what drives people towards his Twitter account and gets attention from the media.
But of course it’s important to stay within some particular boundaries. There are plenty examples of accounts that have tried too hard to sound interesting or funny, and failed miserably. Don’t be those people.
Be Thoughtful
And though being a witness to Chad’s absurd antics is rewarding in and of itself, he often goes a step further when it comes to cultivating his community. Beyond that, Chad often gives his dedicated fans tickets to his games through Twitter, sometimes going the extra mile and meeting them individually.
And in a particularly heartwarming example, Chad recently invited a grieving widow to his July 4th wedding.
And whether you’re an individual or a business, it’s always important to be thoughtful (and helpful) towards your social media audience because they too — in most cases — are human. They have emotions, and they get excited about some things and angry about other things.
And Chad seems to understand that better than anybody else in the Twitterverse.
Who are some of your favorite examples of individuals that have effectively fostered an active social media community?
Source: MSM DesignZ, Inc. is a Westchester NY Social Media company specializing in advertising, web and graphic design, and SEO.