Stop and think for a minute: do you know who your best customers are? Do you know who the ambassadors are — the people who are most likely spreading positive word of mouth about you, your products and services?
You’ve been using Twitter for business for some time, and have established a following. If you’ve been engaging with the community, you have, no doubt, attracted people who support you and share what you tweet. Klout is a site that measures Twitter influence, but it has additional business benefit. It helps you identify who on Twitter is most influenced by your Twitter feed and to learn their potential for carrying that influence forward.
Let’s take the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Twitter feed as an example. @CHOAirport uses its feed to provide airport news updates, special deals and other information. The account is managed by the executive director of the airport, Barbara Hutchinson. In addition, posts to the airport’s Facebook page, managed by my firm and an airport employee, update the Twitter feed as well.
If we look at the top five people the @CHOAirport account influences, we see some strong relationships emerge.
I see myself at the top, and I should hope so, since the airport is a client! Second is Jeff Uphoff, an airport commission member, pilot and frequent flier. Jeff is someone who helps spread airport news regularly. The third is the local news weather team. The airport has a partnership with The Newsplex and hosts a weathercam that looks out over the runway.
Relay Foods shares CHO’s philosophy of supporting local business. Allison Linney is a local business owner who flies frequently, always flies CHO, and enjoys spreading the word on behalf of other Charlottesville businesses.
At a glance, you can see the Klout scores of each of these ambassadors. When the airport shares valuable information via Twitter, these people often retweet that information to their followers. The sharing and number of people reached grows exponentially. It’s fast, effective and measurable.
Do you know who the ambassadors for your business are right now? Has it changed, or could it change? What are you doing to reward and reciprocate with those who participate in your community?
I have been to several blogging conferences and many industry conferences with elements of social media included. The first blogging conference I ever attended was 
This week I was a guest of the Wendy Edwards show, part of the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. I spoke with Wendy about branding, social media and marketing for small businesses.