Its one of those life tantalizing questions, up there with who came first the chicken or the egg, or if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it… What is really the life time of a tweet? What can be done to extend it?

When you tweet, how many people see your tweet? How many people click on the link? How many replies would you expect to get?

I guess it all depends on a few things

1) The number of followers you have: Its obvious, the more followers you have, the higher the likely hood that your tweet will be seen. My guesstimate, a tweet carries a 50/1000 view rate, i.e. for each 1000 followers, 50 will see your tweet.

2) The number of followers your followers follow: A mouth full, but if one of your followers follows say 10 people then odds are they will see your tweet. If your follower follows 2000 people then odds are, your tweet will be missed.

3) The type of tweet: If your tweet starts with @somename, that is an invitation for people to skip your tweet, I almost skip over all these tweets because i find it odd to read or reply to one. If its a #followfriday tweet, that is an instant ignore. If your tweet is a link or twitpic, it has a higher likely hood of being viewed and acted on. I guess that per 1000 you would get 10 people to click a URL. If your tweet is a straight forward tweet, its a clear invitation for people to read it, and the quality of the tweet may solicit interaction.

So what can one do to increase the life of a tweet.

Trick 1: Learned it from the best (Chirs Brogan) once said that its ok to tweet something 3 times at a different time of day, it will get more views, and those who had seen it wont mind. I tried this great piece of advice and it does work. you will bet that I will tweet this post 3 times.

Trick 2: If you are replying and want the reply to appeal to every one, include the @ at the end of the tweet or in the middle.

Example instead of @abc I think Starbucks is the best coffee ever. write: I think Starbucks is the best coffee ever @abc

Trick 3: If the tweet is important to you and want people to see it, its ok to ask for a RT, but you cant do this with every tweet, you have to be selective

Trick 4: The same way a title impacts the open rate of an email, a tweets content will impact replies, ReTweets, Clicks, etc… make sure your tweet is good, maybe even ask a question.

Trick 5: If your tweet is related to a topic, find the #tag, make sure you include that, so you can join the global conversation

Trick 6: Tweet it during the day, late night tweets will go unread

Trick 7: If your tweet includes a link, make sure the tweet is clear on what is behind the URL

Trick 8: In some cases a referral tweet can yield good results. A referral tweet is when you connect two people in your network based on a topic, This allows you to have a conversation and exposure in both peoples networks. For example: I know someone who knows a lot about shrimp, @abc, meet @def.

Trick 9: Use a quick identifier , for example start the tweet with “New Study:” or ” Breaking News”, etc… this clearly labels the tweet and directs people to it.

Trick 10: Include a Twitter expert, celebrity or a source if appropriate. Example you say I disagree with @chrisbrogan… Ask their opinion. Point to a source, for example, checkout @twiter_tips for… Even if they dont reply it may grab the attention of your followers.

@sforzley

Some thing ain’t right.

I am told, that if your company gets mentioned on CNN especially in a positive sense, that you have achieved great success. I mean its CNN, the most watch network worldwide. You know how many eyeballs get to see your brand? that spot is gold.

Now, I am also told, that having social media presence is extremely important. I get it, I drink the social media cool aid. Yes I have read the articles on “how do you measure ROI” for your social media. That you have to be open, transparent, etc… And so I am sold, At least on Twitter, I mean you have to start somewhere, why not Twitter.

But something is off. Something is really off. Either CNN is not worth a damn, or social media, hard to tell. Its making the rounds today on Twitter. The race to 1 million, leading the pack, CNN. Dont get me wrong 1 million is a big number, but is it an achievement or a failure to hit that number for followers on Twitter?

CNN has been plugging Twitter on every show, for months and months, people like Rick Sanchez go live and plug Twitter daily. If CNN with all its world wide audience, round the clock coverage, and months of advertising Twitter, and still  can t hit 1 million then I am sorry but how good “really” is it to be mentioned on CNN? Or is it Twitter?

Who are the gurus of Twitter? take a look, from Britney spears to the President, whats in common? They are all celebrities or brands with big money, and dont need Twitter, dont get Twitter and dont care if twitter goes to hell tomorrow.  Look at them, they dont follow back, they dont tweet, they dont interact, and certainly could line up the same amount of fans without Twitter or any social media tool. So remind me again, what is the point of social media, what was that ROI argument?

Why am I not ever mentioned among the success stories of social media, I do my part, I Tweet, I follow back, I get it, I will be sad if Twitter goes to hell tomorrow. As a matter of fact, I add more value to the social media world than most of those fine folks do. Does social media only cater to the famous and well funded? Is there a success story for a small company that really gets followers on Twitter or fans on Facebook?