Back in the good old days, a business's popularity could be measured by the number of people who subscribed to its e-newsletters.
Then it became a question of how many "friends" a business had on Facebook.
Nowadays, it's all about how many Twitter followers you have.
Building up a large base of followers takes time.
You have to create a Twitter user account and regularly post interesting, informative tweets that are relevant for your target audience.
If you're successful, people sign up to follow your tweets, recommending your account to their family members and friends, thereby causing the number of your followers to grow exponentially.
If you're not as successful, building up a strong base of followers can be a slow, frustrating process.
Today, businesses are looking for shortcuts in getting new followers, and one new business is happy to help - for a price.
An Australian social media marketing company called uSocial works with businesses that have a message in search of an audience, letting them "buy" a certain number of followers.
A set of 1,000 followers costs $87 (£53), and followers can be purchased in groups as large as 100,000.
So far, 150 customers have purchased followers through uSocial's services, and approximately 85 additional campaigns are waiting to be rolled out in the coming months.
How does it work? uSocial conducts extensive research on existing Twitter users, first identifying their interests and geographic location, and then anticipating what other types of tweets they might want to follow.
When it identifies a potential match between a Twitter user and one of its customers, it sends a short message to the individual, briefly telling him or her about the new Twitter user and extending an invitation to follow those tweets.
It is an opt-in process that uSocial repeats until it has successfully secured the requested number of followers.
Marketers are just beginning to tap the potential of Twitter and other social marketing tools.
According to uSocial, each Twitter follower can be valued about around $0.
10 per month, based on their likelihood to click on advertisements or make purchases on ecommerce sites promoted through tweets.
However, the sales-driven approach needs to be adapted for the new medium, since straight sales pushes are likely to be viewed as spam, causing the follower to stop following those Tweets.
Purchasing followers helps companies navigate the new world of social networking, giving them a receptive audience as they experiment with new ways to build strong customer relationships by sending appealing messages to potential and current customers.
Then it became a question of how many "friends" a business had on Facebook.
Nowadays, it's all about how many Twitter followers you have.
Building up a large base of followers takes time.
You have to create a Twitter user account and regularly post interesting, informative tweets that are relevant for your target audience.
If you're successful, people sign up to follow your tweets, recommending your account to their family members and friends, thereby causing the number of your followers to grow exponentially.
If you're not as successful, building up a strong base of followers can be a slow, frustrating process.
Today, businesses are looking for shortcuts in getting new followers, and one new business is happy to help - for a price.
An Australian social media marketing company called uSocial works with businesses that have a message in search of an audience, letting them "buy" a certain number of followers.
A set of 1,000 followers costs $87 (£53), and followers can be purchased in groups as large as 100,000.
So far, 150 customers have purchased followers through uSocial's services, and approximately 85 additional campaigns are waiting to be rolled out in the coming months.
How does it work? uSocial conducts extensive research on existing Twitter users, first identifying their interests and geographic location, and then anticipating what other types of tweets they might want to follow.
When it identifies a potential match between a Twitter user and one of its customers, it sends a short message to the individual, briefly telling him or her about the new Twitter user and extending an invitation to follow those tweets.
It is an opt-in process that uSocial repeats until it has successfully secured the requested number of followers.
Marketers are just beginning to tap the potential of Twitter and other social marketing tools.
According to uSocial, each Twitter follower can be valued about around $0.
10 per month, based on their likelihood to click on advertisements or make purchases on ecommerce sites promoted through tweets.
However, the sales-driven approach needs to be adapted for the new medium, since straight sales pushes are likely to be viewed as spam, causing the follower to stop following those Tweets.
Purchasing followers helps companies navigate the new world of social networking, giving them a receptive audience as they experiment with new ways to build strong customer relationships by sending appealing messages to potential and current customers.