Establishing a baseline for your Twitter account is easier than you may think. Once you understand the reasoning behind this particular concept, establishing a baseline will become second nature to you. Before we move on any further, what exactly is a baseline?

Merriam Webster defines a baseline as ” a usually initial set of critical observations or data used for comparison or a control” or “a starting point.” Your initial Twitter followers make up that baseline. Your baseline followers are there to create activity for your account. For most platforms, but most importantly Twitter, establishing a baseline is necessary so that you can measure the subsequent effectiveness of your social media efforts.

Why do I want to follow users?

The rule of thumb is that 20 percent of the users who you follow will follow you back. In order to gain a small following, you need to follow other users.

Following other users also exposes and promotes your account to more users so that you can gain an even larger following.

Who do I follow?

You should follow users in your niche. Follow other managed services providers. Follow your customers. Follow your vendor partners. There are two simple reasons for this way of thinking. The first reason is that these users will catch your interest. If you follow users in your niche, their tweets will show up in your feed, and, once and a while, you’ll find something of interest.

Second, you want those following you to be interested in what you have to say. For example, if you’re managing a twitter account for a municipality in California, and your followers are mostly from Alabama, you’re not reaching your targeted audience. Or if you are tweeting on behalf of your MSP company, you probably won’t be engaging that audience if you are tweeting about getting toddlers to eat their vegetables.