Friend or Follower? Join the crowd.

All over the blogosphere Twitterers and Facebookers are on a quest to get the most attention. Some are on a mission to gain the most followers without regard what a particular follower’s soapbox is. Others carefully cultivate their following, picking and choosing a select crowd of like minded individuals wanting to trade ideas and offer dialogue. Who is right? Will the agency with the most followers win and thrive. Or, will the agency with a smaller more passionate group of followers, dedicated to discussing and sharing ideas with and for the agency rise above the crowd?

Some blog posts, such as one written by Bhupendra Khanal, CEO of InReV, discuss how everyone is a potential customer. And word of mouth cannot be ignored. Although this is true, word-of-mouth advertising will be more credible if the source recommending the agency or product is credible.

Quantity vs. quality has been a passionate discussion at BG. We’ve discussed bombarding the net with a hundreds blog postings and twitter updates weekly and monthly. We also talked about sending out only updates with well-chosen topics to be discussed in less frequency. We came to the conclusion that it is important to take the time to create a relationship with our followers rather than just shouting to the masses. It will be through the viral response of our followers that our messages will be seen.

Zephrin Lasker of iMedia Connections posted a blog that supports the idea that quality of followers is better than quantity. According to Lasker, “It doesn’t take an army of fans for a brand to do the right thing with Twitter. You just need to interact relevantly with the right people.”

While it is important that our name gains recognition on the World Wide Web, it is more important that our message is credible, ignites conversation and is savored, shared, and referenced later. We want our advertising messages, as well as our foray into the social media realm to have the personal touch and elicit a visceral reaction. Feel it, talk about it and then take the time to pass it along. We don’t mind. At BG, we want you to follow us, but we would rather you befriend us. We want to call all of our followers our friends.