To some, it can seem daunting to maintain a twitter profile. Hundreds of people to follow and a constant struggle to stay relevant to your existing followers while attracting new ones can make twitter feel like a lot of work sometimes. So some people might think me crazy to have multiple accounts. I recently started up a video game site focusing on the industry and the community, Northwest Gamer. The site is partially an outlet to share my hobby with the web, but its also a personal test of my ability to build an online community.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

Obviously social media is a big part of this project, and a key ingredient is Twitter. Less than a month into this project, and Twitter accounts for 80% of my site referrals. I suspect that focusing a twitter account solely on my target audience has helped this spike in traffic to my site. Most of the followers on @jeffrshearer are not likely to be interested in my video-game related commentary, while the same is true for my @northwestgamer followers.

Previously, my main twitter account attempted to serve all of my interests at once. It was both a professional networking tool and social instrument, and while this is still true, I have narrowed my focus on @jeffrshearer to focus on digital marketing, while @northwestgamer publishes my gaming activities. It is my belief that with this tactic, I can build a stronger, more relevant following with each of my individual twitter personas.

Twitter is used in many different ways, but it is my belief that it should not be all of these at once. There is simply too much noise on Twitter to risk trying to be everything to everyone. If you struggle with follower retention and growth, find your niche, your beachhead, and dig in!