"I Just Want to Get More Followers"

 I loved that commercial.  I laughed every time.  But it's not really a laughing matter.  People want to get more followers.  In fact, 54% of people aged 13-38 want to be influencers according to a Morning Consult Poll.  But only .25% actually make it as social media influencer who can make a living according to alanspicer.com.

As leaders, we have to have a following.  After all, at the heart of it, that is the definition of leader - leading those that follow.  But it doesn't have to consume us, wondering if we're going to go "viral" or not.  What I am more concerned with is what works to get those you lead to respond.  That has always been a tricky part of being a leader.  We just have more metrics for it now.

Recently, I wanted to host a nationally streamed event at our church.  I printed flyers, created a Facebook event, posted in that event almost daily, made verbal announcements, and created a calendar event with direct email RSVP requests.  After all that, you know how many showed up?  6.  One of those teens was my own son.  (I am not writing this to show you I know how to host a big program, because I don't).  An even better measurement than how many showed up, in my opinion, is what percentage responded and what medium had the best results?

With all the different ways I communicated this event, the best response I got was using Google calendar and inviting people in my contact list directly by email.  This only resulted in a 25% response rate compared to around 5% on Facebook.  This isn't great, but it tells me where I am going to put my efforts in the future.  What works for you?  What response results have you received lately from an event you tried to put on?