Crowdbooster

case study

Actor/producer Walter Masterson enlivens his career

"Everyone knows social media is the new thing, but no one knows how to monetize it yet," said Walter Masterson, a New York-based actor who signed onto Crowdbooster last week. Crowdbooster CEO Ricky chatted with Masterson about generating hype on Twitter. In the entertainment industry, Masterson produces independent films and appears in theater, film and network television. On Twitter, Masterson is a self-proclaimed parkour freerunner and zombie hunter. He reaches out to his offline audience through the online world.

Sparking Audience Appeal

Masterson watched his producing partner, Lauren Francesca, leverage her YouTube popularity for mainstream network television and film. He added, "I've seen the power of having an online following." Two keys to enlarging your Twitter audience may be content and context. Content refers to your ongoing output of information, i.e. tweets and blog posts. Context refers to encouraging audience input and feedback. Masterson noted the importance of being accessible to readers. When building a receptive online community, information released on social media should remain relevant to them. "You can't just blast a link and have [Twitter users] watch it," Masterson commented. "It's [about] interacting with people on their content." If he likes a video from one follower, count on seeing a retweet on his account. "You're in the community, basically."

Discovering Crowdbooster
After using our analytics for the first time last week, Masterson experienced "overnight" the benefits of tracking significant Tweets. He believes that he should release social media content only "10% of the time." The rest of the time online, he appreciates the ability to understand his Twitter influence. Most notably, the 2011 Cannes Film Festival featured his independent production, Una Calle Sin Salida. When Masterson tweeted his producing parter, the hashtag #Cannes fostered retweets immediately. Because the tweet was shown as influential by Crowdbooster, that hashtag was usefully implemented again.

crowdbooster.com 395 Page Mill Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306 1 (888) 944-9466 For more information, contact ricky@crowdbooster.com

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case study

Crowdbooster also charted Masterson's support of Twitter account CureCancerNow. His advocacy tweets "reached a huge audience very quickly." To his delight, he saw which tweets were impactful, from "general charity [shout-outs]" to more personal tweets for "one person looking for a kidney." Tweets focused on an individual cause were the most influential, as people respond well to life stories. "Whatever sounds more genuine goes right out [to a large audience]," Masterson emphasized.

Hi, Mom. Follow me, please?

The personal aspect of social media stuck a positive chord in Masterson's own life. On a whim, he started a Twitter campaign for his mother to follow him. He asked his followers to @mention his mother and instantly received tweets and retweets.

Lightheartedly, he conceded that some followers did say, "No wonder your mother doesn't follow you. You tweetspam her!" This may be a nod to criticism about his account's traffic. In Masterson's experience, a balance between tweeting too little and too much is essential for connecting with users. His social media role models include influential tweeters who have only 500 followers. Their secret to success? Ongoing interaction with their community. "You don't need to be Charlie Sheen to [be influential]," he advised. "You could have 200 [followers]; if they're retweeting and mentioning your content, that's huge. Work with what you have. June 3, 2011 Author: Sophia Vo

crowdbooster.com 395 Page Mill Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306 1 (888) 944-9466 For more information, contact ricky@crowdbooster.com