Twitter Power Players - 10 to Follow

Regardless of your opinion of twitter, you have to admit it’s a pretty big deal. According to analyst group Semiocast, the social network surpassed the 500 million user mark in June of this year with roughly 140 million of those accounts in the U.S. Despite this massive audience and the plethora of stats backing up twitter’s marketing value, many brands and leaders are still slow to get involved. Those that have jumped in, however, are able to communicate with colleagues, experts and fans in a completely unprecedented way. We put together a starter list of leaders in the franchising world who have adopted the networked and built a strong presence with friends and followers. For the purposed of the list, we looked at franchise leaders and consultants with a Klout score above 60. Klout is a metric that estimates the influence a person has within the realm of social networks on a scale of zero to 100. This list is by no means comprehensive but simply serves to highlight a few of the power twitter users within the franchising community. Let us know who we missed in the comments!   Dan Kim – Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Red Mango @DanKimRedMango Dan is the founder and driving force behind Red Mango, one of the nation’s fastest growing frozen yogurt concepts. Kim’s feed features photos of Red Mango creations, industry articles and retweets from fans. Kudos on tying in the “honey badger” craze to connect with younger audiences.   Kat Cole – President, Cinnabon, Inc. @KatColeATL A fleeting glance of Cole’s wall is enough to know that the Cinnabon President is all about connecting with her brand’s fans. Nearly all of her tweets are personal replies or retweets from average consumers. Cole’s VIP treatment of Cinnabon’s fans should be a lesson for all executives.   Deb Evans - President, Deb Evans Consulting, LLC. @DebCE Certified Franchise Executive and host of Social Geek Radio, Evans has one of the higher Klout scores on our list with a 67. Her feed blends best practices articles and networking with personal tweets, avoiding the often bland twitter experience some experts end up creating.   Liberty Harper – Director of Marketing, Fatburger Corporation @LibertyHarper If you follow 1851, Harper’s name should be surprise. Named one of our Young Ones to Watch, youthful approach to twitter incorporates plenty of photos and inspirational quotes.   Paul Segreto – President and CEO, FranchiEssentials; Co-Founder, FranSummit @PaulSegreto Segreto shows off his wealth of knowledge about the franchising industry regularly on twitter, often focusing on social media. Be sure to also check out his daily roundup of franchise social media news.   Mindy Golde – Vice President of Sales, Listen360 @MindyGolde Another alum of our Young Ones to Watch list, Golde shows the great potential twitter offers for networking. Many professionals are finding twitter is an easier and faster means of communication than emailing.   Jeff Hennion - EVP-Chief Marketing Officer and Head of e-Commerce, GNC @jeffhennion The only verified user of our list, Hennion shares news and accomplishments from GNC while taking time to thank the brand’s many fans. The odd celebrity endorsement doesn’t hurt his credibility either.   Joel Libava – Author; Founder, TheFranchiseKing.com @FranchiseKing The King provides a steady stream of articles ranging from best practices to tech news. With over 46,000 tweets, Libava doesn’t miss much.   Jerry Darnell – VP of Business Development, Guidant Financial @jdarnell1336 Darnell’s frequent retweets of other twitter users result in a huge range of news from across the twittersphere. Get the day’s top stories in one place by following him.   Matt Haller - VP, Public Affairs | Chief of Staff to President & CEO, International Franchise Association @Franchising411 Although the IFA’s official twitter account only has a Klout score of 58, we gave it a pass because of the sheer value it represents. It’s a must follow for anyone in the franchising community with the latest news from IFA and live tweets from conferences and expos.