You spend hours and hours and hours searching for content to post, retweet and share with your twitter followers. But, how do you know who’s really reading it?

About a month ago I started using Buffer, an app that schedules posts across a span of networks and reports the results back to you. It’s so easy to use. If you like Firefox, you’ll love Buffer’s plugin.

When you visit a page you want to share, all you have to do is click on the Buffer icon in your browser. A popup window will come up with a display already filled in with the post’s title, source and tracking code. You can edit and then choose to post now or schedule an automated update.

There are many camps in social media, including one that is against automated posting. Yet, we all know that it takes time to curate, package and schedule content.

That’s why knowing what your readers react to on social media is so important – whether or not you automate your updates.

If you’re consistently posting social media updates that go nowhere, you not only waste time you erode your influence.

In researching how my @wiredprworks followers react to twitter, I came up with these insights to share.

1570 clicks

What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast | Fast Company http://buff.ly/Lyz8ja First, Picture the Perfect Morning

The number of clicks on this one surprised me. With no direct mention of marketing, social media or PR, the title simply alludes to how to be more successful.

It went out early in the morning so the post was timely. The tweet displays the title of the post, the name of the source [although the twitter ID would be preferable], a tracking link and a call out from the article.

The popularity of this tweet tells me that my followers are morning people, they like to read Fast Company, they’re interested in success and they like to inspire others.

On Facebook, this update might have read:

What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast _______________

with a link to the article in the preview section.

400 clicks

11 Shocking New Social Media Statistics via @jaybaer http://buff.ly/L9DxqA only 33% of Americans have followed a brand

This one did not surprise me. People love statistics. To add interest, I included one revealing statistic. What kind of a reaction do you get when you share statistics?

112 clicks

Facebook Builds new WordPress Plugin Integration http://buff.ly/Osqcwr via @Facebook Developers Blog

Was it the Facebook or the WordPress Plug mention that got the intention?

52 clicks

Search and Social: How The Two Will Soon Become One via @TechCrunch http://buff.ly/Mj5J9A

Wow – I thought more people would be interested in the intersection of search and social.

What systems do you use to measure your social media results? How do you change what you’re doing?

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