Twitter is where people connect with what’s going on in the world as it’s happening. And because people on Twitter are often in a discovery mindset, they’re also open to following and interacting with new businesses.

To help us better understand how this works, we partnered with the research firm Research Now (@ResearchNowUS) to survey more than 5,450 people around the world that follow a small or medium-sized business (SMB) on Twitter. Here are a few key findings.

Followers are active and engaged

Of those surveyed, 90% use Twitter each week, with more than half using Twitter every day. This high level of Twitter usage means people are seeing a lot of content from businesses they follow. In fact, about a third of our audience reported that they recall reading Tweets from a business daily — another third every time they log in.

Followers are loyal

About 93% of people surveyed said they plan to purchase from businesses they follow, and nearly 70% have already purchased from those businesses once or more. We saw a lot of repeat-buying behavior as well. Almost 40% of survey respondents have, or plan to, purchase regularly from the companies they follow.

Followers are brand advocates

Even when someone isn’t explicitly focused on purchasing from a business, following made them a brand advocate. We found that 78.5% of people Tweeted at a business — half of them have Tweeted at that business multiple times. More than 80% of them felt even better about the business when the business replied to them on Twitter.

For more follower insights and details  on how people are discovering businesses on Twitter, download our 2016 Customer Insights Whitepaper. 

Ready to get started? Create your own campaign, or take a look at our Twitter Ads basics to learn a little more.