SPECIAL SERIES == Are Followers Still a Thing? Let’s Get Real 🎯 <== | BATHROOM Break #66 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson"

Episode Title: SPECIAL SERIES == Are Followers Still a Thing? Let’s Get Real 🎯 | BATHROOM Break #66 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That
Release Date: July 28, 2025
Hosts: Daniel Murray (Marketing Millennials) and Jay Schwedelson (Do This, Not That)

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Introduction to the Episode

In this special collaboration episode of "Bathroom Break #66," Daniel Murray from Marketing Millennials teams up with Jay Schwedelson from "Do This, Not That" to discuss a pressing question in the current marketing landscape: Do followers still matter? The hosts delve into the evolving significance of follower counts across various social media platforms and explore how these metrics influence business credibility and marketing strategies.

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Main Discussion: Do Followers Still Matter?

1. The Role of Followers in Social Proof and Credibility

Jay Schwedelson opens the discussion by questioning the current importance of follower counts:

"Do followers even matter anymore? There's all the different platforms, there's all different things. It used to be followers were everything we had to grow our follower count. Is that the world anymore?"
[00:59]

Daniel Murray responds by emphasizing the continued relevance of followers as a form of social proof:

"It's less the world. But I still think it's important because I think social proof matters on pages. And let me tell you why. Because if you're on Instagram and you're looking at a business that you want to and some of your followers or friends follow that company or that restaurant or that product, like, you're more likely to be like, oh, they think it's cool. I want to buy from that product."
[01:54]

He further explains that a substantial follower base can enhance a business's legitimacy:

"If you have a hundred thousand followers as a restaurant versus 10 follows the restaurant you look like not as legit."
[02:00]

2. Algorithm Changes and Content Circulation

The conversation shifts to the impact of algorithm changes on content visibility, independent of follower counts.

Jay Schwedelson shares his experience with YouTube's algorithm:

"I recently launched a YouTube channel. And for anybody who cares, not that you do, it's Ettleson. And we are messing around lots of different formats and different things with thumbnails and, and the reality of it is my shorts are getting a lot more views in circulation even though we have barely any subscribers as compared to people that have 20x 30x the number of subscribers that we have."
[03:00]

He highlights that algorithms now prioritize content that resonates, allowing smaller accounts to gain visibility:

"It's no longer just about, oh, you have a lot of followers, it's going to circulate to a lot of people. It’s this thing resonating with people and then the algorithm picks it up and runs with it."
[04:18]

Daniel Murray concurs, noting that quality content can level the playing field:

"I think we're in an age where you can be any size company and beat any big company by putting out better content. And I like that. That way you're competitive enough, you can compete now on a level playing field, especially on Instagram YouTube shorts. TikTok."
[04:25]

3. Strategic Management of Follower Counts

Both hosts discuss strategies businesses employ to maximize reach without solely focusing on follower numbers.

Daniel Murray mentions the tactic of creating multiple accounts to increase content circulation:

"People are doing strategies now. If you see companies or creators, they'll create multiple accounts so they'll have like their main account and they'll have like clips and they'll have this and they'll have that because they know that like they can put like four different clips and the five follow count account is going to get more reach and they're trying to get as many eyeballs."
[04:50]

Jay Schwedelson advises maintaining a baseline follower count to ensure legitimacy across platforms:

"Get very focused on what is the minimum number that you need to have to not embarrass your company, right? So when someone goes to the page like, all right, they're legit. And rather than focus on how do we get a zillion people on this platform, whatever, make sure that you have the baseline across all platforms so you don't have a negative signal out there when people are checking you out."
[05:54]

Daniel Murray adds that follower counts also influence the effectiveness of broadcast channels and newsletters:

"LinkedIn has newsletter which like if you have followers like you, it blasts and you have more traffic traction to get these. The private community group, which you can have as well. So that's also a plus for followers is these broadcast channels for Instagram and then newsletters for LinkedIn."
[05:30]

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Insights and Takeaways

1. Social Proof Remains Valuable: follower counts continue to serve as a metric for credibility and trustworthiness, influencing consumer purchasing decisions.

2. Content Quality Over Quantity: Modern algorithms prioritize engaging and resonant content, allowing smaller accounts to achieve significant reach without massive follower bases.

3. Strategic Follower Management: Maintaining a baseline follower count across platforms is crucial to avoid negative perceptions, while also leveraging multiple accounts and diverse content strategies to maximize visibility.

4. Platform-Specific Advantages: Followers enhance the effectiveness of platform-specific tools like LinkedIn newsletters and Instagram broadcast channels, further integrating follower counts into broader marketing strategies.

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Conclusion

In this episode of "Bathroom Break #66," Daniel Murray and Jay Schwedelson provide a nuanced perspective on the relevance of followers in today's marketing environment. While follower counts still play a role in establishing credibility and social proof, the emphasis is shifting towards the quality of content and its ability to engage audiences effectively. For marketers, the key takeaway is to balance maintaining an authentic follower base with producing compelling content that resonates with target audiences, leveraging platform-specific features to enhance reach and engagement.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jay Schwedelson: "Do followers even matter anymore?... Is that the world anymore?"
  [00:59]

• Daniel Murray: "Social proof matters on pages... you're more likely to be like, oh, they think it's cool. I want to buy from that product."
  [01:54]

• Jay Schwedelson: "It's no longer just about, oh, you have a lot of followers... it's this thing resonating with people and then the algorithm picks it up and runs with it."
  [04:18]

• Daniel Murray: "You can be any size company and beat any big company by putting out better content."
  [04:25]

• Jay Schwedelson: "Make sure that you have the baseline across all platforms so you don't have a negative signal out there when people are checking you out."
  [05:54]

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Stay tuned to "Do This, NOT That!" and "Marketing Millennials" for more insightful discussions and actionable marketing strategies.

Transcript

[Daniel Murray]

Welcome to a new special series called the Bathroom break. That extra 10 minutes you either have to listen to marking tips or use the bathroom. Or both. But I don't recommend both. But that's your choice.

[Jay Schwedelson]

This collab is going to be super fun. We have Daniel Murray from the Marketing Millennials and me, Jay Schwedelson from the do this, not that podcast and subjectline.com each episode in the series, we are going to go over quick tips about different marketing topics. And if you want to be in the bathroom, fine, just don't tell us about it. Thanks for checking it out. It is bathroom break time. This is Jay Schwedelson from Do this. Not that I'm here with the marketing millennial Daniel Murray. And today we're getting into a hot topic. Do followers even matter anymore? But before we do that, Daniel, I'm curious about something. Is it too early to start thinking about holiday shopping for you? Are you thinking about stuff for Ari now or do you not do that until like October or something?

[Daniel Murray]

No, I, I didn't. Haven't thought about it until you just said it. So no. Are you over prepare like that?

[Jay Schwedelson]

On the business side, I think about like the fact I always know year end comes really fast. Like after Thanksgiving, everybody turns it off. So if we don't have like pipeline going now for Q4, I get upset. But for holiday stuff, I'm like a. I'm the. Couldn't be worse. I'm the day before. Like.

[Daniel Murray]

Well, I mean, if we're talking about business stuff, I think like, like consumer. If you're not doing Black Friday, Sour mommy, or haven't already planned for that, like in November, you're already behind. So it's like the trade off. But when it comes to shopping for something, I'm like two weeks, one week before that, sorry.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Well, you're a slacker. Well, let's get into it. Do followers even matter anymore? There's all the different platforms, there's all different things. It used to be followers were everything we had to grow our follower count. Is that the world anymore?

[Daniel Murray]

It's less the world. But I still think it's important because I think social proof matters on pages. And let me tell you why. Because if you're on Instagram and you're looking at a business that you want to and some of your followers or friends follow that company or that restaurant or that product, like, you're more likely to be like, oh, they think it's cool. I want to buy from that product. Also, if you have A hundred thousand followers as a restaurant versus 10 follows the restaurant you look like not as legit. But if we're talking about like, does it matter to get more reach on platforms than other platforms and should it make you feel less important to like post? No, like the algorithms have changed to an interest based. Which means that like the algorithms of just feeding, if you have 10 followers, it could, could circulate in the feed because they just want to put the best content in front of the audience to keep them on, on the platform.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Yeah, I think that's a really important distinction. And so I do think followers matter. So for example, when I'm about to do business with a new company of any kind, I don't go to their website anymore. I go to the company page on LinkedIn and if they have like seven followers and they never post, it's a really big negative signal. They don't need to have 30,000 followers. But there is some, you know, threshold of it looking legit. And I think that's really important for your business, whether it's your Instagram page, your LinkedIn page. Listen, you personally, you want to have over 500 connections on LinkedIn should get that 500 plus there's some baseline stuff that you need to do that's really important. But I will tell you from a flipping the script when we talk about circulating stuff. So I recently launched a YouTube channel. And for anybody who cares, not that you do, it's Ettleson. And we are messing around lots of different formats and different things with thumbnails and, and the reality of it is my shorts are getting a lot more views in circulation even though we have barely any subscribers as compared to people that have 20x 30x the number of subscribers that we have. Because Daniel's point, it is no longer just about, oh, you have a lot of followers, it's going to circulate to a lot of people. It's is this thing resonating with people and then the algorithm picks it up and runs with it. So yes, followers are important, but not from a circulation standpoint.

[Daniel Murray]

Yes, you nailed it. I think we're in an age where you can be any size company and beat any big company by putting out better content. And I like that. That way you're competitive enough, you can compete now on a level playing field, especially on Instagram YouTube shorts. Tick tock. Like that's why people are doing strategies now. If you see companies or creators, they'll create multiple accounts so they'll have like their main account and they'll have like clips and they'll have this and they'll have that because they know that like they can put like four different clips and the five follow count account is going to get more reach and they're trying to get as many eyeballs. And it's a great marketing strategy to stay top of mind as a, a marketing team. But I do think that like for purchasing decisions, like one thing I also think about is many of you are running meta ads. Instagram, Instagram ads, LinkedIn ads. Like when people are running ads, they will click on your profile to see if like you have a good company. And if you don't have followers, like they're gonna think like you're not as credible as some account that does have followers. So that is a big thing for that. And then also, like, we could talk about this too. Like LinkedIn and Instagram have broadcast channels now. And like LinkedIn has newsletter which like if you have followers like you, it blasts and you have more traffic traction to get these. The private community group, which you can have as well. So that's also a plus for followers is these broadcast channels for Instagram and then newsletters for LinkedIn.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Yeah. And I think in general with the big takeaway, at least from my side, in terms of followers, regardless of platform, you know, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, whatever is get very focused on what is the minimum number that you need to have to not embarrass your company, right? So when someone goes to the page like, all right, they're legit. And rather than focus on how do we get a zillion people on this platform, whatever, make sure that you have the baseline across all platforms so you don't have a negative signal out there when people are checking you out, you don't even know about it. And then you could figure out which one do you want to double down on and really build it up and blah, blah, blah. But don't allow, don't lose business, consumer or business meaning whatever category you're in, because you are looking like you don't have anything going on, your business is not legit. You because you don't have some baseline numbers. So back to what we were originally talking about. What were we originally talking about?

[Daniel Murray]

That's a great question. I have no idea what we talked about at the beginning of the podcast.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Let me ask you this though. So we just ordered lunch. Daniel and I are actually live in person with each other, staring at each other. You went wrap, I went salad. Are you never. I don't mean like salad. Like I'M throwing you shade. Like, you should be getting salads or something. But it's the same idea. You could put a wrap in a salad. Do you ever just get the salad?

[Daniel Murray]

Yeah, of course. I feel like it depends. Depends how healthy I want. Like you. You're trying to shame me and have a. A Greek salad while I get like a messy wrap in a salad, which is. It's okay.

[Jay Schwedelson]

It's.

[Daniel Murray]

But. And it also depends on the place. Like, sometimes you just. You want a salad.

[Jay Schwedelson]

When I eat in front of other people, I don't like making a mess. Like, I don't order, like, ribs or something like that neither. I order ribs a lot, so I like to eat something I can control. When what's going to happen, obviously you don't care. You'll just have it be a free for all. Like, it's food. Like, it's like a food fight.

[Daniel Murray]

No, that's what knives and forks are for.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Well, I don't know. Once again, we've covered a lot of very important information. Listen, if you're awesome, throw this up on your story on Instagram. Daniel is at the market Millennials and I am at jweddelson. We will reshare the story. You are cool. Keep it real, Daniel. Come on, man. I gotta get back to work. Get out of there. All right, while he's still in there. This is Jay. Check out my podcast, do this, not that, for Marketers. Each week we share really quick tips on stuff that can improve your marketing, and I hope you give it a try. Oh, here's Daniel. He's finally out.

[Daniel Murray]

Back from my bathroom break. This is Daniel. Go follow the Mark and Millennials podcast, but also tune into this series. It's once a week, the Bathroom Break. We talk about marketing tips that we just spew out. And it could be anything from email subject line to any marketing tips in the world. We'll talk about it. Just give us a shout on LinkedIn and tell us what you want to hear. Peace out.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Later.