Ever wonder exactly how much a Twitter follower is worth to businesses? Thanks to an unusual lawsuit, we might be getting a rare glimpse:

A technology Web site, PhoneDog.com, and one of its former chief editors, Noah Kravitz, are embroiled in a legal battle that could have fascinating repercussions for social networks. Kravitz is suing PhoneDog over contractual issues, but it’s the counter-suit that really has my attention. PhoneDog is suing Kravitz over the use of his Twitter handle. They claim that he improperly kept the Twitter name after he left the company, and that he owes them damages of $2.50 for each Twitter follower he took with him, for each month he held them after he left. At 17,000 followers when he left, and 8 months since then, that starts damages at $370,000. So, that’s not even the full value PhoneDog puts on the Twitter account, but rather the value that Kravitz took with him when he left. PhoneDog essentially believes a key Twitter account is worth half a million dollars per year.

Hmm. It’s interesting, but the statistics provided by the lawsuit are less than scientific. What a court decides is not the same thing as what market forces decide. And, more importantly, Twitter followers will be worth different amounts to different businesses, depending on their approach to the tool and overall social media marketing strategy.

First of all, what you do with your Twitter followers matters significantly. Do you actually engage with your followers, developing ongoing conversations and responding directly to them when they ask you a question or comment on something you’ve tweeted out? Have you developed any sort of online relationship with your Twitter followers? Do you recognize several of their Twitter handles, and actively pay attention to how they respond to your posts, Tweets, questions, and comments? As we’ve mentioned in the past, one experiment showed how sprinkling in a handful of non-business tweets each day (stuff about you, fun office happenings, or entirely unrelated material) can humanize your Twitter presence and brand and make followers more likely to read and respond.

Or do you simply tweet out links to new blog posts or product and service announcements? Is your Twitter base just a stat — another metric for gauging brand awareness and understanding how many people are paying attention to your company?

If you fall into the latter camp, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Twitter isn’t for every company, and there’s value just in having people read what you tweet. But you’ll still be missing out on easy benefits if you don’t engage. A Twitter follower who you engage with is probably far more likely to buy your products or services, and is therefore worth far more than just a casual follower.

Of course, building this sort of Dallas social media marketing strategy takes no small amount of time and energy. We’re happy to help, and can make it easy for you to develop a robust Dallas Internet marketing presence without taking time and energy away from what your company does best.

Potential customers and clients are everywhere out on the web, waiting to meet you. Contact us. Our Dallas interactive marketing specialists can make it easy for you to say hello, and figure out how much Twitter is worth to your company.