As the total number of Twitter users continues to grow, it’s becoming increasingly difficult stand out from the crowd.
To increase your Twitter followers in an ethical and sustainable way, you will need to do more than simply click the Follow button. You need to be aware of just what people in your industry are talking about, and devise a strategy that focuses on content and engagement.
Here are some useful tips on how to increase your Twitter followers.
Promote Your Presence on Twitter
If you’re struggling to obtain more followers on Twitter, make sure that you are communicating your presence through all available online and offline channels. Apart from anything else, it’s important to feature a clearly visible link to your Twitter profile on the homepage of your website. This not only makes it easier for potential customers to find you on Twitter, it can also encourage them to share your content themselves on their own Twitter accounts:
If you attend events, make sure that you display your Twitter handle on marketing material, speaker decks if you’re presenting, and even on your business cards. You can also promote your presence on Twitter on your email signatures and your other social network accounts. LinkedIn, for example, allows you add your Twitter handle to your personal profile and LinkedIn company page.
Follow More Influential People and Businesses
While it’s important to establish a large fan base on Twitter, it’s vital that you focus on obtaining quality followers. This means identifying and following people and businesses that are relevant to you.
You can use various tools to identify influential followers. Followerwonk, for example, allows you to compare your followers to those of your competitors. Buzzsumo helps you identify authors of popular content that is related to your businesses and industry. Twitter will also continuously recommend followers to you, which is available in the top right of your feed. Additionally, you can simply take a look at your competitors’ Twitter profiles and identify which of their followers could be relevant to you:
Join in the Conversation
Everybody has something to say on Twitter, so make sure you are tweeting regularly and joining in the conversation with your followers. Engagement is a big part of Twitter, so if your followers are talking about a particular newsworthy topic that’s relevant to you, tweet about it yourself, or reply to one of their tweets with your thoughts. Add value to the conversation and you will start getting noticed.
Hashtags are also a great way to get noticed in trending conversations on Twitter. However, make sure that you use hashtags that are relevant to what you’re tweeting about, and that the hashtag is focused.
For example, if you’re tweeting to promote a new job in your estate agency business, then use as a hashtag such as #estateagentjobs, rather than #jobs, which is far too broad. By adopting this strategy your tweets are more likely to be noticed as opposed to becoming lost in a sea of conversation.
Create and Post Interesting Content
To help increase your twitter followers, you may want to take a step back and review what you’re currently tweeting. According to research undertaken by Twitter, 70% of respondents retweet because they like a business’s content. Users are not likely to retweet or follow you if you’re being too salesy or robotic, but they will invariably respond positively to interesting content that’s adding value.
Instead of continuously pushing new products and services, you could talk about the latest news in your industry while sharing articles, case studies, and upcoming events.
Keep an eye on current trends related to your industry or interests to help you identify new content opportunities. If people within your industry are discussing an issue that’s related to your products or services, write an informative blog about the topic, publish it on your website, and share it on Twitter using a relevant hashtag.
This tweet will be far more likely to get noticed than a standard promotional tweet, which means that you’ll be more likely to gain new followers.
