Though there are many things you can do to gain Twitter followers, we don’t suggest the Anthony Weiner route, nor do we suggest purchasing tens of thousands of followers from a botnet. The key to growing your Twitter followers is to build your brand and your customer engagement along with your number of followers. Here are five quick and easy ways to start organically growing your Twitter followers and generating real conversations among your customers.
1. Ditch the egg and let the world see your face
Having no photo gives the impression to others that you are new to Twitter and don’t know exactly how it works, or, worse that you’re a spammer. No one wants to follow either of these people so make sure you have a photo of yourself, your brand, or your service prominently displayed on your Twitter page. More importantly, try not to update your Twitter profile picture often, if at all, because it’s the only way individuals can identify you in the Twitter feed.
2. Tweet often and meaningfully
Make your tweets interesting, valuable, and relevant to you and those who follow you. Whether you choose to be funny or choose to tweet about politics, keep your followers in mind. Tweet what is relevant to your brand, because this will likely be the most interesting content for your followers. Industry experts recommend that you tweet three or four times a day, ask for retweets, and include images and links.
3. Twitter is a social medium, so be social
Replying back to others Tweets, retweeting, and liking others tweets will put you on the same level as them, increasing your connectivity with followers. Be friendly and follow back, but be reluctant to follow everyone. For some guidance on who to follow, look for those who are in your industry, have certain keywords in their bio, and even those who live around your location.
4. Be frugal with your promotions
Twitter is a great platform to promote different products and services but don’t over do it. This can be very annoying to your current followers and will prevent new ones. By all means link your blog or company page, but be reasonable with the amount of posts you send.
5. Use hashtags
Tweets that use hashtags (a pound sign followed by a keyword) have higher user engagement. Try to centralize much your usage around one hashtag so users can pick up on the convention and use the hashtag themselves. You can even latch onto other hashtags used by bigger brands in your category. For instance, if you’re selling handmade soap, you could hop on some of the tags that Dove is using, like #gosleeveless and #beautifulskin.
Success Story
Our favorite Twitter account to follow is @dunkindonuts, because they regularly host trivia and contests with prizes, give away coupons, show pictures of new products, and use hashtags that make it easy to navigate their Twitter feed.
