How To Get More Twitter Followers

By Pankaj Narang

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Okay, we’ve all read the articles and blog posts that say the amount of Twitter followers you have is a “vanity metric” that doesn’t really count. But is this accurate?

The truth is, nearly half of all marketers say Twitter is their go-to social media network for engaging with their customers. If this is the case, it seems that wanting to grow your Twitter followers is something business owners should care about. Vanity? No. Necessity? You bet.

When it comes to getting more Twitter followers, a quick Google search will turn up countless strategies, some effective, some questionable, and some downright BAD!

To help you out, we’ve put together this guide that outlines 10 of the BEST ways to get more Twitter followers. Some strategies will lead to quick gains, others will take a bit longer, but all tips on this list will lead to real growth from followers who want to hear from you.

Tweet Often

Each social media platform requires a different content strategy. Without question, Twitter requires more frequent posting than, say, Facebook, or Instagram. So how often should you be posting to your Twitter account?

According to research by pew research, Twitter users who tweet often get much more engagement than other Twitter users.

Now you may feel slightly overwhelmed at the thought of posting so much or wondering what kind of content you’ll need to come up with.

To start, the golden rule of posting content on Twitter is to make sure you don’t make all of your posts self-promotions. Think in terms of sharing relevant articles, interesting statistics, breaking news, tips, and personal updates.

Here are some great ways to generate ideas for your own content strategy.

#1. Use Buzzsumo to discover trending posts around your domain. You just need to search with keywords and topics related to your industry.

#2. Use SociAlert to spy on your competitors so you can see what content of theirs went viral. You can analyze their Twitter handles, brand name, and hashtags.

The sky is really the limit when it comes to what to post, so use your creativity and think in terms of what your followers will find truly valuable. In other words, don’t post for the sake of posting.

Get the Timing Right

Now, if you’re going to take the time to develop relevant content your followers will profit from, it doesn’t make much sense to post this content when your followers are offline sleeping. Doing so certainly won’t help you gain any new followers.

Research by Quicksprout indicates b2b brands usually see the most post engagement during weekdays in the afternoons. While b2c brands have engagement on weekends.

 

You can also analyze your Twitter account and competitors’ Twitter accounts to analyze the best time and day to post on Twitter. Here is a report for @socialertdotnet Twitter account which proves that weekdays afternoons are the best for engagement.

 

Of course, you’ll want to do some testing yourself to see when your audience is most receptive. But generally speaking, timing your posts just right will help you gain exposure.

Use relevant hashtags in tweets

The content you post will be seen by your followers. But the goal here is to get you, new followers. If you want new people to see your content, then you’ve got to make your posts searchable.

Hashtags are almost like SEO for Twitter. They collect and organize content around one single keyword or phrase. And data has now pointed to the fact that Twitter posts with hashtags typically receive up to 12% more engagement than those without.

Source – Social Media Today

Adding one or two hashtags is a quick and easy way to increase the likelihood of new followers finding your content. Here’s an example of how you could effectively add a hashtag to your content:

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” ~Vince Lombardi #WednesdayWisdom.

Here are a few ideas on using hashtags in tweets

#1. Use hashtags related precisely to your profession/industry to benefit your business or career. You can use the hashtags either in the tweet or stack them at the end.

#2. You can also post with popular community hashtags such as #TuesdayMotivation and #FridayThoughts. This hashtag trend generally attracts more people.

#3. You can also tweet on hashtags of events related to your industry

 

If you need some more help coming up with hashtag ideas to use? SociAlert lets you easily track competitor Twitter accounts to find relevant hashtags to use in your own posts.

Make Your Content More Visual

You may have heard that Tweets containing visual content typically receive more likes, shares, and retweets than those posts without images. Now we’re not suggesting that every single one of your posts has an eye-catching image. But it would be wise for you to make sure 2-3 of your daily posts do include images. Why exactly do images work so well?

Source – Visme blog

Words have a lot of power. They can tell stories and get your followers to think and feel a certain way, but when it comes to stopping their scroll, words have no power at all. But images do. Images make people stop and take notice of your post.

I use images most of the time to help grab our followers’ attention.

GIFs also work amazingly well to not only grab attention but also to entertain your readers.

Another visual to consider infographics. Data suggests that Twitter posts that include infographics get shared three times more often. Infographics are loved by so many people because they share valuable information in a visual way. This makes for quick learning.

And when it comes to attracting new followers, you simply can’t go wrong with sharing video content.

Be Human And Engage with Retweets, Likes, and Reply

Did you know that up to 15% of tweets are suspected to be bots? This results in many consumers on Twitter being leery about following anyone new.

To circumvent this problem, you’ve got to convince potential followers you are a human and not a bot. To do this, you’ll need to optimize your profile to make it friendlier to new followers.

Ideally, if you’re not using a high-res brand logo, you’ll want to use an unobstructed facial photo that is friendly and appealing. Secondly, it’s important to use relevant hashtags, industry keywords, and location information in your profile as well. And it never hurts to give people a sense of your personality.

Check out how Rand Fishkin, founder of MOZ, has successfully optimized his profile, making it easy for new followers to get excited about the content he will share.

 

Simply put, getting your profile right will help you attract new followers. So take a look at yours and make the necessary changes.

Also engaging with other users via liking, retweeting, replying, and tagging immediately lets new followers know that you’re human and gets more attention to your brand.

There are few strategies for actively engaging with your audience

#1. Shares the content of brands and influencers related to your industry.

#2. Retweet other user content and mention them in tweets.

#3. Join Twitter chats and interact with the audience.

Following these tactics would help to attain new followers in no time.

Follow Others

Often you’ve got to give to get, so follow other Twitter accounts. But don’t be random about it. Make sure you select accounts that are relevant to your brand and industry. Be intentional with your selections and follow those people or businesses you are truly interested in. Since you are putting out such great content, posting at ideal hours, and using images often, there’s every chance that many you follow will want to follow you back.

According to research by @keithkeller follow 60 people for 60 days and 74 % of people will follow you back

Here are some unique ways you can find and follow people.

#1. You can use Buzzsumo to search your domain and find the top sharer of your content. You can follow these people and they will most probably follow you back since they like your content already.

#2. Find your industry leaders using Twitter search and Twitter monitoring tools. Once you find/follow them you can start retweeting/replying to their tweets, mention them in your tweets. It would increase the chances that they will follow you back.

#3. You may be hesitant about uploading your contact list to Twitter. However, It can help you to find people who are most likely to follow you. If you sync contacts your account has a higher chance of showing up as a suggestion under the “Who to Follow” section.

And while we’re on the topic of following others, there will be those times when you notice some of your followers may unfollow you. It’s important to understand exactly why you have been unfollowed so you can stop it from happening again in the future.Are you tweeting too much? Not enough? Does your content lack value? Are you “selling” a lot of the time instead of helping? Get to the bottom of it so you can hold onto the followers you’ve worked so hard to get!

Monitor and Respond to Mentions and Replies

At the end of the day, social media is really all about building and nurturing relationships. To do this, you’ve got to take part in the many digital conversations going on. And to do THAT you’ve got to monitor your mentions.

Here are quick ideas about monitoring and responding to mentions and replies.

#1. You can check notifications in the Twitter web client to know who mentioned, replied, retweeted, and even followed you. You shall respond to them.

When you respond to mentions you get more visibility on your Twitter profile.

#2. Twitter does not notify when your content is shared by users which do not include your brand handle. I would recommend you to use Buzzsumo to find people who share your content.

You can say thanks to them via tweet or DM.

#3. You shall also track branded hashtags and keywords using tools like Socialert too. Here is one example where one of the customers mentioned hashtag and brand responded to the tweet

Get instant analysis whenever your brand and keywords are mentioned. Such twitter monitoring allows you to keep track of how your brand mentions are being used by your audience. This will help you engage with your current followers as well as recognize the kind of content that might attract new followers.

Pin Your Best Tweet at the Top of Your Page

You know what they say: you only get one chance to make a first impression. People are busy, and social media has generally killed the human attention span. So if you want to show potential followers you’re worth following, then be sure to have your strongest content right up at the top of your account.

There are a couple of ways to find the right tweet to pin to your profile.

#1. You can pin tweets that already got a lot of engagement. You can use Twitter analytics to figure this out as well.

#2. Pin tweets that have driven good traffic to your site. You can use Google Analytics to find the content that has driven good traffic and you may consider pinning that content as tweet.

In Socialert case check, this snapshot which points that analyze Twitter follower blog post is a good one. So we pinned it on our profile page.

#3. Pin tweets having the latest promotion. This can be an upcoming event/webinar/tweet chat. Check buffer pinned tweet where they are promoting the Instagram story series.

#4. Pin tweets to your latest blog post. Check Madalyn Sklar Twitter profile. she has pinned one of her recent blog posts so people get to know about that post.

Whatever it is, just be sure it’s high quality and gives people a reason to hit that FOLLOW button.

Also, you should rotate your pinned tweet every couple of weeks to promote different content.

Include Your Twitter Handle in Your Email Signature

How many personal emails do you send out a day? Does your organization leverage the power of email marketing? How many emails do various people on your staff send? Think of how many potential followers you are engaging with daily.

It’s important that you include your Twitter handle in your email signature. Heck, go ahead and include it in all of your outgoing communications such as business cards, newsletters, and take-out menus. If you already have an audience on one platform, it’s a good idea to try and pull them over to Twitter.

How Will You Grow Your Twitter Following?

Growing your Twitter following doesn’t have to be difficult. It really all boils down to having a solid plan for your content, optimizing your content, as well as your profile, and engaging with others.

If you’ve been struggling to grow your followers, start with these tips. And leverage the power of Socialert to help you analyze Your Twitter account followers, as well as other accounts, to know exactly what kind of content and hashtags will bring you the best results.

This blog has been published on Socialert blog here

 

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