12 Ways to increase your Twitter Followers
Welcome back – In a recent blog about Twitter we talked about Twitter being right for your business and what it’s all about!
Now lets get down to ways of increasing your Twitter Followers: Here’s 12 easy ways to do so. Let the fun begin…..
Increasing your following on Twitter does take time but it is time well spent. So, here are twelve ways to maximise the time you spend on Twitter, to increase your following in a meaningful way:
Follow people who you would like to follow you in return. One easy way to find these people is to look at a competitor’s list of followers. Be careful not to follow too many people in one day. If you’re following 600 people and only have 100 following you back, you might look like a spammer.
Retweet other people’s posts. Whether you have just followed someone or you have been following them for some time, visit their page and re-tweet something they are promoting. They will very likely return the favour for you and at the very least, follow you back In terms of your own homepage, make sure you have a re-tweet showing in your first 5 or 6 tweets. People will give up if it’s full of re-tweet’s and replies.
Use hashtags to ‘theme’ tweets, to make them searchable and to reach your target audience. For example, you might have seen #Wimbledon #2014 when people tweet about the events. It means people talking about a certain topic can easily find others talking about the same thing.
Be strategic and plan your tweets rather than scatter gunning Twitter with unrelated posts. To do this, try to pick a theme a day (or a week) and first thing in the morning, write down 8 different tweets related to that topic. Then tweet your prepared tweets throughout the day.
This will allow you to reach different people with the same message (as people ‘tune in’ at different times) and means you won’t bore people with repetition if they see the same post a few times.
Include ‘tweet this’ buttons on your website. This might be for interesting blogs you have posted or even for a video you have included on your ‘about us’ page.
Listen for leads. Use the search function at the top of Twitter to search for key words your potential buyers will use. Then when you find relevant posts, follow them and make polite contact. Be passive rather than invasive; no one likes to be sold to. For example, try “have a little scan of this page [link] – we’re here to help if you need it” rather than “We can help, call us today for a quote!”.
Share useful content or give something away! This is so important because people will follow, share and remember people who share content of use and of interest. Sometimes this means giving away information you would normally charge for or even giving away a service for free if everyone helps you to reach say, 1000 followers but it also means that when people need your skill or expertise, they will think of you!
Use your other networks. For example, have you ever asked people on Linked In or Facebook to follow you on Twitter? Try it.
Follow people who follow you, to keep them as followers and unfollow people who don’t follow you back to keep your lists productive and balanced.
Create your own hashtag and ask people to use it. For example, if you run a restaurant, offer people 10% off their bill if they tweet using your @handle and # after their meal. Make sure these hashtags and @handles are visible on business cards, leaflets, email signatures, menus, cash registers etc.
Use the @reply to maximum effect. Did you know that if you start a tweet with e.g. @RetoxDigital, only you, the recipient and anyone following both are the only ones that see it? If instead you include the @RetoxDigital midway through the tweet, all of my followers will see it, regardless of whether they are following you or not. A lot of people make this mistake. So, for example instead of ‘@RetoxDigital – thanks for the RT’, write ‘Thanks @RetoxDigital for the RT’. Small change, huge difference.
If you have any concerns regarding your Twitter Account or any other Social Media please get in touch.
