Everyone knows that success on Twitter falls on how many followers you have. (Especially if they are targeted followers). The more followers you have, the more visits you should get per tweet. If you have lots of Twitter followers you have also hopefully developed a loyal fan base that you can target and promote your products to.
But how do you build up and increase your number of followers? Well the first lesson is to realise that it takes substantial time, effort and commitment to build up a list of avid followers. Next, you need to develop a strategy as well as a plan to implement this strategy. Once it’s up and running, don’t become obsessed with the number of followers you have. Rather, it’s far more valuable to build a list of loyal followers that are genuinely interested in your niche and want to interact and connect with you.
But there are some highly effective ways to drive up your followers. I will share these great insights with you now….
- Give people a reason to follow you by focusing on your content. Your content needs to be informative. Create content that is useful and valuable to your followers. For example, you could provide a link to a useful website you have found. Your content also needs to highly-targeted content relevant to your niche.
- Rather than Tweeting about yourself or other irrelevant things, tweet about things that will affect your followers or ensure your tweets are focussed on delivering value to them. Ensure your content is consistently interesting and engaging.
- Tweet regularly, but don’t over tweet. People don’t want to be constantly bombarded. Schedule to have a flow of tweets throughout the day.
- Create a concise yet interesting Twitter bio that clearly tells people who you are and what you do.
- Interact with your followers to help develop relationships with them. Respond to others using the @reply method. Participate in interesting discussions.
- Offer freebies, special offers, discounts and contests exclusively to your Twitter followers. Also offer these things as incentives to attract new followers.
- If you’re a well-known or influential figure in your niche, apply to get verified.
- Follow others and they will often follow you back. The probability of them following you back is increased by the fact that this is often done automatically. Use Twitter search to find people to follow in your niche. Especially follow anyone who tracked your tweets as users will like you even more when you return the favour.
- Try to get on Twitter suggested users list. Though this is easier said than done.
- Try to get listed on the popular lists in your niche.
- As people like to be altruistic, consider tweeting that you will donate £1 to a worthwhile charity for every new Twitter follower gained over the next week.
- Develop creative marketing ideas to promote your Twitter ID.
- Regularly find exciting or newsworthy stories and share them with a link.
- Participate in online events. This increases your exposure and appeal to others.
- Add your Twitter URL to your signature line in your emails. This is especially good if you have a subscriber list.
- Link your Twitter profile to your webpage, blogs and other social networks that you belong e.g. if you have a strong following on Facebook or Linkedin, use it to promote your Twitter page and vice versa.
- Share information with your followers.
- Be active on Twitter during peak times as your tweets will be read by more people, hence more visible to potential future followers.
- Tweet with the #hash tag. This means your message becomes categorized so it can be accessed by individuals searching through the site for specific topics. If they view your tweet, you are bound to have other followers as their followers may view your message too.
- Develop a consistent brand image/personality/style so people know what they are getting.
- Use a variety of formats for your tweets e.g. presenting solutions, business tips, links, etc.
The most important thing to remember is that everything should be targeted to your target audience and their needs. Consider this in every decision you make i.e. what content to include, how often to tweet, when to tweet, etc. This should override any generic tips such as the ones suggested above. If the technique doesn’t work for your business or your customers then don’t use it. (Of course, you also need to consider your own resources in developing a strategy e.g. amount of time, commitment, effort you are willing to put in).
What are your tips for gaining more followers?
Share them in the comments
Lilach
Lilach
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81 Responses to How to increase your followers on Twitter
“Everyone knows that success on Twitter falls on how many followers you have…once it’s up and running, don’t become obsessed with the number of followers you have. Rather, it’s far more valuable to build a list of loyal followers that are genuinely interested in your niche and want to interact and connect with you.”
Some contradiction here?
Jeremy Dent recently posted..#SMC_MCR discusses the #Occupy movement
I agree Jeremy. If you’re looking for followers in quantity there are software programs for that now. It’s gotten so bad that many have spam protection on their account.
I’m all about quality. Numbers for the sake of numbers is futile.
Twitter: lyndaclallen
@ Jeremy I guess it’s about having a balance of a large number of followers and making sure they are targeted and loyal. But there is a little contradiction there!
Twitter: lilachbullock
Contradiction is good, reminds people that the world is not perfect and although Twitter is fabulous, that it’s also imperfect…
Sarah recently posted..The dark side to more blog traffic
Twitter: saraharrow
Thanks Sarah, I couldn’t agree more:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Every so often I remind people why I’m on Twitter. Whenever I do that my followers increase.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMargaretAdams
Margaret Adams recently posted..If you’re on Twitter, do you need to be on Facebook?
Margaret I’m also a huge fan of Twitter (clearly lol).
Twitter: lilachbullock
So how do you resolve the dilemma of developing a large number of followers, Lilach, and, at the same time, “interacting with your followers to help develop relationships with them”?
Jeremy Dent recently posted..#SMC_MCR discusses the #Occupy movement
That’s a good question Jeremy. I must admit there are days when I’ve spent 4 hours responding to everyone on Twitter!! I use streams/lists and reply to every person who mentions me. I have lots of conversations and have built many relationships with some amazing people all via Twitter.
Often, we go from Twitter to Skype and then if we’re local will meet up too.
I even managed to speak with the Sunday Times Marketing Director, all from building a relationship via Twitter.
Twitter: lilachbullock
We both use Twitter professionally but I am asking on behalf of a time-poor, small business MD who can only allocate a few minutes a day to all social media, never mind just Twitter.
Actually, when managing multiple accounts, even on HootSuite,I find it difficult to give my personal account much attention.
So it’s still a conundrum: how do you resolve the quantity versus quality dilemma?
Jeremy Dent recently posted..#SMC_MCR discusses the #Occupy movement
Well for time poor small businesses that want to get results from social media they need to outsource it (to someone like moi:)
Social media works but people need to realise that to get good results from it, it takes time. For example if you go to a networking event, you have your travel time, the time there and then the follow up time.
It may sound harsh but if you’re looking to get results from it, you need to put in the time. Although of course the time element will depend on a variety of factors. Your niche, how many people you want to reach (i.e. if you’re local, or global), amount of followers etc. So ultimately if you’re a business owner who doesn’t have the time to invest in social media you need to outsource it.
Twitter: lilachbullock
As you say, social media ‘takes time’. To a small business, time is incredibly valuable. Unlike in a large corporate, where a specialist Community or Social Media Manager can afford to experiment, a small business’s time can rarely be gambled.
You, as you say, can spend four hours a day engaging on Twitter and you must have calculated that that time spent brings you a return. But, then you are in the social media business.
A business in almost any other area has to be able to calculate just how much time is worth spending on social media before less time spent on operations, sales, R&D and planning begins to affect the business.
What I was getting at, with my earlier questions of quality versus quantity, was how, as a social media consultant, do you help your customers calculate their social media break-even point?
Jeremy Dent recently posted..#SMC_MCR discusses the #Occupy movement
Thanks Jeremy. Yes you’re quite right, for me it’s imperative that I spend more time on social media than perhaps another business plus I get the majority of my business from “doing social media”.
Every client is different and I believe in a bespoke service. I’m afraid I don’t like social media services that are regimented i.e. we send out 4-6 updates a day etc. as I don’t believe they work, or at least I don’t believe the customer gets good results from it.
As I’ve said every client is different and therefore has different requirements and goals. For example, one client’s goal maybe to reach certain clients that in a normal world they can’t do. I’ve found by using social media strategically it can open doors for people. (I managed to have a phone conversation with the Sunday Times Marketing Director just from Twitter, something I would never normally be able to do) So by focusing our time on trying to connect with them and then building a relationship online – the client would then take the relationship over and “close the sale”.
Other clients simply want you to manage their “chatter” so for example if they have a Facebook Fan Page which has lots of comments on they need responses and to show a presence. Does this equate to financial return for them? Not directly however what it does do is manage their reputation and gain credibility with their customers and prospects which in turn does.
I could give you many more examples, I’ve had clients set me targets in terms of generating traffic – but then it’s upto the client to convert that traffic.
Hopefully that answers your question in more detail:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Great tips!
For some reason I had never thought about putting my Twitter link in my emails. Thanks!
(Twitter doesn’t do the verification badge thing as of right now).
Lisha recently posted..Favorite Blogs Friday – Best Blogs of the Week
Thanks Lisha. Yes definitely add it to your emails and try and also on your business card – I’m amazed how many people don’t have their social media details on their business cards still.
Twitter: lilachbullock
Lilach,
Excellent article! Lots of great and helpful information!
Thanks for sharing
Janine Acceturo recently posted..Don’t get Scammed!
Thanks Janine, my pleasure:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
You really do know your stuff with twitter. Fantastic read and awesome information
Larry Lewis recently posted..Help for Bloggers and Internet Marketers
Twitter: HealthyLife_uk
Thanks Larry, appreciate your comments. I’m definitely a Twitter addict!
Twitter: lilachbullock
thanks a lot. Lilach from ur write up I am now rich with informations about following. this is an important for us those who have no idea about that.
Thanks Milton, appreciate your great comments:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Lilach,
I heard a suggestion to get more followers was to look at those who follow your competitors, and follow them. The law of averages suggests that a certain number will follow you back, and they are already following someone in your industry.
Chris that method can work although it had better results when Twitter first started. For example, I used to automatically follow back but for the last 18 months or so I haven’t so this theory doesn’t work as well now.
Twitter: lilachbullock
For ALL : Tips and Tricks for all who want to get ROI from Twitter… Follow the guidelines mentioned above.
Thanks Lilach .. for the time to time reminder on the tips
Thanks Goutam, appreciate your comments:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
lilach hi
To keep up to date with your twitter feed there’s no simpler way than using the relevant twitter app on your phone – you’ll instantly know about retweets, mentions & DM’s enabling you to stay up to the minute & have truly 2 way conversations…….
Check this guide out written by Hubspot – well worth a read!
https://www.box.net/shared/ctbaivix7kysgq1lorbj
Ivor
Thanks Ivor. Will check out the guide. I was thinking of writing a blog about the different apps for smart phones so this is very timely – thanks:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
There’s a lot of really good tips in this blog, especially about varying the content on twitter.
Thanks for the post,
Pip
Thanks Pip, appreciate your comment. Yes by having fresh content really does help with Twitter
Twitter: lilachbullock
This is really helpful thanks! I was wondering if there’s a good way to search for influential people in my niche? If I do a normal search on topics related to my biz, I get random results -is there a fancy way to do it?
Denise Duffield-Thomas recently posted..Is 11-11-11 A Powerful Day Or A Big Crock of Sh*t?
Twitter: denisedt
Thanks Denise, there is a good way of doing this and in fact I’m going to be writing an article on it. It’s basically leveraging lists. Try and find someone in your niche and see what lists they’re under. You will soon see that most influential people are on a lot of similar lists and that’s a pretty good way to gage how influential they are, plus you have a much better search list than Twitter can come up with – because everyone else has done the hard work for you. I love lists!
Twitter: lilachbullock
Awesome tips do you follow all your followers
Thanks Ron, I don’t follow everyone automatically no. I try and vet people and follow people that I have a relationship with.
Twitter: lilachbullock
Thanks Lilach, I’m new to Twitter and have my Onlywire set to send my blog posts there, and I am getting new people following me everyday, but so far all I know to do is thank them for the follow. This article helps expand my knowledge.
Twitter: valheisey
My pleasure Val, pleased it was useful. Enjoy Twitter:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
My experience with Twitter is that it takes a lot of work, BUT if we all would take Gary Vaynerchuck’s lead and respond to every retweet and mention personally, we might be rich – or at least very popular.
To support your comment about making valuable connections: my upline and mentor, Ray Higdon, found one of his biggest heavy hitters – a retired MLMer – on Twitter.
So there is proof that it works. =)
Juli Becker recently posted..Invitation: Private Business Reception For Numis Networkers
Twitter: Juli_Becker_
Thanks Juli, I too respond to everyone which is no mean feat as I have over 53,000 followers. Twitter takes a lot of time, but it’s like anything, the more you put in, the more you get out of it (if you do it right that is!)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Great info Lilach. I’ve been on Twitter for about a year and have my blog posts sent as well through Ping.FM but want to get more involved in the process. Thanks for sharing so many different ways to be active on that medium. I look forward to taking action.
Joe Sandy recently posted..Keyword Research Is Vital When Learning to Generate Leads Online
My pleasure Joe, pleased you found the post useful. Taking action as you’ve said is key:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Wow! It looks like I’m late to this party! Twitter is a double-edged sword, BUT used properly it can do wonders for your business. When you start on Twitter seek out people who want what you can give them. That will help build that following. This is some good stuff. First time here. Glad I came!
LuSundra Everett recently posted..The Online Marketing Wonder Twins – The MLM PLR Store and The Empower Network
Thanks for visiting LuSundra, pleased you found it useful. Look forward to seeing you again soon:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
This is my favorite point…rather than Tweeting about yourself, tweet about things that will affect your followers or ensure your tweets are focussed on delivering value to them. Ensure your content is consistently interesting and engaging. That’s a home run right there…I think I’ll tweet about that LOL!
Terry Petrovick recently posted..How to Create a Social Media Marketing Schedule that Works
Twitter: terrypetrovick
Thanks Terry, yes so many people just sell on Twitter. It’s like blogging, you need to tweet for your followers/readers – what do they want? It’s not about what you think they want!
Twitter: lilachbullock
I find tweeting challenging because I always want to put more than I can fit in a tweet. At the same time it helps me work on getting my message across in a small amount of words. Especially valuable in copy writing.
Preston Schumacher recently posted..5 Blog Writing Factors for Content Marketers
Twitter: workwithpreston
It can be difficult initially coming up with creative tweets in only 140 characters (in fact you should do it in less to add room for a url link and then if someone retweets you). I’ve found like anything it gets easier with practice. It’s actually a very clever marketing trick, because you only write a few inciting words and then for your reader to find out more they have to click. I have a better click through rate on Twitter than on Facebook and I think it’s due to the character limit.
Twitter: lilachbullock
I am still trying to figure Twitter out and I thank you for the info you provided here although some of it seems to be for those who are already in the know…and that’s not me. any suggestions where I can get info on the basics?
I too struggle with the 140 character limit leaving enough room to be retweeted. The language of twitter and meme’s get my head spinning! Help!
“Dream, Believe, Become…”
Tracey
Tracey Keefer recently posted..How You See Yourself is Not Necessarily True
Thanks Tracey. I’m going to be writing a few blogs over the next week or so which will cover the basics in more detail. If there is anything specifically you want to know let me know and I can try and provide some tips for you:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
I have a friend who has an incredibly popular Facebook page about travel. The page has tens of thousands of fans, which on the surface makes it seem incredibly popular and active. You can imagine my surprise when Facebook launched their ‘people talking about this’ metric into the public domain recently and his number was in double figures.
He has a similarly huge following of his Twitter profile, and I often wonder if his level of engagement is at a similar level? Suppose the moral of the story is that whilst quantity is valuable, quality is so much better.
Lets use an example to illustrate why. Imagine you have 50,000 followers and 0.5% of those retweet your stuff on average, so 250 retweets per message.
If you could increase engagement to 1% and get 500 retweets per message, under your old engagement you’d need to have an extra 50,000 followers to achieve the same result.
Kinda puts things into perspective doesn’t it?
Thanks Adi. You’re quite right. Actually Facebook Fan Pages don’t get nearly as high with their “people talking about this”. Since they introduced groups Fan Pages are generally struggling to be as active. And with the recent changes where you can’t send an update to your fans (i.e. email them direct) a lot of people are flocking more and more to groups.
Twitter is the same, it’s not just about the amount of followers but the amount of retweets, mentions, etc. I guess you could say the same for emails. Regardless of the size of your list your open and click rate rarely matches the amount of subscribers you have.
Twitter: lilachbullock
Or indeed web traffic. As I think you identified in your article, if you have an outcome in mind for your social media activity (whatever channel that may be) and use that as your measure then you can’t go far wrong. Followers (or traffic) aren’t really goals in and of themselves, although of course they may help you achieve your end goal.
Thanks Adi. Ultimately you need conversions – i.e. sales. It’s about getting a good balance of traffic, subscribers and converting them into sales. A high level of traffic or even subscribers doesn’t necessarily equal sales. This is why it’s so important to have them targeted and a call to action also helps:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
Wow, what a great post. Extremely useful for Twitter newbies like me. Hopefully with some of your valuable tips my 17 followers may one day expand to 25 followers!!
Thanks Scott, appreciate your comments. Send me a tweet on @lilachbullock and I’ll send out a follow recommendation for you – hopefully you’re get some more followers on the back of that:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
When I first started reading this post I wondered if there would be some original tips as I’ve read numerous times about making sure you create quality content. However, as I worked down the list I came across points I hadn’t heard before such as ‘try to get your account verified’. That won’t work for me, but it is original.
I use Crowdbooster as Twitter tool and it tells me who are the most influential new followers I have and suggests I engage with them. Only problem is that they’re not necessarily influential in my circles (small business) so I still need to vet the list and go from there. Time consuming, but should work over the long run. The people that I engage that engage back are people I add to Lists so I can find them in an increasingly crowded stream.
I believe people like hearing from you over several weeks’ time, not just a few times back and forth in one day, then gone. Without lists you’re likely to forget those you want to re-engage. As you said, you love Lists. I need to use them more. Thanks for the great post and thanks to your Commenters for great comments, too!
Twitter: buildandbalance
Thanks Michael:) That’s the beauty of when everyone comments, we can all share our great tips and learn from one another:)
I know it’s not very original saying about creating quality content but if I had to point one reason as to why I have so many followers that would be it. Providing fresh content on a regular basis really does make a difference. And then of course the more lists you’re on the easier it is for people to find you and that’s how your organic growth can really grow.
And as you say, it takes time to build a relationship, I’m still tweating with people I became friends with more than 2 years ago:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
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what an awesome blog you have = so up to the date, great information! I’ll be back for sure mate!
Thanks Annie, appreciate your comment:)
Twitter: lilachbullock
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I have read more than a few articles on how to increase your twitter followers, but they all seem to be recommending things that are spammy or may get you followers but they wouldn’t be quality followers. I love your article becuase it is how to increase your followers in an authentic way. Thank you!
Twitter: time4felt
Thanks so much Awnya:) Yes there are literally 100′s of articles and websites where you can buy followers but really you’re just throwing your money away (regardless of how cheap they are).
Much better to be authentic – you won’t get great results any other way:)
Lilach recently posted..Buy a book and change the world….
Twitter: lilachbullock
Great tips! Case in point about Twitter: It was through your tweets that I first noticed you and decided you were definitely someone I should follow.
One question: I found this post on Twitter by clicking on your link in one of your tweets and it led me to Stumble Upon where I am now reading it. Although I can see some advantage to that, I wondering why you would not use your direct link to your website?
Patti Hale recently posted..Yea, Panda! To Get Good Content Pay for Good Content!
Twitter: phale2000
Thanks so much Patti and great to see you here too:)
I use Stumble Upon as it’s fantastic for traffic – I wrote a blog post here as to why I love it so much:)
http://www.socialable.co.uk/why-stumbleupon-sends-me-heaps-of-traffic/
Lilach recently posted..Buy a book and change the world….
Twitter: lilachbullock
I am more than thrilled that having spent time reading your post and the comments you have collected a great group of followers. Which is evidence enough that you are a product of a very well developed coaign based on honesty. Thank you for affirming that your list is from genuine hard work and not ‘bought’ followers! Well fine you!
Twitter: Kerry_hales
Thanks Kerry, appreciate you stopping by and commenting:)
Yes there is no such thing as a free lunch… it takes hard work and people who buy followers may as well throw their money down the drain (or better still give it to charity!).
It takes time to build up a targeted and loyal following, it certainly didn’t happen overnight for me, I’ve been using Twitter for over 4 years now:)
Lilach recently posted..Buy a book and change the world….
Twitter: lilachbullock
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I love the tips, the thing that helped me the most was using hashtags and using lists. I think that people constant scroll looking for conversation starters and hashtags are excellent.
Plus they can spread like wildfires…
Twitter: PtheWyse
Thanks, appreciate your comment:)
Yes I love using #hashtags and lists on Twitter, it really makes life a lot easier and you get much better results. Plus as you said it really helps things go viral.
Lilach recently posted..Buy a book and change the world….
Twitter: lilachbullock
Hi Lilach,
You’ve got an amazing blog here – a lot of really good information. I’m going to try to put some of these techniques to work to increase my twitter following – which is lower than I care to admit…
Thanks!
ZodiacRevisited recently posted..Tom Voigt on Coast to Coast AM
Twitter: ZodiacRevisited
Thanks for your great comment and for stopping by:)
I’m delighted you found my blog useful and appreciate your fabulous feedback.
Remember that it’s quality over quantity every time:)
Lilach recently posted..Buy a book and change the world….
Twitter: lilachbullock
I think locating your niche on Twitter is extremely important and goes beyond creating hashtags. Don’t misunderstand my hashtags are a great help, in fact they are key; but if one can find a niche and know what time they’re following tweets that is a great way to grow followers.
Alex Dail recently posted..Are You Ready To Profit The Multicultural Way?
Twitter: AlexDail
One thing I have found useful is to think of yourself as the curator of a subject. I try to imagine someone reading the entirety of my tweets in one sitting and seeing if they give a consistent idea of what my twitter account is all about. This is a good way of helping me avoid off message tweets.
Twitter: SussexInfo
Thank you so much for this valuable steps for increasing twitter followers. I’m definitely gonna follow them…
Godson recently posted..What Is A Proxy Server?
Twitter: Godson_Official
Great post – jam packed with some great tips for getting some targeted followers who care…thanks for sharing!
Donna recently posted..Using Visual Marketing for Social Media Results – How to Use Text Creatively
Twitter: sociallysorted
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Nice article and some great tips on how to generate more followers on Twitter
I thoroughly agree the best way to get more followers is by:
1. Tweeting interesting and relevant content during peak times making sure to use correct #tags
2. Developing creative marketing ideas to promote your brand on Twitter like competitions
3. Be sociable – @mention, reply and retweet your followers!
4. Link your accounts together
5. Follow relevant accounts within your niche!
We tried a Twitter experiment to see whether following a 1000 Twitter accounts within our niche would significantly increase our following. Have a look at the results here:
http://beeliked.com/social-media-buzz/the-follow-frenzy-experiment/
BeeLiked recently posted..Social Media Reputation Management For Leisure Businesses
Twitter: BeeLiked
Thanks a lot for this wonderful article Lilach! I learned a lot. hoping for more. thanks again! and more power to you.
Trish Baylon recently posted..Arriba – Chocolate Pizza With Bacon
Twitter: eclecticorner
Lovely Post! Really its wonderful articles. Twitter is a good social media sites.“Everyone knows that success on Twitter falls on how many followers you have…once it’s up and running, don’t become obsessed with the number of followers you have. If you do follow then Everyone will follow you .Thanks for sharing this post.
Thanks for this wonderful information. I am on my way to increasing my twitter followers but I need suggestion do you think buying twitter followers is a good idea as I want to increase my twitter followers badly.
Twitter: adbhutgroup
Hi
Wondering which tools or apps you use to report Twitter reach, progress. KPIs etc to your clients.
Regards
David
Twitter: wordconcepts