If you are already a celebrity with a big name, you might be one of the lucky few with a Twitter following that practically grows itself. The rest of us marketers need to put in some sweat equity before we see any results. However, building an active and productive Twitter following might be easier than you think it is.
Many marketers give up on Twitter because they just don’t understand how it works. If you are still struggling to gain your first 100 followers, or even your first 10, consider these five tips that have been proven to grow a Twitter account.
1. Find Your Friends First
You may not think that your friends will really be your intended audience if you are marketing products or services. However, you really never know who has a problem that your idea might solve. Also, success tends to build upon success. You are more likely to attract new followers if you already have some, and your friends are most likely to follow you when you’re new to Twitter.
As a tip, display good Twitter etiquette and follow your friends back! If their own content isn’t really appropriate for your intended audience, you can always quietly unfollow them later.
2. Follow Other People
You should be somewhat selective about which accounts that you follow, but many people will follow you back after they notice your account in their activity log. Some won’t right away, and this is especially true for those with large and active accounts.
However, even those who do not follow you back right away may help you connect with others who will. In any case, hopefully, you chose them because they post informative content. Trust me, if you take the time to respond to their own activity, people with more active accounts are more likely to notice you.
3. Post Early and Often
Numerous marketing studies have demonstrated that people who post more frequently tend to build up their base more quickly. For one thing, your Tweets are more likely to be found in a busy feed if you post more frequently. You are also more likely to discover what kind of content works the best because you have a chance to test some different strategies.
Of course, you also want to maintain quality in your postings. Your followers probably don’t care what you had for breakfast unless it was really awesome or you ate it when you were skydiving. You’ll have to strike a balance. There are some inexpensive and even free tools to help automate a lot of the work to posting.
4. Respond to Other People
Everybody likes attention. Hopefully, you will have selected some good folks to follow by now. When someone tweets something you find interesting, be sure to reply to their tweets. It’s very likely they will respond back. Very often, this is also a good way to get their own followers to notice you.
5. Use Your Other Social Networks to Boost Your Twitter Followers
You can use tools in Twitter to connect with the friends and fans that you have already accumulated on other social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. These folks are much more likely to connect with you than total strangers and also be closer to your intended audience.
Your Twitter Following Probably Won’t be Built in a Day
It is possible to start from scratch and build an impressive following of Twitter users. However, most people do have to put in the work or hire a social marketing firm to do it for them. By using these tips, you should begin to understand how Twitter can work for you. If you use some of the automated Twitter tools, you should enjoy steady growth by only devoting a few minutes every day. It does take some work, but a large and high-quality Twitter account is a very valuable marketing tool.