In the world of online marketing, the social media presence of your business or brand is extremely important. Getting followers on Twitter is an excellent way to expand your marketing reach and increase your customer base, as well as interact with people interesting in your product or business. However, social media platforms are crowded and constantly changing, so how can you get noticed? We’ve already written how using hashtags can help you market on social media, and now we have four tips to help you increase your followers on Twitter.
Tip #1 Watch What You Post
The first thing you should think about if you want more followers on Twitter is what you’re posting. While you might think individuals on Twitter are the only ones who have to worry about posting too much about themselves, being “meformers” as opposed to informers, business accounts have to be careful of this as well. The best way to engage with users is to post content that they will find interesting and want to comment on, not just information about your business alone.
There are many ways to share content that will get users to follow you on Twitter: post links to interesting sites, share relevant news stories related to your industry, use Twitter cards to post pictures and videos, and ask questions that will get people to reply.
Another good piece of advice is to share positive messages. According BufferSocial: “Share happily. Take care to avoid coming across as sad, aggressive, angry, cynical, or morbid with your social media updates. Users notice. They’re more likely to follow a positive account than a Debbie Downer.”
Finally, according to Forbes: “Regularly offer your followers exclusive coupons. 94% of Twitter users follow brands for the discounts and promos.”
Tip #2 Watch When You Post
Moz estimates the average lifespan of a Tweet is around 18 minutes. That’s not a lot of time. If you have a post that you want to make sure is seen, Tweet the same content a few times. But be careful! It’s good to Tweet often and regularly, but a common reason people unfollow is because of “tweet bursts” – posting too many tweets in a short period of time. Doing the same with repeat content won’t do you any favours either. Be strategic.
Speaking of strategy – pay attention to “peak hours”: Twitter peak hours (the time when the most people are on Twitter) are between 1 and 3pm on the weekends. If you want to be sure not to miss posting during those times, or if you want to space out your posts (very recommended), use platforms like Hootsuite or SproutSocial to schedule your tweets.
Tip #3 Don’t Just Be Active, Be Interactive
Twitter isn’t just about posting content, but sharing and engaging with other users. There are simple ways to do this, such as 
using hashtags and always replying to questions on your posts. But also make sure the “@message” is put to good use.
People are more likely to engage with your tweets when they are mentioned by name. @mention users and ask them questions, @mention influential users when appropriate or relevant (it might get their attention!), and as Forbes mentions: “Respond publicly when your response would be useful to others. Instead of direct messaging responses to public questions, share your knowledge publicly, @mentioning the person who asked.”
And don’t forget to retweet! Do it often – the more you retweet other people’s content, the more they will do the same for you. Add questions to retweets to increase engagement and retweet influencers while giving useful feedback (another way to get their attention). Even asking for retweets has shown to boost content sharing and an increase in followers, so go for it!
Last but not least, don’t pay for fake followers! They don’t add any value to your posts and your account might end up suspended. It’s not worth it – stay original!
Tip #4 Create an Integrated Online Identity
One final tip for getting more followers on Twitter is to have personality. Your online brand identity should be accessible and unique to your business. Make sure the bio for the Twitter account for your business is well-written and uses relevant keywords.
The avatar for your Twitter account is what users will see of you whenever you post or comment. Make sure it’s a good one – don’t let it be pixelated or otherwise unappealing.
Obviously one of the goals of marketing in general is to establish a brand or company name as the best in the industry. The same goes for marketing on social media. You already know what your industry niche is – so establish your online name as an expert. Identify your brand or company as THE authority on all subjects in your industry through smart, interesting and informative post content. (It doesn’t hurt to put it in the bio either.)
Finally, connect all of your social media accounts with your Twitter account, and use the “Tweet This” plugin or follow button on your website or blog. It doesn’t hurt to promote your Twitter account on all of your marketing materials as well.
Start on any one of these tips today and you’ll start to see the number of your Twitter followers increase. On this topic and all things Social Media Management, we here at anova make it our business to help you establish an online presence and identity for your business. Contact us today for a consultation!
