How to get more Twitter followers for your business

by Startacus Admin

Get more Twitter followers, some tips and advice

Some of you will be hoping to find a slew of devious ploys and devices with which to amass an unnaturally large and underserved Twitter audience. There are of course ways and means of gaining such a fraudulent following, but the perils of doing so far outweigh any short-lived benefits.

As is true of most things in life ‘slow and steady wins the race’ and ‘cheaters never prosper’- but tired old clichés aside, when it comes to building a substantial and useful Twitter following, what is needed is a measured, well considered, and comprehensive plan, implemented patiently over a long period of time. Bear in mind, that when it comes to social media engagements, quality is much more important than quantity and you should be aiming to build a following of people that adds as much value to your business as possible.

We have a great post discussing some of the ways that Twitter can be useful to your business if you need a little extra information, otherwise here’s a handful of basic tips that should help you grow your following gradually.

Share things multiple times and regularly

Twitter is unlike any other social media platform because of the way users interact with it, they don't treat it in the ‘one or two posts per day’ way they do Facebook and LinkedIn, for example. Twitter is ‘of the moment’, it’s about instant posts that flash before the eyes of your followers, before being swept away on a wave of unending information and opinion.

Therefore, in order that as many of your followers as possible see the things you tweet, you need to post them multiple times. This will increase your exposure to your followers, which in turn increases the likelihood of retweets which can introduce you, your business and your Twitter account to a whole new glut of potential followers.

Follow people you are genuinely interested in

Following others in the hope that they will follow you back (a practice that's known in the business as ‘follow for follow’) might succeed in expanding the number of followers that you have, but unless it is done in a very considered and strategic way, it can call into question the legitimacy of your audience and will have very little real benefit to your business.

Ask yourself this, would you rather have 20,000 followers who have little to no interest in your business or 2000 who hang on your every word? Quality Twitter followers are hard won, but the benefits that they bring mean the effort is usually well worth it.

Engage with relevant tweeters

Like all social media, Twitter is not simply a message board on which to pin unending reams of information, it is a two way street and engagement with the community is a crucial part of ensuring that you grow a healthy collection of followers.

Putting your voice into discussions about issues surrounding your industry will help present you (and your business) as actively engaged in the wider dialogue, and hopefully position you in a way that you may be discovered by potential customers and others who can add value to your business.

Again, it is important to make sure that your engagements are interesting and have a strong bearing on your industry. By following you, your audience have expressed an interest in your industry, and as such will appreciate retweets of intriguing content and compelling / provocative opinions.

Create a distinction between business and personal

If you are using Twitter for the purposes of business development, then it is crucial that you give your business its own dedicated and completely autonomous account, which is separate from your personal one.

As informal as the tone of Twitter can be, it’s important to create this distinction between yourself and your business. Remember that if you are tweeting from your business account, the tweets you send are representative of your business and are seen by its followers.

Having a hybrid account that serves both you and your business is not a good idea because it can water down the strength of the presence you have built up, and ultimately encourage people to ‘unfollow’ you.

Don’t be Spammy

This addresses an issue which is as important to growing your Twitter following as attracting new followers…

One of the things that people love about Twitter, is how transitory it can be. A simple click of a mouse and someone who has been following you for years, vanishes from your list and is never seen again.

It’s inevitable that you will lose at least some of your followers over time, but there are certain things that you can do (or not do) to prevent a sudden mass exodus. In today’s world of constant advertorial bombardment, people are very sensitive to overly promotional material, and seek to put an end to it where ever they have the option. Do not treat your Twitter account like a free advertising opportunity, your followers won't appreciate brazen pitching on your part.

Use Hashtags

If you are new to social media, ‘hashtagging’ might seem like something of an alien concept, but it’s actually relatively simple. A hashtag is a word or a phrase (preceded by a #) that is inserted into a message (such as a tweet) to show that it belongs to a specific topic. These topics are searchable through the hashtag used, which gives instant access to any messages containing it, and thus a comprehensive overview recent news and events connected to it.

Using hashtags will categorise your tweets and give them an increased reach by placing them in front of people who have a specific interest in the topics you are discussing, increasing the likelihood that you will gain some extra followers.

Hopefully you have found these simple tips on how to build your Twitter following useful.   Why not follow Startacus on Twitter? 

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Published on: 24th November 2014