For businesses and individuals trying to market themselves these days, Twitter following is ultra-important.
In fact, a recent study for Deloitte Consulting definitively found that Twitter use drives sales.
However, this only happens if you or your business has followers on Twitter to drive those sales, which means knowing how to attract them in the first place.
Twitter is a very unique place, a “universe” (Twitterverse) all its own, with a language and culture separate from most other media in which you operate.
For this reason, using Twitter is as much about context as it is about strategy.
Here are four simple tips about using this social marketing tool that will help businesses and individuals learn how to get more followers on Twitter.
Step 1: Retweet
Embrace the art of retweeting (or RT) by posting relevant, timely articles or observations and then outright asking for the RT. It’s important to note, however, that not all of these posts should be self-promoting (i.e. your own blog) or else others will see it as a simple marketing ploy.
Step 2: #FollowFriday
Each and every Friday, the Twitterverse engages in #FollowFriday or #FF. This is an opportunity for people to promote their followers to one another by posting a group of 5-8 or so in a #FF-marked post. If you do this for your followers, they will do it for you, creating a domino effect that can rapidly increase your followers on Twitter inside of 24 hours.
Step 3: #TweepleTuesday
Similar to #FF, #TweepleTuesday is a weekly opportunity to promote your followers to one another. Each Tuesday, Twitter users post two of their followers who they feel need to connect with one another. This method is similar to in-person networking and can extend to business contacts as well as customers.
Step 4: How to Follow Other Businesses
If you are a business trying to get customers to follow you, it may seem redundant to follow other businesses.
However, consider Twitter following and conversations the same as you would any professional networking event.
While you do not want to follow your direct competitor, it is a great idea to connect with others within your niche(s) who offer complimentary products or services.
You can cross promote each other’s posts/tweets which will generally lead to more followers on Twitter for both of you.
Learning how to get more followers on Twitter is as much about learning the culture and lexicon of this social media tool as it is about using time-tested strategies.
The real key is seeing Twitter for what it is and using it as one tool among many in your digital marketing bag of tricks.
