Almost daily, someone asks me how to get lots of followers on Twitter. In an effort to have a quick response on hand, I’ve jotted down the things that you need to know in order to grow your follower base on Twitter.
Participate
You have to talk to people to really connect with them, it’s that simple. Just like any “earned media” channel, if you don’t put in the time, you won’t see results. Set aside some time each day to find relevant people to engage, follow and re-tweet.
Be Relevant
Decide what you are going to tweet about and stick to it. This doesn’t mean that you have to pigeon hole yourself into an granular topic, but know that someone that is into photography may not care about the latest online marketing buzz. (hence, why I maintain multiple handles @wilfernandez for my photography and @wfernandez for my web marketing consultancy)
Reciprocity
Follow and be followed, re-tweet and be re-tweeted, list and get listed. Just focusing on outbound tweeting won’t get you followers (unless you’re a celebrity), since a small amount of Twitter users actually use Twitter search, which would be the only real way to discover your tweets. You’ll notice that a certain number of the people that you follow, re-tweet and list will find you relevant/interesting and follow you back.
List Liberally
To expand on the topic of reciprocity, adding people to one of your lists shows them that you really care about what they have to say. If you want to get someone’s attention, add them to a list that is filled with similar people. The rate at which these people follow you back will be much higher than getting their attention through follows or re-tweets.
Don’t Sell
Twitter is a place to build relationships and share information - if you focus on being relevant and adding value, people will click your links and look at the things that you have to offer. Just like offline sales, focus on making a connection first - if people like you, they will dig deeper into what you have to offer.
