Easy Tips to Increase your Twitter Followers

Twitter is a powerful social networking tool for businesses if used in the correct way. Tweeting on a daily basis can help your business to increase brand awareness, generate leads and create positive communication with your prospects. One way of doing that is by initiating a regular follow / unfollow campaign to increase the amount of people that follow you.

If you have regular and active followers on Twitter, this is more beneficial for your business rather than having “Tweeps” who are more casual users.

According to a recent Twitter survey, 36% of marketers gained business directly as a result of using Twitter.

So how do you go about doing this?
• Tweeting informative/enticing content with is likely to be retweeted
• Follow relevant people so they follow you back
• Tweeting content with images for higher engagement
• Using auto schedulers to send out your message at designated times

Twitter also has an option of paid ads. But in this article, we’ll discuss some easy and FREE options to increase your Twitter followers.

• Scheduling tweets - Scheduling tweets is a very important strategy and you can do that by using tools like SproutSocial, ManageFlitter, Klout, CrowdFire, and Hootsuite. By scheduling your tweets, you can plan them for when you are not at work; throughout the night (particularly useful if you have overseas followers); sending time-sensitive tweets; and controlling content flow.

• Use Twiends - This feature allows you to find relevant Twitter users to connect with. After you register on this platform, other users with the same interests will find and follow you.

• Optimize Twitter Bio - Your Twitter bio is the opportunity to tell people what you do, and what your tweets are about. Ensure to optimise it using appropriate hashtags related to your business. It should be complete, professional and accurately describe your services.

• Include Images - According to research, Tweets with images get up to 78% more engagement as compared to those without it.

• Add usernames (Twitter handles) in your Tweets - When you are replying to any tweet, ensure to mention the name of that person or business. They will see that you have mentioned them in their Twitter feed, and will be grateful that you have done so. The likelihood of them engaging with your future tweets will be significantly higher.

• Pay attention to relevant conversation - Ensure to use tools like Social Mention which gives an overview about what users are saying about your industry, brand and product. You can respond to that conversation in real time.

• Automated Messaging - If you are sending direct automated messages to introduce your service or blog, then it is not considered as spam if you do it properly by using relevant links. Additionally, there is no character limitation on direct messaging.

Automated direct message tool is very effective to increase Twitter followers. To do this, you can use (amongst many others)

• Geeky Reciprocate
• SocialOomph
• Friendorfollow
• Refollow
• Reciprocate
• Twitter Karma
• Crowdfire

Use relevant keywords and Hashtags - By using relevant keywords and hashtags you can grab the attention of many prospects. Make sure to add your region or city to attract locals (if that’s your aim), because by adding relevant location-based hashtags, you can achieve 2x more engagement.

Use of Hashtigify - Hashtags play a crucial role in Twitter, therefore it’s important to find the most popular and relevant ones to your business. Type a search term for which you wish to be found into Hashtagify, and it will show you other hashtags related to it. This allows you to achieve the best possible reach.

How to Choose Appropriate Hashtags?
The internet is crowded with tools that can help you to track, review and analyse hashtags, but the one that will help you to get find the right hashtags is Hashtagify. However, before you use this tool, it is important to understand the varying types of hashtags.

• Campaign Hashtags
These contain keywords which are used in your marketing campaign. For instance, if you sell smartphones, and are planning to open your shop, then you would choose, #smartphones #mobiles #communication etc.

• Brand Hashtags
These are used if you are representing a brand name or a company name, such as #Nokia. You will however still need other options relevant to your brand or business, such as #usedphones.

• Product / Service Hashtags
These are related to a particular product or service used to promote your campaign. For instance, if you have a web design company, you can choose #webdesign #webdesigners #logodesign etc.

• Target Group Hashtags
Think of your target market – if your business is to promote new companies, you can use #startups; if you have a non-profit organization you can use #nonprofit.

• Special or Event hashtags
If you want to promote a special occasion, conference or event, look for such hashtags with the event’s name. If you have recurring events, you can add a month or year after the event name.

• Top trending hashtags
The hashtags that are trending nationally, or even globally, can be found on the left hand side of a page when using your desktop. If you make and sell doughnuts for example, look out for Doughnut Day and make sure you use this opportunity to sell your products and increase your brand awareness.

Whether you are new to online marketing or an existing online marketer, it is important to understand how to tap into the benefits that Twitter can provide. These are not just meant for having fun chat and interaction, but also for business purposes.

Using these tips will help you to get the most out of Twitter. Dedicating 20-30 minutes per day should guarantee your volume of followers increases at a steady rate. Set a goal to maintain your motivation, and use Twitter Analytics to review the success of your efforts.

For Social Media campaigns or for a full, customised Digital Marketing campaign, contact Five Rivers today for a free consultation on how we can grow your business.