Why would anyone want more followers? From a marketing perspective Twitter has plenty to offer businesses and individuals.
Here are three main reasons users are looking to boost their following…
– The more followers you have, the more social authority you may have
Like a snowball effect, the more followers you have, the more likely people are to follow you, usually because they assume that you have something interesting to share.
– If you have a twitter account for your business, more followers may lead to more sales
Whether you’re selling a brand, a product, a service, or even a cause, the more followers you have, the bigger the opportunity to generate leads.
– The more followers you have, the higher influence you might have
Social networking website, such as Twitter, are great tools for spreading your ideas and opinions. The larger your follower count is, the more exposure you will be able to gain.
So if the idea of gaining more followers doesn’t make you feel like you’re in high school, here’s my top 10 tips for naturally creating an irresistible profile;
1. Share great content
This is my most important piece of advice. Tweet great content and others will want to follow you because they like, or hopefully love what you are sharing. Try to be inspiring and create content other people will look forward to consuming and will want to share with their followers.
2. Avoid tweeting too much
Yes, promoting your blog posts, products, personal content and so on is acceptable on Twitter. But there is a line, try not to cross it. There is a risk of wearing your existing followers out and making them hit the dreaded ‘unfollow’ button. Too many tweets may also discourage potential new followers.
3. Follow more people
Unless you are Kanye West, don’t act too cool and not follow other people on Twitter. Find people with similar interests and follow them. Once you have followed them, they then have the opportunity to view your profile and follow back. It is called the law of reciprocation.
4. Use a flattering display picture
Personally, I refuse to follow anybody that doesn’t have a profile picture on their twitter account. This is a faux pas mostly reserved for spammers and newbies, so get uploading!
5. Include a link to your Twitter profile in your email template
Add a link to your twitter account in your email or newsletter templates. This is a great, subtle way of sharing your social profiles with others.
6. #Hashtags
Use hashtags, but don’t over do it. If there’s one thing I cannot tolerate, it’s #that #awkward #moment #when #you #see #a #tweet #like #this. This, if not slightly exaggerated example offers nothing to the conversation. The tweets that generate the best feedback in terms of potential clicks, mentioning or retweeting are those that only contain one or two hashtags around the topic of the tweet. Use sparingly. #inboundmarketing
7. Have conversations
Social networks are meant to be social, who’d have thought it! As a participant you have a responsibility to stay engaged with your followers. It’s like going to a party, nobody wants to talk to the guy who’s only talking about himself. It’s the same on Twitter, make sure you engage with your followers, take an interest in what they have to say and respond accordingly.
8. Create a interesting bio
Don’t leave this blank. This is the first thing potential followers will read as soon as they click on your profile. Explain who you are, what you do and add a link to your website.
9. Share images
A picture speaks 1000 words. Which is a hell of a lot more than the 140 characters twitter allows you to write. Make use of this feature and share images with your followers. Barack Obama (who has over 36 million followers!) tweeted the image below, which went on to receive 809,193 retweets and 173,028 ‘favorites’, making it the most retweeted photo in Twitter history. (source)
10. Ask your followers to retweet
This type of method won’t always work, especially if you add RT to every tweet you send. But when you have content worth sharing outside of your follower-base, it can be extremely effective. Your followers may have hundreds or even thousands of followers, that sort of visibility from a retweet can increase your total number of followers incredibly quickly.
Remember (just like high school) popularity isn’t everything! To get the most out of Twitter, focus on contributing engaging content and building relationships with other users. And most importantly, never resort to buying followers…well, unless you’re Justin Bieber.