So, how do I get more Twitter followers?
This is the question everyone’s been asking ever since social media became an indispensable part of every brand’s marketing strategy.
And we get it.
Twitter is a gathering place for 330 million people every month who are looking to start conversations and get ongoing updates about their favourite brands and thought leaders.
According to Statista, as of the most recent quarter in 2019, there are 262 million monthly active international (non-US) users on Twitter, which amounts to 79% of the entire Twitter user base.
What’s more, Twitter users come from various age groups, and according to a report by the Pew Research Centre, Twitter users in the US “tend to have higher levels of household income and educational attainment relative to the general adult population.”
Research shows that the gender and race distribution of Twitter users is similar to that of the general public in the US. However, 42% of Twitter users hold at least a bachelor’s degree (as opposed to 31% of the general public), and 41% of them report a household income higher than $75.000 (as opposed to 32% of the general public).
These stats position Twitter as one of the top social media platforms that brands and individuals can use to establish authority in their industry of choice and tap into an international and national audience that’s well-educated and financially well-positioned.
It’s more than clear why everyone wants to know what they can do to increase their followers on Twitter.
We’re here to answer that.
Below, we’ll give you 8 easy, yet effective tips on how to increase your Twitter follower count and get your brand in front of a global audience.
Table of Contents
Why Do Twitter Followers Matter?
Some people consider followers as an outdated, vanity metric.
In fact, with the algorithm changes introduced by Facebook and Instagram, follower count lost its position as the single most important metric and was overtaken by engagement.
It’s engagement that expresses if the content is relevant to a particular target audience, builds relationships between a brand and its audiences, and sets the foundation for the start of a conversation.
So, why should you care about getting more Twitter followers?
Simple.
You can’t build a movement without followers.
Sure, your content will spread more if it gets shared and you get people commenting.
But, in order to build true momentum, you first need to have a solid follower base that is willing to engage with your posts.
In other words, the higher your follower count, the bigger your influence and potential impact in your industry.
And of course, let’s not forget to mention that when you see an increase in your Twitter followers, you can safely assume that your content strategy works and that you are creating value for your community.
Now that we’ve explained the background of this never-ending quest for followers, let’s break down the steps you need to take to get followers on Twitter.
8 Tips to Grow Your Twitter Followers
1. Complete Your Profile
First impressions matter.
Before you go ahead and develop a strategy to find new potential customers, you need to make sure that once they find you, they like what they see.
To maximize your chances of getting people to click “follow” after they land on your profile, make sure you get the following couple of things right:
Add a Presentable Profile Photo
Whether it’s a photo of yourself (if you’re looking to build your personal brand), or your company’s logo, your photo needs to be professional and presentable.
This is one of the two elements from your profile that people will see when your tweet shows up on their feed (your username being the second element).
A well-chosen profile picture will help you draw attention and enable people to recognize the person/brand that stands behind the activity on your profile.
Create Clarity with Your Twitter Bio
Every element of your profile is part of a bigger picture that shows what you do, who you are, and what you can bring to the table if people decide to follow you.
Just adding a photo isn’t enough for people to understand your brand.
You need to include crucial information in your Twitter bio including your location, website, and contact information.
But that’s just part of why your Twitter bio is crucial to your social media success.
Another aspect of why it’s important is that your bio is searchable.
Byy adding hashtags that are relevant to your industry and your audience, you can boost your chances of being seen.
Your bio section also gives you 160 characters to explain your line of work, share your vision, and showcase your personality.
Take a look at Tom Hank’s bio (yes, that Tom Hanks!):
Makes you want to immediately click follow, doesn’t it?
Cover Photo
Finally, once you’ve chosen a good profile photo and you’ve written a bio you’re satisfied with, it’s time to work on your header image.
While you need to stay consistent with your profile photo, you can change your header image to reflect what you’re up to at the moment.
Use it to announce events or new products, like Netflix and Burger King do:
Alternatively, you can use your cover image to underpin your brand image, as Gary Vaynerchuk does:
Dedicating some time to making your profile as complete and robust as possible will allow you to create a fantastic first impression when people come across your Twitter page.
This will boost your chances of converting accidental visitors into your Twitter followers.
2. Stay Consistent and Tweet Often
One of the things that makes Twitter different than other social media platforms is that it requires you to be consistently active.
On Facebook or Instagram, it is optimal to post one or two times a day, or even a few times a week, since too much activity can turn people off or be considered spam.
On Twitter, it’s okay to have a more frequent content strategy.
But how many posts are enough?
To find your sweet spot, it’s best to test it yourself!
Modify the amount of posts that you are sharing and see what is garnering the most engagement with your audience.
Another great way to gauge the most effective number of posts is to research your competitors and analyze their followers’ behavior relative to the frequency of posting.
You can also use an analytics tool like Keyhole to help you determine these metrics.
3. Publish Content of Value
We want to emphasize that posting new content for the sake of posting content won’t bring in followers.
What you need to do is to publish content of value.
Your audience needs to value your content in order to engage with it.
This will mean different things to different audiences.
Some may find value in being entertained by funny memes.
Others like to read informative articles or get updates on recent developments in the news or about a particular industry.
Some people find value in becoming motivated by inspirational quotes or videos.
In order to create a strategy where you continuously provide value for your audience, you first need to define what value is to your followers.
You can do this by analyzing your Twitter metrics and your followers’ response to different types of posts on your profile.
SUGGESTED READ: Twitter Analytics: A Guide to Drive Traffic and Boost Sales (2019)
There’s one thing that separates well-performing profiles from poorly performing profiles – and that’s where they choose to put their attention when they create their content.
In other words, well-performing brands tend to publish “you-focused” content. They are what is known as informers.
Informers do everything they can to give their audience content they care about, and don’t use their profiles for self-promotion.
Badly performing profiles, on the other hand, are mainly “me-focused”.
A study from the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University, found that as much as 80% of Twitter users are what they call “meformers”.
According to this study “Informers had 53% of their messages in the IS category, while a significant portion (M=48%) of the messages posted by Meformers were “Me Now” messages.”
The study further concluded that Informers statistically have more friends and followers than Meformers.
What’s the takeaway?
Study your audience and make them feel like everything you do is ultimately about them.
Sure, you can throw in some self-promotional post here and there, but don’t make your Twitter all about advertising your accomplishments, products, and services.
4. Optimize Your Posting Time
Just like on any other social media platform, on Twitter, you’re more likely to get your content seen as soon as you publish it.
In fact, the average lifespan of tweets is anywhere from 15 to 24 minutes, so if you’re looking to get exposure, you need to ensure that you gain traction immediately.
You can check out our list of our Top 13 Twitter Analytics Tools to help analyze data about your Twitter followers or Tweets.
How do you achieve this?
Make sure you schedule your posts for when your followers are awake and active.
It doesn’t make much sense to publish content when everyone else is sleeping or busy, right? You need to observe when your followers are online, taking into consideration their location and time zone.
But what happens when life gets in the way and you can’t post when your audience is online?
That’s what scheduling tools are for!
Not only do they allow you to schedule your posts in advance, but they will also give you a much better view into the kind of content you’re sharing on a weekly basis.
Use these insights to help you create a well-balanced content schedule with enough variation and value.
5. Get Visual
When it comes to social media, the old, well-known rule that claims that content is king, needs to be revamped.
Visual content is king.
Visual heavy Tweets are more likely to attract the attention of scrollers and make them stop and read what you have to say.
Also, visual content is much more shareable than plain text.
So, whenever you can pack your content into a visually appealing image or infographic – do it.
Another way to incorporate visuals is to paste tips, advice or stories as images.
Combine blog post links and text with an image:
Or share gifs and videos…
Hashtags are by far the easiest way to make your posts searchable and show their relevance in a particular category.
Hashtags will take your Tweets past your follower base. Not adding hashtags to your Tweets is a missed opportunity to reach a wider audience.
Unfamiliar with hashtags? Check out our beginner’s guide to hashtags.
Of course, not all hashtags will have the same impact and reach. You’ll need to do some research on what hashtags will be the most effective for your content.
If you’re already familiar with the basics of hashtags, check out our guide on using popular hashtags to grow your business.
There are a lot of tools out there that allow you to access robust hashtag analytics, and will help you understand what’s working and what’s not.
Use these insights to optimize your Twitter activity!
SUGGESTED READ: Top 15 Hashtag Analytics Tools
7. Engage With Your Community
Twitter followers mean nothing if they’re passive and don’t interact with the content you’re sharing.
To increase engagement and increase your likelihood of increasing your Twitter followers, you need to give back to the community!
Show your followers that you care by always responding to their direct messages (DMs), mentions and even by retweeting their content.
Again, don’t do this just for the sake of doing it – take the time to curate relevant and thoughtful comments.
Check out how Stephen King does it:
You can create your content and automate the process of publishing, but you still have to put effort into engaging with your community.
Not only will people feel appreciated that you took the time to respond to their comments and mentions, but by being engaging, you’ll be able to add a human element to your online activity.
The last thing you want is for your Twitter account to look like it’s completely run by bots.
Engaging with your community doesn’t have to be hard and complicated.
Just add a couple of minutes of engagement-related activities into your daily social media schedule.
And just like that, with a few minutes of engagement a day, you’ll start noticing a higher engagement rate on your profile in no time.
8. Cross Promote Your Twitter Account
A lot of times people won’t follow you on Twitter because they simply don’t know you’re there.
The truth is, not a lot of people will search for your brand on Twitter.
Most likely, they’ll Google you, and land on your website or maybe your Facebook page.
So, how do you make people aware that you have a Twitter account as well?
You already know the answer: tell them.
Add a button on your website, and share your Twitter account across other social media platforms.
If you have an established audience on other platforms, and they have a Twitter account, they’ll probably want to follow you there as well.
Recap
Getting more Twitter followers is imperative for any brand that’s looking to establish authority in their niche.
On Twitter, getting people to follow you is fairly easy, as opposed to other platforms.
All you need to do is take a few steps to optimize your profile and Twitter activity for maximum reach and engagement.
And there you have it.
These are our eight proven steps to get more Twitter followers.
Now go ahead and start getting those numbers up!
Keyhole is a real-time brand and campaign monitoring tool that provides keyword and hashtag analytics for Twitter and Instagram. Get started for free here.