Increasing followers on Twitter – some advice…

1. Tweet! It seems obvious but you must say something.
   Talk about where you are going, what you are doing, what meetings you’re going to and the people you’re interacting with. Tweet about something related from the news or what is being said in the media. Tweet your opinion about something.
2. Promote yourself.
   When you’ve organised an event, training, new product, whatever Tweet about it. Preferably sending your followers to a page on the website explaining more. Or with details on how to book.
3. Promote your other online areas.
   If you’ve added a news post, Tweet it. If you’ve updated a section of the website, added a series of events Tweet about it sending the followers there. If you’ve put something interesting on your Facebook account Tweet that. If you’ve updated your Linked In profile Tweet that. Your followers may not know you are on other social media platforms and this could be a way for them to connect with you in a different way.
4. ReTweet (RT)
   If you read a Tweet that you agree with (or strongly disagree) then RT it.
   If you can, add a comment – as this adds you to the Tweet path (so to speak) so that if someone RTs your Tweet then your username won’t be taken off of it.
5. Topical/news info.
   Tweet about what you read about. If you visit an interesting website, read a news article that is relevant Tweet it.
   If you see a pic that’s interesting or funny or just shows you in a certain light then Tweet it.
   Your followers want to know you’re a person as well as a business.
6. Follow People.
   Again this seems really obvious but you can forget to follow people. Look through the suggestions of ‘who to follow’ and follow them if you think they are in a related field or if they interest you. Often they will follow you back which will increase your followers, as your followers increase you’ll get even more followers as you’ll be added to the ‘so and so follows’ suggestions for other people.
7. Tweet from events.
   If you’re at an event that’s got a hashtag associated with it – use it! You may gain followers who are also there Tweeting at the same time. Make sure you look at the other Tweets with the same hashtag (the other people tweeting from that event) and RT with comments and follow anyone you find interesting. At an event I attended we increased our followers by 40 in one day just by Tweeting from that event the day and using the hashtag the event set up.
8. Set up your own hashtag.
   Encourage people coming to an event or training session to Tweet about it while they are there and use the hashtag you’ve given them (you can print it on handouts or promotional materials or just have it up on a screen) this will help the participants network, give you feedback and also you can keep in touch with the participants via Twitter after the fact by following them. Don’t forget to also add your Twitter username to handouts etc so that they can follow you if they’re not already doing so.

So that’s just a handful of tips to help you increase the number of followers you have on Twitter. Try a few, try them all! If you want to feedback to me on how successful it is, or if i’ve missed anything, then please email: nic@crossleywebsites.co.uk