How to earn Twitter followers

I've been asked, on numerous occasions, how does someone increase followers on Twitter? If you really must know.. it's a science that is impossible to crack.

Well, not really... but it does take time.

Twitter is a great way to share ideas and promotions in real time. Some use it to promote events and blogs, others use it for self branding; but unless you have a healthy volume of readers, you're not going to get much recognition on the site. Let's face it, we are not all 'The Biebs'.

This brings me to my next point, earning followers is not a race. Unless you're going to buy your followers (which is against Twitter's rules and regulations), earning your followers does take time and patience.

There are a few things that you can do in order to increase your followings a little more quickly than just sitting back and waiting for the numbers to go up.

1.     Write a direct yet detailed description of yourself and include the field of expertise you are in, if your Twitter account is for increasing your client base.

2.     Your photo should be current and of yourself, no one wants to see a logo or generic image, it may impede your chances of getting good quality followers. People are likely to follow you back if they see a photo of YOU, sometimes it has to do with recognizing someone that will get you that follow.

3.     Follow people that may be interested in what you have to say. For instance, in public relations, we are required to build relationships with others in the industry, reporters, and perhaps even charitable organizations. Once you have established those relationships, it is much easier to sustain them. Losing followers is easier than gaining them. If you see yourself fluctuating numbers, don't panic, just keep tweeting.

4.      You can also use the infamous hashtag FF, Follow Fridays. I haven't actually used this personally but it's worth a shot

5.     Use hashtags wisely, I hashtag my city of residence in a few tweets per day. Ideally, having followers in your city is in your best interest, that's where you do business and it's the people you want to engage with the most.

 

Think of it as an art. You can'tforce creativity, it must come to you. Like anything else, just keep doing what you are doing and try new tactics.

Another note, make it known that you are on social media. Tell the public that you are on social media through all your channels of advertising. People won't know you are on Twitter unless you tell them, not all businesses are on Twitter, I know! The horror!

If you have any additional tips that I may have missed, comment below. Happy tweeting!