Lately, follower count has been deemed a vanity metric by many marketers. It’s because of the ill practices of buying fake followers that eventually doesn’t make any bottom-line impact.
Nonetheless, if you are a business that cares about building real credibility, authority, and engagement among the target audience, growing followers should be on your list of priorities.
Between short attention spans and harsh competition, the road ahead is difficult but not impossible. You can still create an engaging Twitter account that attracts authentic and loyal followers.
It’s just a matter of incorporating some tried and tested tips into your Twitter strategy.
So here we discuss 101 practical ways to get followers on Twitter. Yes, you read that right!
Let’s start with the easiest of all.
Tweet Frequency
1Ensure to tweet often because it offers a short span of relevancy to your followers to get engaged.
However, the question is, what should be the time gap between two tweets?
Well, there is no exact time interval as such, but tweeting every 3 hours a day is how to get Twitter followers who are likely to engage with you. Please note that most tweets just have a half-life of 24 minutes. So plan accordingly!
2Weekends are the least favorite days to post anything on Twitter. The majority of your audience is usually out, busy with their personal lives. So avoid tweeting on weekends (audience-dependent).
3Be consistent because tweeting many times a day for weeks can help you get more followers on Twitter.
4If you’re struggling to tweet consistently, the best thing you can do is schedule tweets well in advance using some of the best Twitter tools. Create an entire content calendar to pre-schedule your tweets. You can also add a Twitterfeed alternative – to never run out of new content to share with your followers.
5Always, try to tweet at the best times, which is usually between 8-10 am and 6-9 pm. Twitter traffic is at its peak in this timeframe.
6You can tweet often, but make sure not in bursts. According to a Korean research study, “The common reason that pushes people to unfollow is because of more tweets in a short period”.
7Apart from tweeting on weekends, you can also try tweeting at different times on weekdays. Tweet between 5 pm to 6 pm for garnering more visits.
8Many people are active on both weekends and weekdays, and of course, you cannot miss the chance of connecting with them. But before tweeting, ensure to check your Twitter analytics to determine the best times to tweet for your profile.
Twitter chats
17Popularize your Twitter handle by participating in Twitter chats to engage with more followers.
18Follow people from the Twitter chat who have replied to your answers, as they’re more likely to follow you back.
19Share a recap blog on your website that includes what your Twitter chat was all about. Add the most valuable answers in the form of screenshots to your blog. Don’t forget to embed the tweets for easy redirection to that particular tweet easily.
20Prepare the questionnaire to be discussed on your Twitter chat and share it across before the event. This will create a buzz among the people, and they will be prepared with some good answers.
21Send reminder tweets about the chat to your followers and promote the same to your Instagram or Facebook audiences.
22Twitter chat is a great way to increase followers because it encourages your followers to engage with your account in a meaningful way.
Mentions
23Practice mentioning 3 new people a day to build valuable connections and get followers on Twitter.
24Mention usernames when replying to any tweet as it increases the chances of people getting more engaged.
25Responding in public and sharing your experience or views draw more attention. Don’t forget to @mention the person who has asked the question
26You can @mention influential users when tweeting. They might also retweet your content to their followers.
27Ask your @mention users to share their input. This will make your post more reliable.
28Tweet about others who have mentioned you or your brand in their post to showcase your influence.
29Whenever you mention the user’s name in your posts, add ‘@mention’ as it will tempt the mentioned person to check it right away. This is also visible publicly.
30Be attentive, active, and respond quickly to your followers’ tweets or answers. Also, @mention them back in response to show you care about their feedback.
31Reply to others’ tweets. When you find an interesting tweet and want to add your point of view to it, go ahead. This is a great chance to be noticed by other followers.
Twitter Profile Optimization
32People will examine your Twitter bio to decide whether they will follow your business or not. So, be specific and clearly mention your business in the bio itself.
33Adding keywords to your Twitter bio shows up your profile in Twitter’s search results. But bear in mind that those keywords are relevant and not forced.
To understand in a better way, let’s take the example of Econsultancy.
Econsultancy has used certain keywords like eCommerce, digital, marketing, and more in its Twitter bio to describe what they’re all about. This tactful incorporation creates a natural flow instead of being stuffy.
34Add pictures of you and your team to the header image. These days, nobody wants to follow a faceless brand, so it is important to show them the real faces behind the brand.
35Use a custom About Us page on your blog and link it to your Twitter account. Since a Twitter bio only includes 280 characters, it is insufficient to explain your business in detail.
36Add location to your Twitter account. Let people know where to find you exactly..
37Ensure the header image, i.e., the large picture at the top of your Twitter profile, has higher resolution and is sized correctly.
38Make sure your Twitter profile is complete because an incomplete profile can really discourage a user from following you.
Optimization of Tweets
39It is important to be informative when posting on Twitter. If we take the ratio, then 80% of the content should be about your industry, and the rest 20% should be related to your business. So, make sure you’re not just tweeting about your brand the whole time.
40Tweet inspirational and motivational quotes to connect with your followers. These have greater chances of being retweeted.
Let’s know more by taking the example of Stephen R. Covey’s tweet.
The number of likes and retweets proves that inspirational or motivational quotes definitely attract more Twitter followers.
41Be original. It simply means to tweet original content that is useful to the audience in general. If at all you put out other’s content, give credits to the original creator.
42According to Ian Anderson Gray, “The right way of retweeting is by adding something valuable to the conversation, instead of just adding to the noise.” So strive to complete the conversation with your followers. That’s how you get followers on Twitter who actually feel connected and cared for.
43Add GIF to your tweets for increasing your Twitter followers.
Tweets with a GIF gain 55% more engagement than those without it. So, including them in your post will help you get shares and increase your Twitter followers.
44Add questions to your retweets to increase engagement.
45Asking a question in your tweet has always been the best way to grow engagement because it will prove you are really concerned about what people are thinking.
46If you want more engagement, share important news relevant to both your business and your audience.
47Use words like ‘Twitter,’ ‘you,’ ‘retweet,’ and ‘please’ in your post as these words are more likely to be retweeted.
48Use videos in your Tweets as Twitter is becoming more visual-friendly.
For a clear idea, let’s take the example of one of the most popular and famous shoe brands – Nike.
From the number of likes, comments, and retweets, it is clearly evident that adding a video is how to get Twitter followers that will help you meet your engagement goals.
49You can create your video or even live stream on Twitter to entice your targeted audience.
50Try to keep your tweets under 280 characters as it becomes easier for the @mentions to share them further with their followers.
51Spell out ‘Retweet’ in your post. This simple hack can get you a 23 times higher retweet rate.
52Be as creative as you can! You have 280 characters to show your talent and attract as many followers to your Twitter account.
53Go for one sentence, quote, or headline in your post. Try to make your post catchy and inspiring for your followers to get more retweets.
54Use eye-catchy GIFs as visuals perform well on Twitter.
55Say thanks with GIFs. When a user mentions you in their tweet, reply with a GIF if possible.
56Adding a strong call-to-action as actionable tweets is a great way to engage more Twitter followers.
57Try to keep your tweets short and easy to understand because short tweets are more likely to be retweeted and shared further by the followers.
58You can curate different sharable content. Introduce people with new ideas, things, and brands relevant to your business line and your targeted audience.
59Be one of the trusted sources of information for your followers by providing valuable content, reliable discussions, and solutions to your followers.
60Improve your tweets according to what your followers want. If your followers love headlines or quotes, keep tweeting quotes or headlines frequently to get more responses.
Promotion
74Let’s popularize your Twitter account. By cross-promoting your Twitter handle on various social sites, you can spike your overall social media following.
75Promote your tweets on the website and blogs. Don’t forget to embed your live Twitter feed on the website and blogs too. Ensure to have a Twitter “Follow” button on your website and add the “Tweet this” button to your blog for easy access. It can help you drive more followers to your Twitter handle from your website and vice-versa.
Well, this example will help you understand this better.
Here, you can see a Twitter button in the image. On clicking this button, it automatically directs the reader to that live tweet. Isn’t it interesting?
It can help you drive more followers to your Twitter handle from your website and vice-versa.
76Make sure to embed your best Tweets into the blog or website for more Twitter traffic.
77Include a link to your Twitter in your email signature so that more people can quickly know about your Twitter account.
78Sign up for Twitter directories where people search for various businesses. You don’t need to pay as these listings are free. You can try out sites like Wefollow or Twittercounter for these.
79Try to promote your Twitter account on all marketing platforms. The marketing platforms include both online and offline, such as on business cards, on the website, brochures, and more.
80If you’re adding tweets on your website or blog, why not make it easy for the followers to reach you? Use the follow button on your blog or website so your followers can be directed to that particular tweet.
81Include a link to your Twitter account (@username) in the author bio, where you’re publishing your guest posts.
82Ensure to have the best tweet at the top of your stream, so users get an additional reason to follow you when visiting your Twitter account.
83You can ask your email subscribers to follow your Twitter account. Inspire them by acknowledging chats, topics, and engaging discussions that can help them expand their niche.
84Help others rather than just promoting your content and be known for putting others’ needs first. You will emerge as an industry leader and thus grow your followers organically.
85Link your Twitter profile to your other social media profiles like Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.
86Keep track of your tweets, which are getting the most interaction, and repeat posting those popular tweets again at different times.
87Be active and experiment organizing contests. They can be live chat contests, video contests, essay contests, and more to keep your Twitter posting more exciting.
88Run your Twitter contests regularly to gain momentum. Doing this can help build habits in your followers to check your account regularly.
89Reward your followers who take part in your contests or discussions. Use a giveaway method for your followers to win exciting prizes.
In this example of #SocialPilotchat, there is a prize declaration made to the public at large. This buzz resulted in greater participation, @mentions, and interactions with audiences.
90Make sure your blog’s social sharing is accessible at all times. Involve social sharing buttons on your blog to attract more traffic so people can directly follow your account with just a click of a button.
91Promote the same post at different times in a day. Considering how quickly tweets can be lost in the feed, it’s totally acceptable to share your same post multiple times in a day. You can use Twitter automation tools for this.
92Add a Twitter widget that displays your recent tweets on your website or blogs.
93Run Twitter polls. It is a highly engaging move to ask impactful questions about your industry or followers’ feedback on your brand.
94Target your Twitter ads for promotion and maximizing your reach.
Things to note
95Don’t think of buying fake followers! Yes, initially it might sound good for growing the followers, but eventually these followers will never add any value to your business.
96Engaging and growing your Twitter account with fake followers may lead to your account being suspended, so avoid it at all costs.
97Avoid auto follows/unfollows as it may increase the churn rate of followers.
98Post humorous content once in a while as amusing (funny) tweets are among the most retweeted categories on Twitter.
99Similarly, avoid using certain words in your Twitter post like ‘going,’ ‘game,’ ‘lol,’ and more, as they can affect your followers.
100Avoid too much promotion of your blogs, product, services, etc., on Twitter.
101Do not DM (direct message) new Twitter followers with a sales pitch outright. Yes, it is an old-school method, but it makes your followers feel like you’re spamming their DMs.
Over to You
Having a targeted audience following you on Twitter is great for your end goals. After all, 93% of brand followers on Twitter plan to buy from them. Now, that’s a huge number!
However, building a Twitter following takes plenty of effort.
No wonder everybody searches for how to gain followers on Twitter but ends up investing their money in buying the fake ones. Results? A huge gap in the followers-to-engagement ratio.
With our 101 surefire ways of how to get followers on Twitter, you will be able to assemble an organic yet engaged audience while avoiding all bots and fake profiles!
Wait. Let us make Twitter marketing simpler for you.
SocialPilot, which lets you schedule, analyze, and organize tweets with excellent team collaboration features, is a great help in reducing human efforts.
So wait no more! Get your 14-day free trial or schedule a demo call for incredible results across 5+ social platforms and not just Twitter alone.
