Finding and enticing the relevant people to follow your brand on Twitter is not as easy as most social media mass-follower software companies would have you think.
There are people out there with personal accounts set up purely to elicit followbacks, and these people will latch onto you and inflate your actual follower count without providing any actual value. What’s the point in investing in good content to share when you’re sharing it with someone who has no interest in what you post?
For this reason, I don’t advise businesses to use follower count as a chief metric of success of a Twitter account. Rather, I urge them to look at the quality of those followers, and their engagement levels with content.
All the same, a large targeted following is better than a small one. Here are six steps to grow a large targeted Twitter following as quickly as possible.
1. Let your existing professional contacts know about it
This could be via a brief email or LinkedIn message to let them know that you’re active on Twitter and sharing content which you believe will be of interest to them. Many companies make the mistake of ignoring their existing contacts in favour of brand new consumer audience, but existing contacts (regardless of their potential as customers) are just as likely to share your content and extend its reach to others.
2. Add links to your Twitter account on all other online platforms
Make it easy for existing and prospective customers to find your Twitter account by adding prominent social media buttons to your website, email sign offs, and adverts. Share a link to your Twitter page on other social platforms with an active following, let them know about your Twitter presence and explain how it can add value to them – differentiating it from the existing account they follow you on. For example: ‘Follow us on Twitter for regular offers and competitions!’ Add hashtags relevant to your product or service to the post, so that if people ‘like’ or share it, their audience will know a little about what you offer.
3. Brand your Twitter account and make your Twitter bio ‘pop’
Your Twitter handle should ideally contain your company name, or if this is already taken, a variant of it, perhaps including the product or service you provide – e.g. ‘@MrsSmith_Cakes’. Make sure you’ve taken the time to add your company logo, website and any graphics to your Twitter account, and ensure that your bio stands out and reflects your company messaging. 140 characters can be a challenge to cover everything, so consider a brief overview of your services, relevant locations followed by a USP. For example: ‘Family-run Kent-based bakery. Delicious customised cakes and wedding cakes made to order.’
4. Be proactive and follow the people you’d like to follow you
By targeting the people you want to follow you, you’re alerting them to your presence and inviting them to check out your page. Only follow Twitter accounts you believe are relevant to your service offering, as they will be more likely to follow you back and share your content.
5. Good content is crucial
As with all online activity, you can’t skimp on content, as poor content can actually deter followers. You need to offer viewers of your account interesting and relevant snippets of content, complete with hashtags to get your tweets in front of more users. A mixture of topical tweets about industry news, special offers, and links to your own website content will work well to attract relevant followers.
6. Pay a little extra and sponsor certain tweets
Some people are sceptical about paid ads and sponsored posts on social media, but I find that a small budget can go a long way to growing relevant followers, especially for a new account in need of a push. Twitter’s sponsored tweets enable you to target specific tweets towards accounts that match certain demographics, getting you in front of a much wider targeted audience. You should set monthly KPIs to ensure that the money you spend on these posts is delivering you results in terms of the quantity and quality of your followers. However, sponsored posts work best as part of an integrated approach to your social media, and won’t get you anywhere if your content and branding is out of synch.
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