7 Twitter Tips to Win More Followers and Influence

At a time when Facebook is no longer cool (hey, Mark Zuckerberg has even admitted it!), now couldn’t be better to hone your skills as a master Tweeter. The micro-blogging social site is now where more teens and young people are flocking (with 26% ranking Twitter as the “most important” social network according to a Taking Stock with Teens study). These social butterflies and mobile moguls are the ones most likely to spread the word about your brand.

Knowing they’re there and engaging them are two different things though.

Engaging with Influencers on Twitter

As an online brand it is important to find a voice that your audience can relate to. Whether you’re pining for the attention of some pretty big industry influencers or looking to win the affections of new customers, striking the right chord will get well-targeted traffic to your site and a level of brand identity and personality.

However, it’s no popularity contest.7 Twitter Tips to Win More Followers and Influence

Higher follower numbers, whilst great for audience reach, does not always equate to more engagement.

The idea of quality over quantity couldn’t be truer here. You want people who are active users, who are well-connected, well-respected and carry influence within your industry.

You want those people who interact with your tweets on a regular basis, whether that’s retweeting, favoriting or replying.

It’s said there are only six degrees of separation between each and every person in the world, so if you can inspire a string of half a dozen people in succession to share your tweet, you might just connect with the whole world (disclaimer: a slight exaggeration, but you get the point).

Not only is interaction good for culturing an online face to your brand and building meaningful relationships with related brands and customers, but it’s also a fantastic social signal of engagement that Google takes into consideration in its search engine rankings. Now, enough about the benefits and bonuses of employing a super-duper Twitter Social Media strategy: let’s talk about how you can be more social and win the hearts of followers and potential customers.

Recommended reading: Twitter Engagement Unmasked: A Study of More Than 4M Tweets

1. Make New Friends

Don’t be a stranger, silly. Twitter is all about being social. Don't be frightened to follow new people. Don’t just follow someone because they’re popular either (because that never worked in school). Run searches on professions and interests you or your brand have in common. The best people to follow are those you feel you can relate to, whether they’re funny, inspiring, ambitious or compassionate not just because you like their profile pic (though, that might help). Honestly though, if you see that their bio ticks all the right boxes and they're local to you (particularly important if you run a small business), hit that follow button. If you're in any doubt, click through to see the person's last three tweets.

Like what you see? Share the same interests? Got something to add? Connect with them.

Be wary of automated accounts: tell-tale signs they’re probably automated are the ones that look spammy, just pump out links at periodic intervals, have very little social interaction or have no images, video or personality.

2. Tweet often, but not too much

Naturally people like knowing what you’re up to. But tweet too much and you become that annoying person that likes the sound of the own voice a little too much. Whilst there’s no hard and fast rule, Tweeting a couple of times a day is more natural – and sometimes, less is more.

Mornings, on the daily commute before 9am, are great to fire out your thoughts of the day. Then, at lunchtime around 12-1pm, after school, from 3-4pm and in the evenings around 7-8pm you will find peaks of social activity.
There are Social Media tools that can help schedule your message for the week. Tools like HootSuite and Buffer can help save you heaps of time, especially when put to work with a good content marketing strategy. Trial this for a couple of weeks and you’ll find you’ll get a lot more people interacting with you and following you because you’re active and engaging.

Just make sure you don’t send out the exact same messages multiple times a week or month. The same story but with a different teaser and at a different time of day is okay though as it can help find out more about what your followers like and when they’re most engaged.Content marketing is less about creation and more about promotion.

3. @Mention magic

Whilst it’s nice to thank someone for following, like ‘You can call me any time, Mr @BarrackObama’, it’s always better to make it more personal to their interests. Ask a question about what they’re passionate about, make it funny, or send them a cute picture – do something different!

If your strategy is working thus far though, you might find it hard to entertain your new followers individually. Don’t worry – a blanket welcome every now and then will help make your followers feel loved. One of the most powerful things of all is responding to tweets directed at you. Whether it’s something your care about or something funny, people and brands want you to join the conversation.

For example, if you love the way a new advert makes you feel, or you’re excited about a new product, engaging in a positive way towards a person or brand, you may expect a positive response in return (maybe even a favorite or retweet – more on those coming up).Not only that, but you’ll find that other people who follow that brand might follow you too because they feel like a) you’re a nice person and b) you like the same things as they do. They might even join you in your appreciation of Cadbury’s new strawberries and cream-filled chocolates.

4. Share the love

Retweeting and favoriting tweets are like a pat on the back – not just whom you’re following, but in the eyes of Google too. Interacting in this way shows that you find their content interesting or funny enough to share with your friends.
Favoriting is a way of acknowledging a good tweet. Retweeting is a way of rewarding a great tweet, because you feel so compelled to share it with all your followers.

To the aesthetically compulsive, a retweet also has the added bonus of offering variety to the display of your beautifully unique newsfeed (rather than clogging it up with your own beautiful face, not that there’s anything wrong with that). Variety is the spice of life and all that.

If you’re a garage, you should probably be following and searching for car-related tweets, such as finding a kids-sized Lamborghini or a monster truck doing a backflip, that’s the sort of things your followers would like to see. For example, Top Gear or Fifth Gear might yield some funny or interesting motoring-related stories which retweeting may win over some extra followers.

#happymonday Twitter love

5. Bring your tweets to life with images and video

Images, and to a lesser extent video, are statistically proven to increase follower engagement. Whether by retweeting or favouriting, tweets with image links get twice the engagement rate of those without.

For example, if you’re a local village café, be sure to post tasty images of the new dish you’re serving up or the new desserts menu you can feast your eyes on.

If you’re office-based, tweet something funny that has just happened, like you’ve just lost your biscuit in your tea (do so with your colleagues approval if they don’t like being named and shamed for dodgy dunking).

Funny and inspiring things happen all around us every day. Capturing and sharing them with people brings us closer together.

top of google

6. #Hashtag trend

Jumping aboard popular hashtags (trending topics indicated by the ‘#' character, for all you #noobs) enables you to reach and inspire more people in a more direct way. Because we all don’t really like Mondays, if we’re honest, #HappyMonday is a popular way to spread some positivity. Whether it’s a cute animal picture or a team snap, bringing people together and making them feel good is a great way to start the week, agreed?

There are loads of hashtags for days of the week, so you can never be short of ideas to get followers involved in sharing their own stories. Another, #ThrowbackThursday, may help give a glimpse into your own personal life, looking back at a particularly special moment like graduation, marriage, starting your new business, your first-born child or something less serious like that time last week you found the most perfect dress in the world. Opening yourself up to your followers makes you more approachable, more human, more interesting and most of all, easier to relate to.

The classic #FollowFriday (or #FF for short) is a great way to compliment a particularly fascinating new follower or two from your week. Rather than just listing a load of new followers with very little thought, give people a reason why you love them and why they should be followed. Finally, it’s worth keeping an eye people you follow, as there are loads of interesting industry-related hashtags. From #MotorHappy to Cadbury’s #FreeTheJoy, there are like-minded Twitter-holics in your industry you can join in with. If you fancy something fresh, there’s nothing stopping you from starting you own too #JustSaying.

7. Kick-starting competitions

On a related note, competitions are a super way of racking up followers, using hashtags like #win #competition #free or #giveaway alongside your own.Everyone likes a deal, especially a freebie. Particularly at the start of your Twitter days, running a competition to win a gift basket, experience or money off at your shop will most definitely get your followers excited.

Tweet something like: ‘RT and Follow for a chance to win our sweet summer gift hamper #competition’ with a gorgeous photo of the lovely goodies.

The art of retweeting ensures your message is shared fast.

Be sure to post images of the prizes that your followers can win (seeing is believing, after all) as well as variations of the message until the competition closes. Asking your followers what they might do with the prize if they won would stir even more conversation.

To get things started, make use of your personal account to retweet your brand’s competition to your friends. And finally, remind people at peak times of the day (before 9am, after 12pm and 7pm in the week, and afternoons on weekends) to witness a follower frenzy.

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26 thoughts on “7 Twitter Tips to Win More Followers and Influence”

  1. Spreading the twitter love and meeting new folks is where the magic on twitter is at…or where it’s at on any network Barrie. I love – through blog commenting – promoting others on twitter and reaching into new audiences. Think of: loyalty and reach. Loyalty is about fostering established relationships and reach is about moving into new, targeted audiences by meeting new folks. Keep on building and leveraging your presence by connecting with new folks.

    Smart and powerful twit tips!

    Ryan

  2. Thanks for the twitter tips. I’m going to make a tweet right now. Images are something overlooked. Helps you stand out and make an impression. Going to add these in 2015. Best, T.S.

  3. I’ve done all that I can with Facebook in the last 12 months, I’m hanging them out to dry in 2015. Twitter on the other hand has provided my blog with a lot more traffic, visitor converted into readers and helped me connect with a lot of new influencers in the blogging and online business niche.

    These are some great tips, a harsh reminder of some of some of the things I should be doing more of as well on Twitter, so thanks! One of the things I want to try doing more of is adding visual content to my tweets as posted in your tip number 5.

    Thanks again and have a great day!

  4. Hi Barrie,

    Thanks for sharing this post. For someone like me who is struggling to find followers on Twitter this post is nothing less than a blessing. Like many who are not familiar to this platform, I also made a mistake of tweeting in large volumes. Result, as expected wasn’t that great. So this is something I can definitely testify that over tweeting doesn’t help. Thanks again for sharing this post, I am sure thing time around, I will have better luck…

  5. This year i have told myself that it is my “twitter year” i have negleted my account for a while now, but its time to put all the effort i can, Thanks for the tips

    1. its been a year already that i am omitted to increase my TW volume…was not so successful so far…i believe its allot about me not being enough comitted to it…:-) thx for the nice post

  6. You are right facebook seems to be boring day by day. mark’s making it difficult for Facebook marketers. with the brilliant tips you’ve given me, i am dem porting to twitter 🙂

  7. Razvan Brasovean

    In many countries not using twitter. for example in Romania. But the question is, google sees you better if you use twitter?

  8. Darrell Martin

    Since I dont get as much traffic from Facebook as I do from Twitter I decided to put more into using Twitter. I told and show my friends “the power of hashtags” as well. Traffic instantly boosted upward after that.

  9. Barrie – some great tips for Twitter users. I would add if you have a lot of followers you can increase the amount of tweets you do per day. It’s a numbers thing. As long as the tweets have relevant content, great links and info to share with your follower with hashtags and images. Not just what you had for lunch, etc. I do notice though some new followers who only follow under 100 people find my tweets overbearing at times 🙂

  10. I’ve been getting traction from Twitter Chats, though traction hasn’t been the point … rather, I am there to support others and learn (#MyBlogU with Ann Smarty and crew, for instance). Hey, Barrie, concerning hashtags, how does one locate appropriate tags and stay out of the weeds by not using tags that seem apparent, but are either unpopular or are about something unrelated? (I hope that’s clear.) Is it enough just to search the tag before using, or is there a tool that shows trends and makes recommendations by topic?

  11. pradeep kumar

    Hi,Barrie really good tips ..
    i think i will get more from twitter now…!

  12. Thanks for sharing. I just learned something new. I truly believe in your blog. Now a days social media has big roles to the society especially in business areas ,its a big help for the promotion of the business .

  13. Hi Barrie Smith,
    Thank you very much for sharing these valuable tips with us. I have recently started to increase followers for my business and hope these tips will help me to get massive result from twitter marketing. I am also interested to learn more from you if possible.

  14. Knowing when to tweet is the BEST way to get more retweets, engagement and click through rates. Most people tweet whenever they get free time. Instead, if they schedule their tweets using tools like BufferApp, they could definitely get more clicks.

    And yea, using @mentions always work like a charm. All are great tips Barrie. Thanks for posting!

  15. As an online marketer, I usually work on twitter and I need more followers to do better on this field. I am very pleased to the author for sharing these amazing ideas with us. I hope it will help me to get massive result from twitter marketing and want to learn more..

    Thanks.

  16. Thanks for sharing, in 2015 the website with more social media engagement will role the first page.

  17. Sehar Mubdah

    This is great list which can help to get latest ideas and much more information about Twitter. Thank you for sharing useful tips.

  18. Social media is becoming increasingly popular and Google (I suspect) are using this (or will be) as a ranking signal.

    This is a great post, I need to jump on the Twitter bandwagon (already a Facebook guy!)

    Thanks,

  19. Some nice tips here.

    About #2 though, I’ve followed some people and regretted doing it. I don’t like it when someone is pushing out a few dozen tweets every single minute and typically unfollow them or mute them. I also don’t like retweet spam as well.

  20. This year i have told myself that it is my “twitter year” i have negleted my account for a while now, but its time to put all the effort i can, Thanks for the tips

  21. Barrie – some great tips for Twitter users. I would add if you have a lot of followers you can increase the amount of tweets you do per day. It’s a numbers thing. As long as the tweets have relevant content, great links and info to share with your follower with hashtags and images. Not just what you had for lunch, etc. I do notice though some new followers who only follow under 100 people find my tweets overbearing at times 🙂

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