Want to get more twitter followers? Who doesn’t?! Twitter has always been my strongest social network in terms of number of followers. Ironically, it’s the platform that I’ve spent less time trying to grow it over the years. After 4 years I’ve increased my followers to almost 24k. Not too shabby considering the lack of focused attention on growth. So here are my free, low maintenance ways to get more twitter followers.
‘On twitter if someone follows us we get excited, in real life we get really scared and run away!’ Anonymous
26 awesome free ways to get more twitter followers
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Use other people’s twitter followers lists
When I first started on Twitter, I wanted to follow lots of people in the same area as me; to interact with people doing a similar thing and make connections so that, hopefully, my following would grow. I went to the profile’s of people I liked (or big players in my blogging niche), scrolled through their followers and following lists and simply followed people I liked the sound of.
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Be consistent
Building relationships is about using twitter every day. There’s no point in tweeting for a few days and then not for a week. You have to be in it to win it! Stay consistent.
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Engage
I wish I had more time to engage, but I do a bit everyday. Twitter is a great place to spend time. Don’t just promote blog posts, but chat to people to build relationships too.
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Be friendly & don’t moan
O.K, so everyone is allowed a bad moment and people want to know the real you, but no-one wants to follow someone who frequently shares negativity. Also think of the brands who might be checking out your social feeds when trying to decide whether they want to work with you…. They do check!
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Add a twitter widget to your blog sidebar or at least a twitter icon
Make it easy for people to follow you; don’t make them hunt around for your twitter link, hand it to them on a plate. At the very least you should have the social media icon, but if you have space you could include a twitter widget. Perhaps one which shares your follower numbers, then you can tap into social proof to encourage more people to follow you.
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Support others
Twitter and the blogging world in general can be a really supportive place to be. So, support others by retweeting a tweet of theirs you have enjoyed or by commenting on a tweet. This will go a long way and you never know they may return the favour.
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Use Hashtags
These help your tweets get seen by more people. Use the search function to research which hashtags are appropriate for your tweet. Ideally, use 1-3 hashtags, anymore will come off as spammy on Twitter. Your tweet is likely to get 2 x more engagement than without hashtags.
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Social media icons at the bottom of each post (even if they’re on your sidebar)
Again, just make things really easy for people. If they read a post and like it, having the icons just right there may help them decide to follow you or share the post. Also make sure your social sharing is set up to include your @’YourTwitterName’ in the share. This way you will know if people are sharing your posts from your blog and you can say thanks. So many blog I come across haven’t set this up, so it’s worth checking if you have.
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Social media icons on your email signature
Make sure all your contacts have links to your social media channels. Some people even link to their most recent blog post (I do!). Wise Stamp can do this for you for free.
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Ask for Retweets
There’s a 12 times higher retweet rate if you ask for retweet than not and your tweet is 23 x more likely to be ‘retweeted’ if you ask for retweet rather than ‘RT’. Your tweets are then seen by lots more potential followers. This one is so easy to do!
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Include links
Tweets with links are 88% more like to be retweeted than tweets without. When we are trying to organically increase our following then any retweets will help us do just that. So while all tweets don’t need/suit a link, pop them in where you can.
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Participate in #FF
Follow Friday is a great way to show your thanks to others. An example would be ‘#FF lovely ladies @WhatKatySaidUK @ThisWelshMother @Amytreasureblog’. By tweeting this I’m asking all my followers to follow these lovely ladies. You can also use it to give a shout out to brands you like or are working with at the moment. Participating will make you more visible too and again you’re building up points in your karma bank.
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Respond
If someone tweets you, respond, even if it’s just favouriting the tweet (at the very least!). I realise that sometimes we miss people when our timelines go crazy, but try to stick to it as people will appreciate your responses. After all it is ‘social’ media!
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Thank people
I always try to thank people for RT’s. Again it’s possible to miss a few here and there, but generally just a quick thanks goes a long way and they will be more likely to share your stuff in the future.
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Profile picture
Make sure your profile picture is the same across your networks, so you’re identifiable and there’s consistency. Some people think this should be your face, which I actually do agree with. Make sure the picture you use is a good picture and hat you look happy or at least not miserable! Check out the background, make it clean and uncluttered. Oh and your profile picture should not be a picture of your cat, your dog or your kid’s guinea pig!
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Include images in your tweets
Stats show that engagement is 2 x higher for tweets with image links. That’s so easy to do and such a great pay off!
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Schedule
Schedule your blog post links to go out as tweets, more often that you think you should. I do this a lot and it hasn’t done me any harm! For years I got most of my traffic from Twitter too. I feel as long as people interact, as well as schedule, then there’s a good balance. I use Social Oomph* for scheduling Twitter, which is by far the best programme I have used. There are free and paid for versions.
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Lists
Use Twitter lists to make your following timeline more manageable. You will be able to interact more effectively and get more benefit. I have a list that includes people that have interacted with me and that I like chatting to. You can get more more organised than this and maybe have one for brands you have worked with, perhaps one for brands you would love to work with. Which would be a great way to interact with them and look out for potential opportunities.
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Social media bio
Make sure your bio says something about you. Having a blank profile will not encourage me to follow you. I want to know a little snippet of what you are all about. Make it fun and engaging.
- Peak tweeting hours – Between 9am and 3pm Monday to Thursday.
- Best time – Wednesday 12pm, 3pm and between 5-6pm.
- Worst time – Every day after 8pm and Fridays after 3pm.
- Tweet a Question -21% higher engagement if tweet includes a question.
- Be concise – 17% higher if tweet is less than 100 characters.
- Cross promote – Use your other social networks to promote Twitter. Encourage your followers on other platforms to come across and help you get more twitter followers.
- Pin a tweet to the top of your profile – You can use this to pin a tweet which says something about you, promotes a current competition or any tweet you would like people to see first when landing on your profile. Go to your profile and find the Tweet you would like to pin. Click on the ellipsis icon (…), select ‘Pin to your profile page’ and click ‘Pin’.
Which is your most successful social media network? Do you like Twitter? Any tips of your own to get more twitter followers?
LIKE IT? PIN IT!
Twitter stats from Hubspot.com