Tuesday, 23 November 2021

10 meaningful ways to get more Twitter followers

“So, like, how many Twitter followers do you have?”

Listen: you can’t dismiss your follower count on Twitter as a vanity metric.

Because more followers mean more influence in your industry and proven interest in your content.

Besides, Twitter is the go-to social network for engaging your audience. According to the most recent Sprout Social Index™, 50% of social consumers use Twitter daily and 30% want to see brands use it more.

Fast-moving and so simple to use, Twitter is arguably the easiest social following to grow from zero.

But how do you get those followers in the first place?

How to get more followers on Twitter in 10 steps

In this quick guide, we’re going to break down exactly how to get Twitter followers whether you’re struggling to grow or are starting an account from scratch.

Here are our top 10 tips:

  1. Tweet frequently
  2. Post visual content
  3. Utilize hashtags
  4. Become part of a Twitter community
  5. Engage with replies, Retweets and tags
  6. Publish (and comment on) Twitter threads
  7. Create an inviting profile
  8. Participate in Twitter chats
  9. Draw in followers outside of Twitter
  10. Optimize your post timing

No bots, no spammy tactics. Just 10 actionable steps you can take ASAP to build a meaningful following.

And with that, let’s dive in!

1. When in doubt, Tweet more often

Versus the likes of Facebook or Instagram, Twitter traditionally requires a more aggressive content strategy.

According to research from RivalIQ, the top 25% of top-performing accounts on Twitter post ~12 times per week. That’s roughly twice per day.

Given how quickly the platform moves, brands can always err on the side of posting more often rather than being reserved. The key here is to not only promote yourself and switch up the types of content you publish.

Thankfully, the possibilities for filling up your content calendar are seemingly endless.

Tweets from your followers. Relevant industry articles. Buzzworthy stats. Breaking news. Personal updates.

And that only scratches the surface. Frequent publishing will help you rise in the Twitter algorithm, granted you diversify your content strategy.

Chart showing a breakdown of content types to help you get more followers on twitter. Posts that entertain come first, followed by posts that inspire.

The takeaway? Filling up your Twitter feed with fresh content lets potential followers know that you’re active, engaging and worth following.

With the help of social scheduling software, you can regularly queue up content without having to constantly Tweet in real-time. This effectively allows you to attract new followers around the clock.

Scheduling tweets with Sprout Social ensures that you can optimize your Twitter presence for more followers.

2. Prioritize visual content whenever possible

Conventional wisdom says that Tweets containing visual content receive more likes, shares and Retweets than those without them.

Brands should strive to couple their Tweets with some sort of imagery. Although there’s nothing wrong with solely text-based Tweets, images are better poised to stop serial scrollers and encourage them to take a look at your posts.

As you’re brainstorming posts and types of content to publish, consider:

  • Adapt text-based posts into images using editing tools like Canva, Adobe Spark or Venngage.
  • Creating infographics (fact: infographics saw a 67% rise in 2020 and represent some of the most-shared content on Twitter).
  • Videos (think: how-tos, greetings, snippets from long-form content).
  • .GIFs, memes and image macros (when appropriate).

Whether you’re looking to inform or entertain your audience (or both), filling your feed with visual content can help bring new Twitter followers into the fold.

Note: If you are publishing external links to Twitter frequently, make sure your content previews contain an image that isn’t just a random screenshot.

3. Harness the power of hashtags

Think of Twitter hashtags as a way to make your posts searchable, almost as a form of SEO for your Twitter account.

Similar to images, Tweets that feature a hashtag usually receive more engagement than those without them.

Tacking on a couple of hashtags to any given Tweet is a quick way to increase the likelihood of new followers finding your account. Plus, doing so only takes a couple of seconds and there are plenty of hashtags to choose from. For example, you can:

  • Supplement posts with industry hashtags (such as #SEO or #ContentMarketing) which are great for your professional content.
  • Inject some personality into your feed by using popular community hashtags (think: #MidweekMotivation)
  • Piggyback on event-based hashtags as well (think: hashtags awards shows, sporting events and anything else topical)

The only caveat with hashtags is to use them wisely and not to go overboard. Posts brimming with hashtags look spammy at a glance and are otherwise distracting. Ideally, you should stick to one or two (three, tops).

And besides, when you know which of your hashtags attract the most followers you can use them strategically. By taking advantage of Twitter analytics, you can dig deeper into the top-performing tags for your brand.

Sprout's Twitter analytics reports can teach you more about high-performing hashtags for your account.

4. Engage with Twitter communities in your industry

This is a prime example of how to get followers on Twitter using hashtags.

There are endless communities on Twitter that organize via hashtags (#DTCfam, #MarketingTwitter and #PRTwitter, to name a few).

Although some of these communities are organized by specific members, others are for general industries and tips. Participating with communities through sharing advice or experiences is a positive way to introduce your account to new followers.

Hashtag analytics can help you identify niche communities relevant to your business. Likewise, peek at the bios of influencers and big names in your industry to see which hashtags they’re using.

5. Master the arts of tagging, Retweeting & replying

Getting more followers on Twitter doesn’t have to be a time-sink: it just means making the most of the time you spend on the platform.

Sure, you can and totally should schedule Tweets to optimize engagement. But at the same time, you don’t want your Twitter account to look like it’s run by a bot.

You need to get in the trenches with your followers, customers and industry leaders alike. Regularly engaging with other users via tagging, Retweeting and replying immediately lets new followers know that you’re human and gets more eyes on your brand. Here are some tips:

  • When replying to accounts, keep in mind that a detailed, thoughtful response will score you more potential followers than a brief one-word reply.
  • Shout out other brands whenever possible. Tagging (@mentioning) other brands as a compliment is a popular tactic to show some love to others in your industry.
  • Retweet your fans and followers. Despite only taking a few seconds, doing so shows that you value engagement and are actively participating on the platform.

These small pieces of your engagement strategy contribute to the bigger picture of attracting followers.

6. Signal yourself as a valuable resource via Twitter threads

Popular among business communities, Twitter threads serve as a place to break down concepts and experiences within a single Tweet chain.

Think of them as blog posts in the form of Tweets. A creative way to get the most out of Twitter’s 280 character limit, threads are often brimming with discussion.

As opposed to typical question or educational Tweets, threads are typically indicated by the thread emoji (see below). They can also be denoted by how many Tweets are in the thread chain. For example, the first Tweet in a thread might start with “(1/6)” and end with “(6/6),” indicating there are six Tweets in total.

As you figure out how to gain Twitter followers, ask yourself: what makes an account valuable enough to earn a “follow?” Users putting out useful information on a regular basis are typically the ones that grow their follower count fastest. Threads can help you do exactly that.

7. Optimize your profile for new followers

Beyond your content and engagement strategies, there are a few subtle steps to make your Twitter profile friendlier to new followers.

Optimizing your profile involves three straightforward steps:

  • A clean profile photo. For personal accounts, this means an unobstructed facial photo (versus a high-res logo for brands).
  • Relevant tags, industry keywords and location information. In short, your profile should be “complete” by describing what you do, your title, what companies you work with and where you operate.
  • A taste of your personality. Giving your audience a taste of your human side is key to attracting followers.
Screenshot example of an optimized Twitter profile.

Simply put, fine-tuning these pieces of your profile helps guarantee a positive first impression with people who’ve never interacted with you before.

8. Participate in Twitter chats

For both communities and industry influencers, Twitter chats are the perfect place to flex your knowledge and get your account in front of new followers. Chats typically take place on a weekly basis and are denoted by a hashtag (#ContentClubUK or #SproutChat, for example).

By becoming a consistent participant in chat threads, you become a familiar figure in both the chat itself and your larger brand community. Especially for up-and-coming users, chats are almost always going to have a much larger potential reach than your own account.

9. Funnel followers from beyond Twitter

One of the most important steps to getting more Twitter followers is promoting your profile beyond the platform itself.

For most brands, this means:

  • Including social buttons as part of your website footer (see below).
  • Featuring your Twitter account within your marketing emails.
  • Cross-posting content between social media platforms (think: promoting popular Tweets from your accounts on Instagram or Facebook).
Screenshot example of how to get more Twitter followers using website footer to share links to social profiles.

Considering how commonplace Twitter is for marketers in general, there’s no shame in plastering your profile wherever you can to help encourage new followers.

10. Time your Tweets to perfection

And speaking of timing, blasting your Tweets while your target audience is sleeping won’t help you gain new followers.

According to Sprout’s own research on the best times to post on social media, brands typically see the most engagement during weekdays during the mid-morning and early afternoon hours.

Heatmap showing Twitter's overall best times to post in 2021.

While these numbers might vary depending on your time zone and audience, timing your Tweets can help your account gain some much-needed exposure.

Figuring out how to get more Twitter followers doesn’t mean spending all day to post and respond, either. Ideally, brands should schedule Tweets to hit the times where users are more active and Tweet in real-time at intervals throughout the day as well.

Not sure of when you should Tweet? Sprout’s ViralPost automatically schedules your Tweets to be sent out when your audience is most likely to see and engage with them.

Screenshot of the Sprout Social publishing queue.

And with that, we wrap up our guide!

Have you figured out how to get followers on Twitter?

Growing your Twitter following doesn’t happen by accident. A combination of planning your content, engaging with fellow users and optimizing your profile is key to attracting new followers.

If you’ve been struggling to figure out how to get more Twitter followers, start with these steps. Many of them only require a small commitment of time but can make all the difference in terms of new leads, customers and exposure for your brand.

Either way, the publishing and analytical features baked into Sprout are perfect for giving your follower count a much-needed boost. If you haven’t already, take a test-drive a trial of Sprout Social today!

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