When it comes to social media marketing, you probably use Twitter. Or if you’re new to social media, you’re probably considering using Twitter. If used right, your products and messages can potentially reach a lot of people. However, a big pain point for the small business owner is how to get more Twitter followers.
In this article, you’re going to learn a little bit about Twitter, why your company needs to be on Twitter, some things not to do, and how to get more Twitter followers for your business.
Related: How to use Twitter for business
How to get more Twitter followers for your business
Here’s exactly what we’re going to cover:
- Quick intro to Twitter.
- The benefits of an active business presence on Twitter.
- How Twitter works as a social media marketing tool.
- 25 ways to get more Twitter followers for your business.
- How not to build a Twitter following.
Let’s dive in.
Quick intro to Twitter
Twitter is a social network that allows you to connect with people around the world, using a form of microblogging, or sending short messages to the platform. Twitter is free to join, but also offers an in-house ad network for businesses wanting to advertise products, services, or even messages.
Twitter has been around since 2006 and it offers users the ability to follow other people, brands and companies, in real-time.
Related: A beginner’s guide to social media for small business
The benefits of an active business presence on Twitter
According to a Twitter presentation during the first quarter of 2019, there are 330 million Twitter users, with 145 million of those users being active on a daily basis. Another interesting stat is that there are over 500 million users that visit Twitter each month without logging in!
This means that this platform has more than enough people that could be potential followers and eventually customers.
Sure, you could pay to advertise on Twitter, but the beauty of being able to reach a large number of people in such a short time is amazing!
Lastly, did you know your Twitter handle and tweets are searchable on Google? If you didn’t, then this is a real boost for small business owners, as this helps with adding a more dynamic search result for your personal profile and even company profiles on Twitter.
If you’re not active on Twitter yet, hopefully you’re convinced now to start a social media marketing plan around that platform and learn how to get more followers on Twitter.
If not, this post with some Twitter stats might seal the deal.
How Twitter works as a social media marketing tool
Twitter is a lot easier than you think when it comes to selling and marketing. You can absolutely bring in sales, get people to subscribe to your newsletter, or even engage in conversation with your company in 280-characters or less.
You can use video, images and text to stand out and grab the attention of your audience.
The Twitter “pool” can be discouraging to some, as the real-time newsfeeds may drown out your message. However, your tweet is never truly lost.
If you have users searching for an interest or product or service that is similar to what you’re offering, you might appear in their search. People can search Twitter based on location, events, topics, popular hashtags and anything else related to their interests. This means someone out there is likely looking for what you have to offer.
Before you start tweeting away about whatever is on your mind, take the time to develop a strategy. Learn about your audience and their interests as they pertain to your business. Then, put together a marketing plan for Twitter. Sending 100 tweets out and adding everyone you can is not a plan, but instead a recipe for wasted time.
25 ways to get more Twitter followers for your business
Now that you know a little bit more about Twitter and why it matters to your business, here are some tips on how to get more Twitter followers for your business.
- Tweet regularly.
- Use trends or keywords or hashtags that people use.
- Find your audience and follow people.
- Write a good bio that clearly states what your business does.
- Engage in conversations with people.
- Write several variations of your message, and schedule them.
- Find ways to help and add value first, before selling.
- Put your Twitter handle where it’s easily seen on your website.
- Ask your blog readers to follow you on Twitter.
- Make sure to have social share buttons on your blog posts.
- If you do guest posts on other sites, include your Twitter handle in your bio.
- Find out when’s the best time to tweet.
- Add your Twitter handle to your marketing materials.
- Use images in your tweets.
- Reshare content from other people and media sources.
- Find out who the influencers are in your niche, follow them and engage in conversations with them.
- Add your company’s location to your Twitter profile.
- Encourage followers on other social network platforms to follow you on Twitter.
- Host or participate in Twitter chats.
- Participate in conference event chats.
- Make Twitter lists.
- Ask questions or do polls on Twitter.
- Post short videos to Twitter.
- Have a personal Twitter handle.
- Use some social tools to help you find Twitter users.
Note: Learning how to get more Twitter followers for your business does not mean you’ll go from zero to a million overnight. It will take time. It will take engagement and research. If you aren’t comfortable with either, you might want to hire a social media manager to handle your brand’s growth.
1. Tweet regularly
If you’re not active on any of your social network channels, people are not going to follow you. If it’s finding what content you should be tweeting, you need to research your niche for related content and share that. Additionally, you should be creating your own content, like images and video.
Find blogs in your niche and schedule their feeds to automatically publish to your Twitter channel.
And if you can’t tweet, then perhaps find a virtual assistant or hire an employee directly to do it for you.
Editor’s note: Need help managing your social media presence? GoDaddy Social has you covered.
2. Use trends or keywords or hashtags that people use
Twitter is entirely searchable and lists in real-time order, so trends like elections, events, hot news topics and more can help you “ride the wave” because a lot more people are tuned into their newsfeed at that particular moment.
Related: How to hashtag on Instagram and Twitter
3. Find your audience and follow people
You should follow people, but make sure not to follow everyone. Follow people in your target audience that may actually be interested in what you have to say.
For example, if you have a company selling a healthy children’s snack, you’re probably going to want to target parents (moms or dads).
Twitter’s search feature can help you listen in on specific conversations.
If you are looking for a certain group of people, you can search for a word or phrase they might be using. Twitter will pull up a list of who has been talking about that subject and you can either jump in and engage with that crowd or follow them — or add them to a list for future marketing campaigns.
Aside from normal search terms, you can also search for hashtag terms. All of the tweets that use a particular hashtag are grouped together, making it easy to find everyone who is commenting on that topic.
Related: How to hashtag on Instagram and Twitter
4. Write a good bio that clearly states what your business does
Whether you’re trying to target an interest or location, your profile needs to reflect that. Make sure to include who you are, what you’re offering and why you matter to people. These points are very important for people to see right away when they see your Twitter profile.
Twitter allows only 160 characters for you to use when putting together a profile. It’s not a lot of characters to work with, but it’s very possible to put together a very clear profile.
Also, if your brand or company is based on you, make sure to include your face. Don’t put up the selfie you took at the bar unless your brand is about going out to the bar. If you want a polished and professional profile, make sure your pic looks that way.
5. Engage in conversations with people
Social media is all about talking with other people. Engaging with people is a HUGE part of what Twitter is about.
You’re not there to sell all the time to people.
You’re there to make valuable connections and exchange information. If you happen to get sales as a result, fantastic!
Related: 15 social media tips and best practices
6. Write several variations of your message, and schedule them
In the marketing world, there’s a Marketing Rule of 7, which says that it takes at least seven times for the consumer to hear a message and act on it. This includes buying something, subscribing, sharing your content or even engaging.
With Twitter content existing in real-time, sometimes just saying your message will get drowned out. It’s better to formulate several tweets with your message and schedule those out over time.
For example, if your company produces blog content or information that doesn’t expire, you can reschedule that content over time. A blog post written 10 years ago could still be added into a new tweet and published again over time.
7. Find ways to help and add value first, before selling
In marketing, there’s an 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle. This means that 80-percent of the time, you will publish content to your social channels that are not promotional. The rest is to be used for promotional material.
Sure, you’re a business and your Twitter profile clearly states that, but remember when users follow you, your tweets go through their newsfeed. If you’re constantly bombarding people with selling, it becomes like spam.
As for the non-promotional 80-percent, make sure that you’re helpful, entertaining and add value. This attracts more people that are willing to interact with your business.
8. Put your Twitter handle where it’s easily seen on your website
If you’re on Twitter, you should be linking to it on your website. Try adding it to your blog’s sidebar, contact page, front page or even your about page.
Choose spots wisely, as you don’t want it to be too excessive.
Additionally, make sure they can be seen. If they are too small, then some people won’t see them at all.
9. Ask your blog readers to follow you on Twitter
When you publish a blog post, you might want to try to offer another way for people to engage with the article (other than the blog’s comment thread). Every so often, encourage readers to follow you on Twitter (or any other social handle) and retweet the article. This helps get you free exposure.
10. Make sure to have social share buttons on your blog posts
If you have a presence on Twitter and a blog, then you really need to have social share icons that include a Twitter share button. This makes it easy for people to share your posts, rather than expecting them to take a few extra seconds to copy and paste the link, as well as write up a tweet.
If you’re using WordPress as a CMS for your company’s website and blog, then you can install a social share plugin, similar to Sassy Social Share and configure it so it includes tweeting the article’s link, title and your Twitter social handle.
Pro tip: For social share buttons, add buttons before and after the article. This maximizes the possibility of the article being shared. While a floating share bar is nice, for your reader’s sake, it’s not always ideal on all devices.
11. If you do guest posts on other sites, include your Twitter handle in your bio
If you’re guest blogging at other places, that’s fantastic! Guest posting helps expose you to more people. It only makes sense to include your Twitter handle in your guest author bio.
Related: How to start guest posting for your business
12. Find out when’s the best time to tweet
Where your target audience lives tends to reflect what time they’re usually active on Twitter. You can find this out by looking into your Twitter Analytics. Buffer has an article on when’s the best time to tweet which was produced from their own research. To summarize, their findings are:
- Early morning is when people are more likely to click on your tweets. This is good if you have links to articles.
- Evening is when people are more likely to favorite or retweet.
13. Add your Twitter handle to your marketing materials
If you’re advertising in places like newspapers, magazines, billboards and pamphlets, include your Twitter handle.
Furthermore, if your company has a business card, your Twitter handle needs to be printed there, too. This allows people to connect with your company, other than just visiting your website. Of course, this isn’t shooting down your website. You absolutely SHOULD include your website, too.
14. Use images in your tweets
Images are short and sweet. Your images can be funny, informative and entertaining. This is the fastest way that people can absorb your content, and make a decision on whether they want to follow you, or even more.
Besides, tweets with images receive higher engagement.
15. Reshare content from other people and media sources
You may have content of your own that you want to share, but viewers can get tired of seeing content from just one person.
Sharing really is caring and helps to build your authority.
Not only that, if you’re sharing content in your Twitter newsfeed from others in your niche, you’re probably going to attract people who can potentially help elevate your reach.
16. Find out who the influencers are in your niche, follow them and engage in conversations with them
Go out of your way to find who is moving and shaking the world in your niche. Follow them and engage.
In fact, do better by observing how they publish content on Twitter and engage. You can probably learn a lot from the people who are already trusted by the community.
Additionally, you could make partnerships, and be made aware of opportunities that can benefit your business.
17. Add your company’s location to your Twitter profile
Adding a location to your company’s location is fantastic because there are always people looking to shop local businesses. In fact, as a business owner, you can use location to find local influencers who can help amplify your message.
18. Encourage followers on other social network platforms to follow you on Twitter
You probably have a presence on other social networks, like Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram. While you don’t want to produce exactly the same content on both channels, you do want to cross-promote that you are present on another social network.
Some people prefer to use one social network over another, so let them know where they can find you.
19. Host or participate in Twitter chats
Twitter chats are really handy because they drive discussions on focused topics to attract like-minded people. For example, #Blogchat is held every Sunday at 8 p.m. Central Standard Time and geared for bloggers. #SMEchat is hosted by Social Media Examiner to help people learn more about social media marketing.
Quite a few people participate in these chats and they usually have a set theme to discuss — and sometimes special guests.
If you choose to host a Twitter chat, you can invite influencers, and host a Q&A time. This adds a lot of value to anyone tuning into the chat, whether they are interested as customers, or even learning about the industry as a new business owner.
20. Participate in conference event chats
Conference event chats can be amazing for your business. Some events, like #BlogHer19 and #Inbound19, were chock-full of great information.
Even if you didn’t go to the events, you could participate and re-share some of the content that people tweeted.
This practice helps build content in your feed that’s related to your business and makes you look active. Additionally, people from the event see you participating and will more than likely follow you, especially if you’re retweeting their content.
21. Make Twitter lists
Create a list of the people you want to reach on Twitter. Set your focus on engaging with these users, following them and giving them a reason to follow you back.
Keep your list and update it regularly, as it is handy to go back to — especially if you are running marketing campaigns and want to reach out to specific people for feedback.
Twitter allows you to manage several lists, so you can make focused lists. Some list examples could be conferences that are related to your business, influencers with interests similar to your company or even a list of your super fans.
22. Ask questions or do polls on Twitter
The best way to get people to interact, is to ask them questions or put up a poll. Those polls can be done for marketing purposes or to simply be entertaining.
23. Post short videos to Twitter
Short videos, if done right, can be powerful. It doesn’t have to be a big production. It doesn’t always have to have music either. Your videos can be a blurb about a product, a quirky quote or showing off a cool booth at a conference. Just make sure your video is entertaining.
Related: How to create a valuable video update for your customers
24. Have a personal Twitter handle
Your company is not a personal account. Consider it as part of your business and maintain a separate handle for personal use. Your tone that you use for your own personal reasons may not coincide with the tone that you want your business to convey.
Of course, this can be a way to help promote your business too, especially if you do talk about it on occasion.
However, as an individual, you do have interests outside of your business, so this is where a personal Twitter handle will help.
25. Use some social tools to help you find Twitter users
Finding and getting more Twitter followers can be overwhelming, so third-party services might help you find more interested followers. Some of the tools below can help you find who is active and possibly interested in your content. These tools organize Twitter users by category or interest:
These third-party services are free to join, but do have some premium or paid extras that can give you even more useful information.
How not to build a Twitter following
With there being so many tips listed in this article, it’s important to mention a few things not to do when it comes to getting more Twitter followers for your business.
- Don’t buy followers.
- Don’t direct message (private message) people to talk about your business.
- Don’t tweet everything.
Don’t buy followers
This is the biggest no-no! If you’re buying followers, STOP! It’s not worth it.
Most of the places that offer to sell you Twitter followers are not truly “real” users. They are fake accounts. Some of them seem real but may have automated posts and are created with dummy information.
Don’t direct message (private message) people to talk about your business
Where this started, who knows, but if someone follows your company on Twitter, don’t automatically direct message them. Let your followers come to you on their own terms.
If they follow you, they are already interested. Your tweets from your newsfeed should be the ones they interact with. If they have private concerns, the direct message inbox is perfect for that.
Don’t tweet everything
Maybe you went to a concert recently and wanted to talk about it, but it wasn’t related to your business. Do you tweet about it on your Twitter handle for your business? The answer is no!
Don’t tweet personal things on your business-related social network handles.
You should establish a tone on Twitter that is strictly for business. It’s OK to be funny and entertaining, but if you individually have no filter, that might not be ideal for your company’s Twitter presence.
So now what?
You know about Twitter, some tips on how to get more Twitter followers, and some no-nos, so it’s time to put all of it into action. Don’t be shy. If you follow these tips for how to get more Twitter followers for your business, you can develop a valuable audience. Good luck!
Editor’s note: GoDaddy Social offers a variety of products to help you develop relationships with your customers — including creating and building your social presence and monitoring and reporting on your performance. Get started with us here.
