Marketing masterclass: How to get more followers on Twitter – Part three

So far we’ve talked about making sure you post frequently, that your tweets are visually engaging and that you add hashtags. We have also suggested engaging more with Twitter’s vast communities and making sure you remain reactive and responsive to your posts to maintain a positive perception with your audience.

But now, we have four final tips for you to try.

1. Get chatting
2. Promote outside of Twitter
3. Make sure your profile is on point
4. Tweet at optimal times

1. Get chatting

In our last article, we discussed the importance of being responsive to anyone that engages with your tweets. That includes thanking followers for retweeting your content and answering questions and comments promptly. But you can go one step further, by actively chatting and engaging with Twitter communities.

Don’t just be reactive, be proactive.

“Twitter Chats”, as they are known, offer the perfect opportunity for you to demonstrate your knowledge on any given topic. Reaching out and joining conversations about subjects you know a lot about, will get you in front of new followers and could help generate a new audience for you too.

Now there are two ways you can engage more in the chattersphere;

1. Seek out hashtags on topics you know a lot about and then join conversations that include these hashtags.
2. Join actual ‘Twitter Chats’ [they are a thing]. Twitter Chats usually happen once a week and begin with users posting with a hashtag. There’s one for every day!

#MotivationMonday – Every Monday sees a flood of motivational quotes, positive thoughts, and uplifting images shared on social media

#TransformationTuesday – People are encouraged to post transformational photos of themselves on social media channels

#WisdomWednesday – Posting inspirational quotes about the big and little things that matter

#ThrowbackThursday – Brands and content creators share a past photo of themselves or other nostalgic content

#FeelGoodFriday – Posting stuff to make you smile or laugh

#ShoutoutSaturday – Gives users the opportunity to give a shout out to someone who they believe needs either a little attention or a bit of kudos for doing something nice for others

#SundayFunday – Users post about having fun with friends and family, although usually involving alcohol!

By making sure you hang out regularly in these chats, you begin to become a regular and expected contributor, so will most likely start to see your own followership grow as a result of your efforts.

2. Promote your profile elsewhere

There’s a fallacy that Twitter chat should stay on Twitter and you should only promote your Twitter profile and tweets on Twitter, but that’s false.

There are many ways you can promote your Twitter profile outside of Twitter. They include

• Adding linked social icons to your website header or footer
• Posting tweets on other social profiles (think: promoting popular tweets on your Instagram or Facebook profile)
• Adding your Twitter profile link to your marketing emails [you could simply add the linked social icon to your email’s footer]
• Adding your company or personal Twitter profile UR to your email signature

3. Spruce up your company’s profile

One of the biggest reasons companies can fail to get an early lead on gaining followers on Twitter is because their profile isn’t looking its best and worse still it might even look a little shady.

You’ve all seen the celebrity Twitter profiles which include not only the blue badge but often the term “official” in their profile handle. They do that because there are lots of copies in Twitterland pretending to be them.

You could say the same for some well-known brands too.

It’s super important that your brand’s profile looks legit. You can ensure your profile is on point by considering the following:

• Your profile image is your logo
• That your handle is the name of your company
• That your profile summary includes your web address
• And that your content relates closely to your brand’s proposition
• That your profile includes relevant tags, industry keywords and your office’s location(s)

Do all of the above and you will leave a positive impression with visitors who are then more likely to follow you.

4. Time your tweets to perfection

We always harp on about the importance of generating quality content, but you mustn’t forget timing too. Fail to post your content at times when your followers are online, the chances are your content won’t be noticed, or engaged with. So all that effort to curate brilliant content and source or design great imagery to accompany it, has been a complete waste of time.

That’s why you should find out when the best time to tweet is, based on when your followers are online.

Now, there is an amazing FREE tool called Audiense that once connected to your Twitter profile can tell you the best days and times to tweet.

Audiense analyses the timelines of the followers of a community or of an individual user and generates a Best Time to Tweet (BTTT) report showing you the optimum time to Tweet to reach the maximum number of users in the community.

This is a sponsored article.