Twitter is a fantastic social media platform for building relationships and reaching lots of people. It’s fast and furious and content is king.

But it’s also forgiving, spelling mistakes are less important, if you create a post that was less than amazing it’s gone quickly and you can test out product and blog ideas on twitter.

But it’s not much use if you don’t have an audience.  And while platforms like Facebook and Instagram can take a while to build an audience, twitter can be fast.

Where I find twitter has an edge on other social media, is that you can have real one to one conversations.  You can respond to what someone else has tweeted, you can share other people’s content and you can connect with people, before, during and after meeting them.

Of course, you can do this on other social media platforms.  But because Facebook and Instagram are about quality posts, you wouldn’t necessarily write a ‘are your having a nice day’ or ‘great to meet you’ type of posts on those platforms.  It just wouldn’t work as well.

You can also use twitter to share amazing content that you’ve found and not necessarily produced yourself. I share lots of blog posts and events that other people are organising or have written.  I do it because it’s content that I like and think would be useful to my audience. 

I also do this to test what my audience likes.  If I share a post about social media or marketing that gets lots of retweets, then I think ‘I could write about that’ and then do.  It helps me curate and create my own content.

So back to followers. While of course you don’t want followers for the sake of it, you do want your ideal customers and clients to know about you and see what you can do for them.

Talking into an empty vacuum can be disheartening and disappointing.  If you are going to the trouble of sharing and posting on social media, you really want people to see it!

And I can vouch for twitter being useful. I have met new people who ‘know’ me already through twitter, I have got brand new clients from twitter, I have got PR from twitter, I have made friends through twitter and most of my event marketing for First Tuesday is done through twitter.

So, here’s my top 12 ways to get more followers on twitter.

1.      Follow more people

And I don’t mean just anyone regardless of who they are because it will give you better numbers. I mean quality leads.

Look for business who have a similar offer to yours and take a look through the people who follow them.  Read their bios and work out if they could be interested in your products or services. If you think they would, then follow them.  That way you’ll pop up as a new follower and hopefully they’ll follow you back.

2.      Use hashtags

Do a search for hashtags that are used in your area of expertise.  Using twitters own built in hashtag features is a good start and platforms like http://hashtagify.me will be able to suggest more. 

Start using these hashtags in your tweets where appropriate so people can find you.  You can also search for hashtags and follow people tweeting about conversations you are interested in.

3.      Make your bio tip top

People will read your bio to decide whether you are worth following or not.  Reread yours and ask yourself, would I follow me?  If not then you need to put some more oomph into it.  Make yourself irresistible!  Make sure you include key words, so people can search for you and include your location to attract local people.

4.      Share interesting content

By creating or sharing content that people will want to share and read, you’ll make yourself a person worth following.  Each time someone shares your tweet, their followers will see it giving you more exposure.

Adding images, links and hashtags to your tweets mean they are statistically more likely to be shared too.

5.      Access your email contacts on twitter

They already know you, so it’s another place to say hi and build a relationship. Go to your setting, then find friends and follow away!

6.      Use your head

If your brand is just you, use a head shot photo for your profile picture.  You’ll get less people following you with a logo. After all it’s all about building relationships and that’s generally done person to person.

7.      Promote your account

Make sure your twitter profile is on your website, Facebook tabs, business cards and any print material.  If you meet someone at an event ask for their twitter profile and follow them then and there.

8.      Embed tweets on your website

Take a look at my home page to see what this looks like!

9.      Include people in your tweets

You can @mention people in your tweets, or tag them in photographs, there more likely to follow you if you’re involving them in your posts.  But only when appropriate, don’t be spammy!

10.   Get involved in twitter chats

Find out what #chats are in your industry and get tweeting.  Keep an eye on what your audience is tweeting about to find out about #chats relevant to you.

11.   Pin to the top

Use the pin to the top function to keep your most interesting tweet at the top of your twitter home page.

12.   Buying followers

Whatever you do – don’t buy followers!  People do look at who is following you and a lot of faceless bots won’t help your reputation. Plus they won’t be people interested in you, so it’s just pointless.

It’s not a numbers game, it’s about building relationships and engagement – with the right people!  Take is slowly, enjoy the process and make connections.

There is so much more I could have written about twitter.  It’s a marvellous tool in your arsenal of social media marketing.

If you’d like to talk to me about how I could help you grow your business online and create a strategy that’s unique to you and your business, please do get in touch.  You can always tweet me @debbiedooodah!