Though it’s undoubtedly best to include a mix of social media channels when pushing a particular campaign or branding effort, Twitter has proved itself to be an effective single platform upon which to build a promotional presence. Take a campaign like Radio Shack’s Promoted Tweets, where people could upload a picture of themselves with their hand stretched out, and include the hashtag -#ifihadsuperpowers, for the chance to win prizes.
This is one way of getting followers to sit up and take notice and this particular campaign did much to build up Radioshack’s presence online.
But if you are just getting into social media or building your Twitter account, your burning question probably is: how do I increase my followers?
- Follow people you already know: And ask them to follow you back. They could be friends or family members, but tweeting to them is a great way to get an understanding of how Twitter works. And new followers are more attracted to a site that already has a few followers on in.
- Let everyone know you’re on-board: Use any means to let people know you’re on Twitter – add your handle to your blog, send out emails, and post it on your other social media profiles.
- Interact with known tweeters: Identify heavy social media users who have a large following and engage with them. If they elect to retweet your posts to their following, you automatically stand a better chance of their followers wanting to learn more about you.
- Use tools to search for your specific audience: There are a number of tools that let you find your audience based on keywords, phrases and tags, or categories. Twitter Advanced Search for example lets you conduct an in-depth search based on words, people, and places. HootSuite, Topsy, and Twellow are also great tools to check out.
- Include your Twitter links in email signatures: Redesign your email signature to include your Twitter link. It’s one of the first thing prospective customers or business partners can click on to connect with you.
- Tweet during peak hours: Forget tweeting early morning or just before you go to bed. Peak hours for Twitter users have been identified as between 10am and 4pm on East and West Coast, though the most active time is during the lunch hours of 12pm-2pm. So if you tweet something then, you are sure to catch a bigger following. Can’t manage to tweet during the day? Use tools like CoTweet or FutureTweets to let you schedule your posts in advance.
- Retweet often: While you might expect your fans to share your posts (and this happens only once you’ve built a faithful following), you can consider retweeting their posts. Good karma works its way around and if you are active enough in retweeting your followers’ posts, they might return the favor and retweet yours.
- Engage with your followers: I’ve said it time and time again, Twitter is a social tool and you should use it to interact with others. This includes posting content that is valuable to your followers, and it also means engaging them in a conversation. What are they talking about? What do they think about a particular subject? And if you are pushing your own campaign, always remember to ask yourselves this question: how does it help anyone?
- Join trending conversations: Not sure which conversations to join? Use a tool like Twitscoop which lets you check out trending topics. And take advantage of hashtags to search and jump right into the conversation. Hashtags can be very useful, but not too many people know how to use them. If you’re stuck on where to begin, here a great article entitled: Twitter Hashtags: Understanding them and using them effectively.
- Become a valuable resource: Over time, people need to become aware of your Twitter stream as a resource they can tap when it comes to useful information. Whether they are looking for links, quotes, YouTube videos, or images –they should know they can find it on your site. Sure, it’s important to intersperse your commentary with personal details, but in the end, your main aim, be it a brand you’re building, a campaign you’re launching, or a promotion you’re pushing, is what needs to remain foremost in all your efforts.
Are you on Twitter? What are some of the ways you’ve built up your followers?
