How To Build A Responsive Following On Twitter In 2016

Social media is increasingly becoming an important tool for any business to increase reach and develop social proof, brand awareness, as well as boost sales. The opportunities for business on social media are unprecedented, with literally billions of potential customers on these platforms.

It’s no surprise that companies are seeking the most effective marketing techniques on social media platforms.

Now:

Twitter is one of the most unique social media platforms partly because of the ability to connect with people so easily, including influential people in your industry/niche. It provides access to celebrities unlike any other social media platform and the speed at which things can go viral is staggering.

Controversial news spreads like wildfire on Twitter and it is often the first place people go to find out what is being talked about by people around the world.

The problem many companies have with Twitter is that they have a huge number of followers but these followers just aren’t responsive due to not being relevant or relating to their business in any way.

Numbers aren’t strictly important in Twitter, to the extent that you can have thousands of followers and still have close to zero engagement with your followers.

The key to success with Twitter is having relevant, responsive followers that are actually interested in what you or your company has to offer.

How Do I Gain A Responsive Twitter Following?

If you’re starting from scratch, gaining an organic twitter following is something that will take time, commitment and perseverance but the rewards far outweigh the effort that is required. Credibility, social proof and a boost in sales is what you can expect by having a loyal twitter following.

Actionable steps for gaining a loyal twitter following:

Tip 1: Fill Out Your Twitter Profile Fully!

I know you’re thinking this is an obvious one but you’d be surprised at the number of people that don’t do this properly.

There’s nothing worse than a twitter profile that lacks vital information. If you want to gain a loyal following your profile needs personality! You need to show the world what you’re all about!

Fill out as much information as possible and make sure you have a good profile picture that people will remember. Be open and honest about yourself/your company. Be relatable.

Tip 2: Follow The Influential People In Your Industry

This is a great starting point because you can get a feel for who the big players are in your industry. You can see what kind of content they post, giving you some insight into what kind of posts are effective. You can even follow their followers as you know for a fact that they’re interested in what you’re all about, due to already following someone in the same industry!

The great thing about Twitter is that a high percentage of people will check you out and follow you back once you follow them.

A great way to find influential people in your industry is just to do a basic search on your niche keywords in twitter and specify the search type to only display “accounts”. You’ll be presented with a list of some the most popular twitter accounts for your chosen keyword.

Once you’ve found and followed a few influential people in your industry you can browse to their accounts and check their lists.

This can be a gold mine for additional influential people in your industry. If some of your influencers are companies, then lists can be an invaluable tool to find specific staff members to follow and build a relationship with.

Tip 3: Post Compelling Content

I’m sure you’ve heard this over and over again but the truth is content really is king. Content is what sells your business and gains a prospect's trust. People can relate to content in many different ways…

• If you run a blog, post a link to your new blog posts for people to check out. Make sure you attach the featured image to your Twitter post. A picture paints a thousand words!

• Embed SlideShare presentations. This is a beautiful way showcase information about your company on twitter. Make sure you use plenty of images!

• Post inspirational quotes that relate to your field. Who doesn’t love an inspirational quote? These kind of tweets tend to generate a lot of likes and retweets.

Tip 4: Include Hashtags In Your Tweets

Hashtags make your tweets easier to find for people that are searching for information relating to your topic. The more people that find your content the more engagement you’ll have with your posts.

Try not to go crazy with the hashtags though, as this can come across as spammy.

For 7 best practices for hashtags, click here.

Tip 5: Engage With People

Twitter is all about involvement. Being part of a conversation and sharing your thoughts, facts and insights to a global audience.

With that being said, you should engage with Twitter users as much as possible to increase your following.

• Reply to tweets from large accounts - it pays in dividends to respond to people that have a high amount of followers and even if they don’t, it’s still good to respond!
• Thank people that engage with your content. Showing your appreciation can go a long way.
• Comment on relevant posts and retweet content that is relevant. This increases your visibility and you never know what could happen… you could spark conversations that could build long-term relationships with movers and shakers in your industry.

By following and sticking to these five basic tips you can organically grow an engaging, loyal following for your business. You just need to put the initial time and effort into it. The results will speak for themselves.

Hand-Picked Related Articles:

• Why There Is No Share Count On Your Twitter Button (& How To Get Counts)
• 7 Ways To Promote Your Content On Twitter
• How To Filter Your Twitter Stream by Using Twitter Lists

^{* Adapted lead image: Some rights reserved by Foxcroft Academy}