How to Get More Followers on Twitter
Yesterday, I listened in on the Chris Brogan and Peter Shankman confernece call, aka. #broman.
At one point, a caller asked the question, (paraphrasing) “for a newbie to Twitter, how do I grow the number of followers I have?”
Peter answered by saying “tweet interesting things”. His position was that by tweeting interesting things, people will want to follow you because you have something interesting to say that is worth giving some attention.
In my view, that isn’t the right approach. First, if you’re a complete newbie with no followers, then you’re just tweeting into an ocean of emptiness. As they say, if a tree falls in the forest…
Second, the whole point of social media is that it’s a two-way conversation. To simply get up there on this new soapbox called Twitter and start broadcasting is counter-intuitive to me.
In my experience, the best way to get more followers on Twitter is to start interacting with people that you follow. Talk to them. Respond to their tweets.
When they tweet “Good Morning”, then tweet “Good Morning” back to them.
When they ask a question, reply with an answer (if you have it).
When they make a statement, respond with your thoughts (if they’re genuine).
In other words, be a freaking human being and treat the other people on Twitter like humans. Treat your followers like real people, not like numbers.
By doing that, you will be creating real social connections which are far more valuable than a gajillion followers.
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Twitter has search capability. If you’re an expert on manatees and you post about them, you’ll be found by other manatee lovers, thereby growing followers. Don’t remember the last time someone searched on “good morning.”
Peter Shankman
5 Aug 09 at 10:33 am
Yes, you are correct: tweeting interesting stuff about manatees will result in followers because people will find your tweets in search and may follow you as a result.
However, my point of view is that if a) you’re a newbie, and b) you want to build a following, that you’ll have better results by searching for tweets on manatees and then (genuinely!) interacting with the people who are tweeting about manatees.
I think it would be fair to say that a strategy that includes both techniques would be more effective than one or the other.
By the way, I never search for “good morning”. But, people I follow say “good morning” and that shows up in my stream. So, sometimes I say “good morning” back. Just like if we were around the coffee pot at the office.
scottporad
5 Aug 09 at 10:56 am
I’ve had companies @reply me based on tweets where I’ve included their name. I’ve also had people @reply me based a topic search (specifically, a tweet where I included the word “exercise”). However, these replies were marketing and didn’t result in either the company or myself getting more followers.
I agree with Scott’s comment — a combined approach would work better. Search is an amazing tool, but if there’s no personal connection of an obvious value-add for the follower, it’s not going to create a lasting connection.
Calvin Freitas
5 Aug 09 at 11:58 am
Great advice, Scott. The most successful Twitter users I personally know spend a ton of time personally tweeting responses to others. To me, the true power of Twitter is not in it’s ability to broadcast a message, but to broadcast a conversation. Instead of being limited to a one-on-one interaction, people can now engage one-to-many and still have a coherent discussion.
Joel Gross
5 Aug 09 at 11:16 pm
I think the best way to Get More Followers on Twitter is to join: http://www.getrealfollowers.com
You may find many interesting ways there
crashgs
11 Oct 09 at 8:21 am