How do I get followers on Twitter?

So, you’ve got your Twitter account, you’re all set up and you’ve been tweeting away for a few weeks with little or no response. You need people to follow you, but how do you do that? How do you get followers on Twitter?

Here are a few simple ways to build followers and grow your Twitter account into something worth shouting about:

1. Follow people

It sounds obvious, but if you want people to follow you then you should probably follow them first.

Don’t just follow anybody, that would be pointless. You should find the sorts of people and accounts with which you’re looking to do business. They could be local businesses, customers of your competitors or followers of a particular Twitter account. Follow them, and some of them will follow you back.

2. Interact with people who interact with you

If someone tweets at you, likes one of your tweets, follows you or retweets you, then tweet back at them. Twitter isn’t a one-way broadcasting medium – it’s a tool for engagement. If someone has taken the time to engage with you, engage with them in return.

3. Use hashtags, and then use more hashtags

On Twitter, hashtags are used to group tweets together. The more tweets are made that use the same hashtags, the more chance those hashtags have of trending. Once they start trending, more people will see any tweets using those hashtags than just the followers of the people tweeting. That’s the key with Twitter. You want people to see your tweets and to become aware of your presence. By using hashtags, you increase the reach of your tweets to more people, and increase the chances of gaining new followers.

4. Take part in Twitter discussions

This allows you to talk with other people on Twitter who might not be following you, or even know of your existence. These online discussions use hashtags, of course, and happen regularly on Twitter. They could be one off events, such as the #AskBoris Q&A where London Mayor Boris Johnson responded to some often hilarious questions. Alternatively, they could be regular events, such as #FranchiseHour, which happens once a week on a Wednesday evening. Find a Twitter discussion that is relevant to you or your business, and make time to participate.

5. Seek out the active Twitter users and engage with them

It’s a sad truth that the majority of Twitter accounts are either inactive or are automated bots (not real people, just created to send spam). This means that even if you do build up thousands of followers, many of them will be bots. Don’t worry about it, it won’t hurt you – just don’t feel too upset when many of your followers don’t interact with you. It does mean, however, that you should place extra effort in finding those Twitter users who are active. Look for your competitors who are doing well on Twitter, or the leaders in your particular industry. Look at the tweets they are putting out and see who engages with them. Who retweets them? Who replies to them? These are the accounts you should be engaging with, as they’re both relevant and active.

You don’t need to be so obvious as to just follow them. You could tweet directily at them, retweet them or reply to their comments. By engaging with them, you’re showing them that you’re real, you’re interesting and you’re relevant. This is more likely to turn them into a valuable follower.

Want more tips?

These are just five tips for increasing followers on Twitter. Our Twitter course teaches you how to grow your business on twitter and it features many more great tips for getting followers. It shows you step-by-step instructions on what to do and how to do it. The course is usually £190 but, as a reader of this blog, you can get the course for just £29 when you use the discount code TWEET29 in the checkout.