But this guide isn’t just about gaining more followers. We want to focus on gaining the right followers; people who are actually relevant to your business, who can help increase the reach of your messages and turn into brand advocates—or better yet, customers. Bonus: Download the free strategy guide that reveals how Hootsuite grew our Twitter following to over 7 million users and learn how you can put the tactics to work for your business. Get more Twitter followers by increasing the visibility of your Twitter profile If you want to get more Twitter followers—especially if you’re just starting out on Twitter—one of the simplest solutions is to make it easier for people to find your Twitter profile. A complete profile includes: Name: If you weren’t able to get your ideal @username on Twitter, make sure your profile name reflects your brand the way you want it to, staying within the 15 character limit. You can pin any Tweet you’ve sent to the top of your profile, so that it’s the first Tweet people see when visiting your profile. Likewise, embedding your Tweets in blog posts can also point potential new followers towards your account. Cross promote your Twitter account on your other social networks by occasionally posting about it. Don’t just post a link to your Twitter account and tell people to follow you—give them a reason to. This will help you engage with people attending the event and increase visibility of your profile to a new audience.
A consistent increase in the number of people who follow you is
one of the biggest signs of a successful Twitter strategy. To help
you get more Twitter followers, we created the following guide that
covers the strategies and tactics we’ve used here at Hootsuite to
increase our own Twitter following and those we’ve seen be
effective for our customers and other brands.
But this guide isn’t just about gaining more followers.
After all, a million followers on Twitter are pretty useless if
only two of them are engaging with your Tweets on a regular basis.
We want to focus on gaining the right followers; people who
are actually relevant to your business, who can help increase the
reach of your messages and turn into brand advocates—or better yet,
customers.
Aside from the strategies for gaining new followers outlined
below, our number one piece of advice is to be patient and stick
with it. Gaining thousands of followers doesn’t happen overnight.
Like any social media network, success on Twitter requires a
commitment of time and energy, along with a willingness to take
risks and adapt new ideas as you go.
Really keen on learning how to get more Twitter followers? Feel
free to jump ahead. Just click the buttons below to head to the
sections you want to focus on.
Increasing
the visibility of your profile
Posting
Tweets that get attention
Find out
what’s working through analytics
These strategies are designed for businesses looking to gain
more followers, but many of them will work for individuals as
well.
Bonus: Download the free strategy guide that
reveals how Hootsuite grew our Twitter following to over 7 million
users and learn how you can put the tactics to work for your
business.
Get more Twitter followers by increasing the visibility of your
Twitter profile
If you want to get more Twitter followers—especially if you’re
just starting out on Twitter—one of the simplest solutions is to
make it easier for people to find your Twitter profile.
Here are some suggestions for improving your Twitter profile and
increasing its visibility.
Have a complete Twitter profile
When someone is deciding whether to follow you or not, there’s a
good chance they’ll be checking out your full profile before making
their decision. Your Twitter profile offers a number of ways to
communicate who you are and what you do, in order to attract new
followers. A complete profile includes:
- Name: If you weren’t able to get your ideal @username on
Twitter, make sure your profile name reflects your brand the way
you want it to, staying within the 15 character limit. The fewer
characters the better. - Bio: You have 160 characters to describe yourself. Make
it count. For more on how a Twitter bio can help grow your
following, check out our guide Twitter Bio Ideas
to Increase Your Follower Count. - Location: Let people know where they can find you.
- Website: Link to your website or blog.
- Profile picture: Your profile picture will be seen along
with every Tweet you send. Make sure it’s sized properly so that
both current and potential followers can clearly identify
you—400×400 pixels is recommended. - Header image: Your header image is the large picture at
the top of your profile. Having a stretched-out or pixelated header
image can make potential new followers see you as unprofessional or
clueless about social media, so make sure it’s sized properly.
Twitter recommends using an image that is 1500×500 pixels. - Pinned Tweet. This is relatively new feature, and one
that is often overlooked. You can pin any Tweet you’ve sent to the
top of your profile, so that it’s the first Tweet people see when
visiting your profile. Pin a Tweet about a current campaign or
seasonal event, or one of your most popular Tweets that you think
could help attract new followers.
Cross promote your profile on other digital assets
Embedding your
Twitter feed on your website can make it easy for your audience
to discover your account and follow you without even needing to
leave the page. Likewise, embedding your Tweets in blog posts can
also point potential new followers towards your account. Linking to
your Twitter account in your email signature and e-newsletter
footers is another way to increase your visibility and reach new
followers.
Cross promote your Twitter account on your other social networks
by occasionally posting about it. Don’t just post a link to your
Twitter account and tell people to follow you—give them a reason
to. For example, post an update on your Facebook page and let
people know that new Twitter followers will receive a discount code
via Direct Message.
Integrate Twitter into live events
When it comes to real-time coverage of events, Twitter reigns
supreme. If you’re attending a conference or event, be sure to
engage on Twitter using the event’s official hashtag. This will
help you engage with people attending the event and increase
visibility of your profile to a new audience. If your business is
hosting an event, be sure to integrate Twitter into the overall
experience.
For both instances, you can set up a stream in Hootsuite that
tracks the hashtag and any other keywords about the live event to
find new potential followers to interact with.
We regularly host #HootUp events at our
offices around the world, which include panel discussions about
particular social media topics or trends and serve as networking
opportunities for our community. Incorporating Twitter into every
#HootUp helps us blend the online and offline experience for our
audience, and generate buzz that attracts new followers.
The hashtag #HootUp (or a regional specific hashtag like
#HootUpYVR) is used before, during, and after each event. We use it
to promote the event in advance on Twitter and include the handles
of the speakers who will be there.
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