Twitter Tactics: 5 ways to attract a flock of followers

Has Twitter left you dazed and confused? Are you perplexed by how to engage with potential customers in 140 characters?

We’ve got 5 strategies that you can implement right away to add a heap of high-quality followers to your Twitter account.

1. Keep the “Pro” in Your Profile – Make sure your Twitter profile and bio is professional. Include the pertinent details of who you are and what you do. But keep it short, and don’t sell. Your profile picture should be a good-quality close-up of you by yourself.

2. React and Respond – Twitter is all about conversations. Reacting and responding is critical. Review your account daily for mentions. “Like” any retweets you get and say thank-you. Contribute to any discussions you’re mentioned in. Answer questions and follow up on comments or complaints in a timely fashion.

3. Love the List – Twitter lists are curated groups of Twitter users. They allow you to put the people you follow into specific categories. They also save you time by making it easier to find important tweets. Beyond the organizational benefits, lists are a powerful way to connect with influencers since they receive a notification that they have been added to one of your lists. Lists can be public or private, and most of them will be public. However, you may want to create a private list for competitors or clients.

4. Chat It Out – Usually an hour-long, a Twitter chat brings like-minded people together to talk about a common interest at a set time using a designated hashtag. Contributors can follow and participate in the conversation with the hashtag. Chats are a powerful way to connect to your customers, build brand loyalty, obtain valuable feedback and increase your social following. To find chats to participate in, check out the Google Twitter Chat Schedule or TweetReports Twitter Chat Schedule. Use the chats you’ve participated in to develop best practices for your own chats.

5. Picture This – Visual content is more shareable than text by itself. The more your content is shared, the more exposure you get, which increases your followers. To make sure your images are properly sized for Twitter, use a free tool like Canva or Pablo.

It takes work to build an engaged following, but with these tips, it can be done easily and effectively.

Elisabeth Daniels is a veteran social media marketer and strategist, whose experience crosses both the public and private sectors. She now serves as Social5’s online marketing guru.