All Topics, Blogging & Social Media

Twitter | Why You Need It & How to Organically Increase Your Follower Count

We all know how important social media can be in terms of growing an audience. I’ve always actively worked to improve and grow my own. I wanted to share a few techniques which I’ve found to work for my own Twitter account (@sophhearts). Follow these and watch your follower count grow organically.

Engagement

Lift yourself by lifting others. Liking, replying and just generally interacting with other twitter users is a great thing to do. It will not only help them, but will also get your name out there for more people to see and more people to follow. These users are also more than likely going to really appreciate the interaction and may return the favour, which again, will spread your name to other twitter users. Interaction is also a great way of building relationships with others, therefore lowering your risk of being randomly unfollowed. Basically the more sociable you are, the better.

Be Positive

Even the best of us have certain days where it’s hard not to vent or generally be a negative nelly. It’s so important though, to keep any kind of drama off of twitter. This especially applies to those using their twitter for branding purposes.

Be aware of how your followers are going to receive negative tweets and a lot of complaining. Think about whether you want to follow someone who is constantly moaning about trivial things. Not many of us do.

Unless you’re going to put a funny, relatable spin on something negative, then honestly, it isn’t going to attract the right audience. I’ve had twitter for quite a while and went through a period of time when I was younger in which I really overshared. Understandably, I lost a noticeable amount of followers. Sometimes you need to look at what you’re about to publish with a critical eye and decide whether people actually want to see it or whether you’re needlessly venting.

Stay Active

The more active your twitter account is, the better. I’m not advising you to tweet mundane rubbish if you have nothing else to say, just to stay active, but why would anyone who comes across your page follow you if your last tweet was a month ago? A couple (or more) quality tweets per day will keep you relevant, and keep your users interested in you and what you have to say. This will also lower your chances of losing followers and heighten your chances of gaining them.

Staying active online doesn’t have to come at the expense of your IRL either. I’ve recommended a few must have apps for bloggers including an amazing tweet scheduler.

Self Promotion

Got other social media channels? Of course you do. Use these to promote your twitter, link your @ into your Instagram bio or add social links into your blog.. you get the idea. Learn to not be ashamed of self-promotion, if people like you on one channel they’ll often be interested in following you in other ways, make it easy for them or they probably won’t bother.

Twitter Giveaways

This is a bit of a love it or hate it kind of topic, some people love them but unfortunately I’ve known some people to think of them as more subtle way of buying followers, a huge no no.

Personally, I like giveaways. I like participating in those of other users and I like holding them as a way of thanking my followers and celebrating milestones. Not only will a lot of your usual followers participate, but you have a high chance of gaining new ones who want to be in with a chance! (Remember to make it clear that only entries by people who follow you will count). NEVER run fake giveaways, and never run them with a sole intention of gaining followers. Gaining new followers is definitely a bonus but my motive has always been to connect with existing users, to make them feel valued and to more actively participate in the twitter community.

DISCLAIMER

Follower counts on social media aren’t the be all and end all. However, they can prove considerably important to anyone trying to build a brand. As a blogger and content creator, follower count is something which brands heavily consider when deciding who they choose to work with.

This post isn’t meant to make anyone feel pressured or bad about their own follower count. It’s simply designed as a constructive post for those who are interested and who would benefit from growing their following.