Getting people to follow you on Twitter is only one link in the chain of your success on the social media platform. Getting the RIGHT people to follow you can lead to a huge surge in your follower ratio and in the number of people engaging with your content.
But how do you get people to follow you back on Twitter? Particularly if that person doesn’t already do so? The solution is not a simple one because there’s no single right answer.
You can’t simply direct message Twitter users who don’t already follow you. This makes it tricky to build relationships with influential people and industry influencers—people who can massively impact your engagement rate with a single retweet or follow.
Instead, the secret lies in doing a series of small things well and paying close attention to the feedback you’re getting from your Twitter management tool.
By focusing on quality, you’ll attract real people, build followers over time, and create authentic connections that can take your Twitter account from a humble microblog to a powerhouse communications platform.
So, let’s look at a few ways to ‘make’ people follow you on Twitter.
Optimize Your Twitter profile to attract the right followers
If you’re going to be found by and influence a particular group of people to follow you, your Twitter profile has to speak to their needs.
Everything from your username to your profile design, header, tags, and important tweets has to appeal directly to them.
You must provide value. The type that makes them want to click the follow button within a few moments of landing on your profile page.
Here are a few suggestions for creating an effective profile page:
Put serious effort into the small details.
Think carefully about your color scheme and profile image. Make your page visually appealing and ensure it represents you or your brand and tells a simple and coherent story.
Who are you, and what do you represent?
Make yourself easy to understand.
What makes your Twitter account appealing to your particular select audience?
Consider this question carefully and do your research. Take the time to truly think about the kinds of content your audience already follows and why. Then, craft your Twitter profile to appeal to them.
Here’s a handy link to give you some design inspiration!
Write a catchy and informative bio
This is a simple thing, but it’s something that many people miss. The few words you use to describe yourself are a vital part of why someone decides to follow you when they hover over your bio. (link)
Utilize Twitter features
Use features such as Twitter lists and pinned tweets to highlight important content and to make it easier for users to find and follow you. If your lists are public, take the time to research them. The people you add to them will notice you.
Revise and review what you’ve created so far. Make it better, and polish it to a higher shine.
Research and target the RIGHT audience
Now you’ve created a great homepage, it’s time to start filling it with compelling, well-crafted Tweets. To attract the right followers, you must understand what they want to read and what they’re interested in learning more about.
Pay attention to who they follow
Revisit their profiles to track and trace the lines that connect them and their content to the people they follow.
Investigate the social networks they and the people they follow have a presence on. What kinds of content do they engage with most often? Who do they retweet, and what tweets do they like? Get to know your target market!
Follow the people they follow
Trace the lines of influence back to as close to the source as possible. Understand who they trust and follow THEM. This will help you build credibility and begin to mark you as a fellow influencer.
Consider your potential follower’s interests, values, and needs
Tailor your content accordingly. When they follow someone new, check out their profile— see if you can find what your target liked about that profile and what value they might gain from following them.
Learn from all the above and apply this knowledge to improve your tweets.
Pretty soon, you’ll begin to draw attention from your target audience. At this point, it’s time to begin the next phase of your strategy.
Engage and retain followers on Twitter
One of the easiest ways to get someone to follow you on Twitter is to visit their profile and hit the “Follow” button. This will notify them that you’re following them, and they might decide to follow you back. But following them isn’t enough – you must engage with their content.
Tweet something interesting or provocative to grab their attention
One way to engage with them is to respond to their tweets using the “Reply” button.
Mention them in your tweets
Insert their username into a tweet preceded by the “@” symbol (e.g., “@username”). This will notify them that you’ve mentioned them, which might encourage them to check out your profile.
Use hashtags and keywords related to their interests
Another strategy is to use industry hashtags and keywords related to their interests. This will increase the chances of your tweets showing up in their feed.
If you want to catch their attention, try retweeting some of their most interesting posts. This is a compliment they’re sure to appreciate, and very few humans ignore sincere flattery.
But remember, you’re not just there to follow them. Your goal is to get them to follow you.
Using Twitter Lists and Pinned Tweets to Increase Visibility
Now that you’re following the accounts they follow and have studied to make yourself approved, you’ll see an increased chance of your tweets getting retweeted. At this point, you’re far more likely to catch their attention and lead them to follow you back.
Try tweeting at them when they have just tweeted.
This way, you know they are online, and your tweet will be at the top of their list.
Don’t be afraid to be a little bold in your tweets.
If you catch their attention with something interesting or provocative, they’re more likely to follow you.
Following these tips will increase your chances of getting the person you want to follow you on Twitter to do that. Here are a few additional tips to keep in mind.
Collaborating with influencers and industry leaders
Now you’ve built a mutual relationship, and they’ve decided to follow you back and build value into the relationship. Engage in discussion with them, and continue to reply, respond, and promote them.
The respect you will receive in return from your influential follower’s retweets and replies can massively impact the success of your account.
Don’t forget this once you have benefited from the network effect of a large following.
Measuring and Improving Your Twitter performance over time
Managing Twitter lists, trends, hashtags, real followers, and fake ones is a potentially time-consuming task.
You need to make your life easier by employing a Twitter dashboard tool. Third-party apps like Circleboom Twitter and others can save you a ton of time and effort in weeding out fake Twitter followers, keeping up with Twitter trends, and managing the list of accounts you want to keep up to date with.
Twitter is an amazing platform for keeping up with current events, connecting with micro-influencer networks, and growing the reach and influence of your online voice.
The value of a unique and genuine tweet is surprisingly high and can have a global reach enabling genuine connections spanning continents. That’s a pretty powerful tool!
Finding the people to connect with and follow and getting them to follow you is as much an art as it is a science. It takes time, and you must plan carefully and engage mindfully to succeed.