How do you attract an engaged following on Twitter?

Whenever I start working with a client on Twitter, the first thing they always want to know is, “How do I find followers on Twitter?”   As soon as I hear this, I feel quickly obliged to respond with another more important question, “How do we find you those valuable followers who actually want to engage with you on Twitter?”  

Today, I see many instances of people with low brand recognition who still manage to build up huge followings on Twitter.  On the surface they look like they’ve hit the social media pot of gold. However, when I study the metrics I often see their engagement levels are very low.   For example, others rarely share their content and they don’t engage in many conversations with a wide range of Twitter users.  It’s like they are shouting in a crowded hall, but no one is listening.  In these scenarios, analytics reports tell me that they are often followed by what I call ‘Twitter Power Users’.  These Power Users will follow anyone, just to get their numbers up.  They may follow several thousands or even hundreds of thousands of accounts, but according to the analytics data they will never take the time to properly engage with 99.9% of their followers.   So in effect, you have a situation where the wannabe Power Users are following other Power Users just to build up numbers so they can pump out tweets that serve their ‘broadcast marketing’ agenda.  This strategy exposes their complete lack of understanding of how social media works.  They are still stuck in the old paradigm of thinking that social media marketing is principally a numbers game.  On the other hand, the most effective social media users understand that quality engagement beats quantities of followers at every turn.

I also appreciate the argument that Twitter is quite random and you never know who might find your business of interest in the future.  So I do agree it’s not wise to be too selective about who you follow on Twitter.  However, I also think there is a strong case for building your following in a more strategic way to ensure higher levels of engagement and ultimately a positive business return in the longer term.

With this in mind, I’ve put together a list of twenty one different tactics that you can use to build a quality-focused, engaged following on Twitter.  To download your free copy of this ten page article, simply click here and subscribe to have the download link sent directly to your inbox.

When you’ve read the article I’d love to hear your comments or feedback here on the blog or on Twitter at: @susanne_currid