Facebook’s organic reach is very low nowadays and the same is the case with Instagram and many other platforms. Fortunately, you can reach a large audience on Twitter and it’s algorithm favors it as well. Due to the chances of getting massive organic reach, more brands and celebrities are turning to Twitter now.

Brands are using it as a marketing channel as well as a communication medium. According to Neil Patel, Twitter has 330 million active users and 40% of them are millennials. Due to this huge audience and massive reach on Twitter, brands and professionals are trying harder to grow on Twitter.

In the beginning, growing on Twitter is difficult. There is no marketing flywheel that will favor your growth. You have to create that flywheel to keep growing on Twitter. To help you do that, we have concluded ten tips that will help you grow from zero to thousand followers and start the marketing flywheel effect as well. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in!

1. Establish Your Profile

The first thing a user notices about your Twitter account is your profile. This is why making your profile appealing and aesthetically pleasing is the first step to convert profile visitors into followers. A good profile will determine your interest and devotion to your brand, so never overlook it. In establishing your profile, four things should be taken care of:

A. Profile Picture

The profile picture is the first thing a person notices. Keeping your avatar the same on all platforms will help others recognize you. Doing this will portray you as more of a professional person than some uninterested folk hustling their way on Twitter. If you are a brand, the best way is to use your brand logo.

Source: @adidas

B. Bio

Bio is a crucial aspect of your profile. So, it should clearly define you and your business. Twitter offers up to 160 characters in the bio. You have to play within these limits and craft your brand, or yourself in the best way.

If you are a brand, add your tagline as well as support handle so customers can get help. Just like PayPal, eBay, and other brands are using it effectively for this purpose.

Source: @PayPal

For personal profiles, add your previous experiences, jobs, and other achievements as well. If you are running your own business, add it’s Twitter handle and website link in your bio.

Source: @Sam Parr

C. Header Photo

After settling your profile picture and bio, what comes next that shapes your profile is the header photo. The header photo is similar to the cover photo of Facebook.

Choose a header photo that complements your profile picture. Or, use it as a place for the promotion of your latest service or product. Just like @espn is using it for promoting their tournament challenge.

D. Pinned Tweet

After your profile is all set, do not forget the pinned tweet. A pinned tweet is one of the most efficient additions made by Twitter in 2014. These tweets stay static on top of your profile. It is the first tweet people see when they visit your profile.

You can use pinned tweets for promoting any event or ebook etc. But I suggest pinning the viral tweet that gives value to the visitors and compels them to follow you.

Taylor Swift is using the pinned tweet for promoting his new song;

2. Tweet More & Consistently

Getting a kick-start on your Twitter profile may seem like an accomplishment to you. And in fact, it really is one, but you should not slow down or take it easy after that.

According to Moz, the average life span of tweets is 18 minutes. Be consistent in your tweet schedule and tweet at least 3-5 times a day in the beginning.

If you do not tweet consistently, the audience will become less engaged. This is something that no one wants, especially after gaining followers. Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Twitter needs a more frequent content strategy.

3. Schedule Your Tweets

Consistency is the key to success.

To get maximum visibility, you have to post at least 5 times a day. And it equals 35-40 tweets a week which isn’t possible without a plan. Eventually, you will have to make a plan and use a social media scheduling tool to stay active and grow fast on Twitter.

You can indeed create and post a tweet on the spot whenever you feel like it, but it is always better to create and schedule them ahead of time. Social media management tools like SocialBu help you plan and schedule your tweets ahead of time. To schedule a tweet with SocialBu, all you have to do is;

1. Login to the SocialBu account.
2. Select the “Publish” option and go to the “Scheduled” tab.
3. Select the Twitter account for which you have to schedule the tweets.
4. There you can create a tweet and edit it according to your preferences just like you do while creating a tweet on the Twitter app.
5. After creating and editing the tweet, you can post it instantly or schedule it to your desired time.

This is how simple it is to plan and schedule a tweet. Doing this can save you a lot of hustle and it will keep your audience engaged and updated.

4. Make Sure There’s Value in Your Tweets

Planning and scheduling the tweets is great, but what is more important than that? Value of your tweet.

So, make sure to keep the following points in mind when composing a tweet;

A. The Content of Your Tweets

Likes, replies, and retweets are the social currency of Twitter. The value of content is measured in these currencies. If your content is valuable, people will surely engage with it. To ensure that, you must keep the following things in mind;

• Your content must be according to what your audience wants.
• Update your audience with content that is related to your niche but is also the answer to your audience’s questions.
• Keep your audience updated about the latest trends, news, or services related to your niche.
• Follow the 80/20 rule. It means 80% of the tweets should be non-promotional whereas 20% of content can be promotional.
• It is also good to retweet a fan post and thank them by mentioning them. This small gesture of appreciation goes a long way.

B. Use Visuals in Your Tweets

A tweet with an image grabs more attention than a tweet with no visuals and plain text. If it were you, then you too would prefer something explained with images, videos, or GIFs in the tweets you see, right? So, make sure that you add visuals to your tweets. Keep the ratio 16:9. Also, keep in mind that the maximum image size allowed is 5 MB.

5. Do Not Forget the Hashtags

When you are tweeting something or scheduling your tweets, do not forget to add the hashtags in them. It is reported that tweets with hashtags get 12.6% more attention than the ones without them. However, do not stuff your tweets with hashtags as it is considered spamming and doesn’t look appealing. Just 1-2 hashtags are enough for a tweet.

Tip: If you are scheduling the tweets with SocialBu, then adding hashtags is not a problem. When you are creating a tweet, click on the “hashtag” icon and all the hashtags that are relevant to your tweet will be displayed.

6. Make & Interact with Snipe List

Creating a snipe list and then interacting with it is another great way to increase your Twitter followers.

When you are new to Twitter, make sure that you create a private list of 10-20 key influencers of your niche. Follow them, and interact with their posts. Whenever they post something, post a comment in reply. However, make sure that your comment must be meaningful and helpful. If not, then do not bother to comment at all. Also, make sure that you comment within 4 to 5 minutes after they tweet something. This way, you get more eyeballs. Doing this can surely bring a few new followers every day.

7. Engage with Followers

Another thing you should never overlook is engaging with your followers. When you are on the road to increasing your popularity, never forget that your followers made you what you are today. Without them and their support, you would have not gained your current position. So, never take their interest in you for granted. To ensure that you are properly engaging with your followers, you should;

• You should respond to their queries as much as possible. Keep them updated about the latest products or services that you will launch soon.
• Hold a Q/A session in your Twitter fleets.
• Post something about your personal life on your Twitter fleets so they feel more connected to you.
• If they have a common query, update them with a tweet.
• Reply to their comments.
• Thank them for the retweet.

Not only will it make them feel valued, but it will increase your engagement rate and reach as well which will ultimately help you gain more followers.

8. Leverage Other Platforms

Promote your Twitter handle on other platforms as well like, Instagram, Facebook, or your blog to get more followers. This is a great idea especially if you have a huge audience on any of these platforms.

For example, blog visitors are actively learning from your content, so they will be surely interested in what you post on Twitter. If you add the link of your Twitter profile in the author bio and in the blog’s footer, these visitors can discover your profile easily and follow you on Twitter.

9. Host Giveaways to Attract More Audiences

Hosting giveaways is a smart way to gain more followers and engagement on your profile quickly. When you have a massive fan following, you often receive PR packages from different companies for promotion. You can use these supplies and host a giveaway and set the conditions for participating in the giveaway. Set the eligibility criteria as like, retweet your post, follow you, etc. This way you can gain followers faster.

If you run a business yourself, then you can host giveaways of your products to promote the products as well as your account.

Source: @NyxCosmetics

10. Run Twitter Ads

Want to grow 10x faster?

Then run Twitter ads. According to studies, people spend 26% more time viewing Twitter ads than any other social media platform.

Twitter Ads followers campaign is a perfect ads campaign for you as your goal is to increase followers. These campaigns will skyrocket your follower growth. A/B tests different ad campaigns and stick with the best-performing one.

Running ads is easy. Create an account for Twitter ads, choose the promotion method, select the billing method, and Twitter ads will do the rest for you.

Things to Avoid on Twitter

Now you know what to focus on to get the first thousand followers fast. Here are some things to avoid in the early days:

1. In the beginning, you do not have many followers, so don’t post too many times. It will land you nowhere. You do not have any audience yet for which you are posting. So, keep your tweeting frequency from 1 to 3 per day. It is more than enough.
2. Don’t ever buy followers. These purchased followers are just bots and spam accounts. If you buy followers, it will just decrease your engagement rate. You can get banned as well because these accounts can be easily recognized.
3. Leave the “follow for following” trend. It is outdated and useless.

Final Words

Twitter is a global platform with millions of users. So there is a competition. But getting 1000 followers isn’t as complicated as it sounds. You can easily grow on Twitter by following the above-mentioned tips.

Establishing your profile is the first step toward this goal. So, make sure that you add a relevant profile, header photo, and a clear bio. Don’t forget to keep the highlights or important announcements as your pinned tweet.

Tweeting consistently is also essential to gaining more followers, and to be consistent, it’s always better to schedule your tweets. You can do that effortlessly with the help of a social media management tool like SocialBu.

Engagement is the social currency of Twitter. Visuals get more attention. So, adding visuals increases engagement. It signals the Twitter algorithm and your tweet is shown to multiple users. This brings more followers.

If you want to grow faster, then host a giveaway or test Twitter ads. Run Twitter Ads followers campaign for this purpose.