5 ways to get popular on Twitter

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SALT LAKE CITY — If you’re an avid user of the social media giant Twitter, you’ve probably come across those people with literally thousands of followers. People always ask me, “How can I get a ton of followers like they have?” To that, I usually say, “Well, if you weren’t so boring…” Then, after they recover from the shock of my statement, and I recover from the subsequent slap across my face, I share with them the secret to an effective social media strategy: authenticity.

There’s a lot of spam on the internet. You know this if you’ve ever searched for a broad term on a search engine. Many of the results from your search lead to websites that are unrelated to the topic, or blogs with more ads and links than useful content. The same goes for many Twitter accounts. Someone interested in motorcycles and playing video games wouldn’t likely follow someone who tweets about scrapbooking and craft ideas. Likewise, to gain a large Twitter following of your own, you need to think about your strategy and the type of people you want to entice.

Here is my list of ways to gain more Twitter followers.

1. Fill out your profileThis is crucial right from the start. When you first sign up for an account, enter the settings and click on the “Profile” tab. Upload a picture of yourself. This ideally should be a high quality picture of your head and shoulders, with you facing the camera. Use bright colors, like a colorful shirt, or an interesting background to make your picture stand out. People will notice this, and it will entice them to click on your profile.

Add your location, and a link to your blog, Facebook account or your company’s website. On my profile, I have a link to my website, where I have a full bio, links to articles and other projects. Fill out the bio box with one or two sentences about yourself, written in first- person perspective. Include keywords related to the topic of your tweets.

To go a step further, you can change the colors of your profile, and even upload a customized background if you’re graphically savvy.

2. Just tweet

I can’t emphasize this enough. If you tweet once every two or three weeks, it’s difficult for people to catch your tweets. When you’re active on Twitter, people will have more of a chance to find you and add you into their following list. On the other hand, if you tweet too much, you can run the risk of losing followers. People need a chance to have a conversation with you, and if you’re too “talkative,” it can become confusing to follow your train of thought.

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3. Provide Value

While using Twitter for a personal account is completely fine, if you want to add more followers you should be providing people with something valuable. “People online are talking about many brands, products and services. A business should end up listening to posts, and react when needed. Better yet, be proactive, monitor competition and what is being said by others, and if you can, learn how you could improve your product or service,” says Darin Bernston, social media marketing manager for Bluffdale-based SEO.com.

Everybody is an expert on something. What are your hobbies? Of course you can add a couple of personal tweets once in a while, but unless you’re enriching someone’s life with your tweets (that’s a lofty statement, huh?), people won’t be following you for very long.

4. Link Up

Do you have a profile on your company website? See if you can add a link to your Twitter profile there. Add a link to the signature of your email, and mention the fact that you’re using Twitter in your blog posts. Promote your profile when you’re offline, too. Bring it up in conversations, and especially within your social groups. If you hang out at an indoor rock climbing gym, start mentioning your account with your climbing buddies.

5. Be Conversational

A key component of social media is the “social” factor. Be conversational about interesting topics, and ask questions about the specific topics you tweet about. You should also be retweeting and replying to people in your specific industry or realm of expertise. For example, if you follow my Twitter account, you’ll often see me having conversations with people in my same industry of internet marketing. I gain more exposure within the industry, both locally and nationally, and can provide insight into my specific area of expertise within internet marketing. As a bonus, I have the opportunity to learn from others.

There are many great articles and blog posts out there, written by great minds in the social media world, about ways to gain attention and grow your follower numbers. I mentioned five specific methods to gain more Twitter followers, and in no way should it be considered an exhaustive list. What I hope to do is spark some creativity, and lead you to think about ways to use Twitter effectively. Again, it’s not about the numbers, but about genuinely connecting with your followers. If you can consider your audience every time you log on, the numbers will come!

Tell us how you'd suggest growing your followers on Twitter.

Andrew Johnson is a writer and marketing specialist. Read more at www.andrewjohnson1.com