Followers. Friends. No matter the label, these people are your entourage on Twitter. And, no matter the value you place on the number of followers you may have, let’s face it: if you really didn’t care about followers at all, then you wouldn’t have a Twitter account in the first place.
It’s OK to admit that you want more followers. You’re on a social networking site, and it’s logical to assume that you would want a, well, network. But, if you’re in the business of gaining quality followers, (people who will actually buy, tune in, share the information or services you have to offer), then I think it only makes sense to focus on the quality of your followers than merely the quantity.
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I don’t mean to sound like I’m bragging, but if you’re on Twitter, you’ll want to have someone like me follow you. Not only do I tweet regularly and reply consistently, but more importantly, I also retweet and share information religiously. And, that’s really what social media sites like Twitter are all about, isn’t it? Getting your information out there to a wider audience, so that they too will know The Awesome that is You.
So, how do you get someone like me to follow someone like you? Well, let me share with you the ten ways I know you’re follow worthy.
1. Tweet me:
If you tweet me, I will follow you. Honestly, this is by far the best way to get my attention, since I don’t regularly check if I have new followers. It lets me know that (first of all) you are following me (or interested enough to tweet @ me), and tells me in a nice, non-needy, non-spammy way that you want a follow back. I don’t need a Twitter validation service to judge for myself whether or not you are spam.
2. A Real Picture:
Image isn’t everything, but I’m afraid on Twitter it is No eggs or stock images, please. I follow people. People tend to have faces.
3. Bio:
I’m always leery of a person when this is blank. If you can’t whip up 160 characters about yourself, what will your timeline look like? I don’t need a professionally doctored resume full of targeted keywords, but something more intriguing than ‘I’m awesome’ would be nice though.
4. Link:
What a great way to show potential followers that you exist in the real world! I love visiting blogs and learning about your hobbies outside of Twitter. This is especially important if you’re a Twitter newbie and haven’t yet grown your timeline of tweets.
5. Timeline:
No matter how many tweets you have, I look for a balance of updates, replies, and retweets throughout your timeline. Are you just broadcasting random comments hoping someone will see your one tweet in a sea of hundreds, or are you actively interacting with your follow(er)s? Do you retweet and share content/information that you find interesting and relevant? Or, is the opposite true? Are you just retweeting other people’s information without forming any opinion of your own?
6. Follow ratio:
Yeah, I know this is a little persnickety, but unless you’re really new, I will hesitate to follow you if you follow a TON of people, but only have a handful of them follow you back.
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A huge follow count seems like you’re indiscriminately following anybody you can find (coughcoughlikespambotscoughcough), and I’ll also wonder what’s up with your content that no one will follow you. Which brings me to my next point –
7. Follower quality:
If only spam bots and auto followers want to follow you, then why should I?
8. Favorites:
Even if it’s only one or two things, I like to know that there were tweets out there that you identified with and had an emotional attachment to. Plus, it’s another way to share information (like a permanent retweet), and it’s fun to see what you felt was worth sharing.
9. Lists:
Creating lists is more than a Monk-ish way to organize your follows When you have lists, I immediately know that you’re more Twitter savvy than the average user, and want to avoid missing any updates from your follows. And, more importantly, the more you’re listed, the more I know that other people want to keep close tabs on you.
10. DM:
Technically this happens only after I follow someone, but auto respond DMs truly get on my nerves. I think to myself, ‘huh, did I just volunteer for more spam?’ However, a personalized DM makes me smile, especially when it’s from a tweep with a ridiculous amount of follows. I appreciate the time a person with that many follows took to send a specific message for me.