Get More Followers on Twitter, Part 2

In our previous post about building a broad base of Twitter followers, we outlined the basics, which could be boiled down to: Be Famous, Be Particularly Interesting or Useful, and/or Do Unusually Noteworthy Things. Which is all well and good, but then where does it leave the rest of us?

We’ll get to that in a second… first, let’s strip away the “Twitter” brand for a better look at the core ideas behind what Twitter is and what it does:

• It is a real-time, short message database and delivery service that traverses the internet and mobile communications networks.
• It is the quickest and most distributed data collecting system we know of.
• It can generate ad-hoc social communities, as a newswire and as a communications channel.
• It is a key part of an emerging “networked” lifestyle that features a constant ambient awareness of multiple information streams.

Let’s also keep in mind that Twitter is the current defining term for a part of the ever-expanding communications protocol of the internet— just as Netscape was once synonymous with web browser, AIM was once synonymous with instant messaging, and Yahoo was once synonymous with search. The names may change; the underlying principles hold the value that we’re interested in.

OK, but we crave followers. Lots and lots of followers. What can you give me?

How about a little expectation setting? A recent study by Sysmos reveals that 94% of Twitter users have 100 or fewer followers, while slightly more than 99% have 1000 or fewer. That makes the 1000 Followers Club something akin to making it to the minor leagues in baseball. The Million+ Club is so exclusive that it has a mere 86 members, about the same as the number of people fluent in Klingon, for those fond of collecting such trivia.

The last time we checked, the honor roll (per twittercounter.com/pages/100 included:

Still haven’t burst your bubble? Fine. We like your determination, which you will most definitely be needing. Try this..

1. Provide actionable information. While it’s easy enough to dismiss most Twitter posts as nonsense (“I’m going to take a shower now”), it’s not wise to be dismissive of the power of the actionable tweet for a business. A message with a clear call to action and real benefit to the recipient is as good as it’s going to get for many. We guarantee that something on the order of “Free movie passes from Fandango to the first 250 people to visit this site” will get a reaction. In a non-commercial world, this is also the tactic used effectively by the Los Angeles Fire Department—they use Twitter to alert followers as to changing and dangerous wildfire situations.

2. Create a Twitter/Blog/Social/Web symbiosis. Tweeting about random things may well be fine for random people, but if you’re doing this professionally, tweeting with a click through to a fully-conceived digital communications strategy is a key to generating followers. If your tweets keep people informed and provide a path to more —info-transaction-service— then there’s a reason for them to follow you.

3. Get thy House in order. Beware the “be there so we can say we’re there” approach to Twitter; the effects of operational efforts must be factored into your plan. Operational practices can become “the story” in social media with frightening speed——whether it’s a positive or negative one is in your hands. Companies that have not addressed operational and communications flow issues, or the ability to deliver customer service in the context of Twitter, should think twice about treading here.

4. Nail the nuts and bolts…

a. Post Predictably. Twitterers with a lot of followers may or may not be prolific posters, but they do tend to maintain a consistent level of posts, whether daily, hourly, or weekly. Don’t start and stop; establish your pace and stick to it.

b. Don’t Follow Back Automatically. The big Twitter land rush is on, but it won’t last forever. While automatically following those who follow you may seem like a great way to get more exposure you will be better served by ignoring the PR department’s obsession with big numbers and building quality over quantity in your follower/following lists.

c. Retweet Judiciously. Here’s the first clue you should not re-tweet something: Your PR folks saw it on a trend monitor like “Twitscoop.” That means it’s already entered common knowledge and you should pass it by unless you really have something new to add. Improving your signal-to-noise ratio will be majorly appreciated by your followers.

Hopefully, that helps. If you need more, consider:

• Kevin Rose (of Digg.com), who contradicts us in a few ways, adds on in others. Not a bad set of tips, overall.
• DoshDosh delivers this boring but practical list of to-dos.
• And here and here are some handy tools (one and two) for unloading followers.