Why You Need to Rethink Your Twitter Strategy

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Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link to Holly’s book “How to Grow Your Social Media Following.” 

Are you using Twitter strategically? Here’s why you need to rethink your Twitter strategy to grow your following for your business or blog!

What do you think of Twitter?  Do you love it?  Do you find it to be a valuable tool?  Or do you feel that it is a time-waster and necessary evil to compliment your social media strategy?

You are in for a special treat today, as I’m sharing an excerpt of top Twitter tactics directly from my book, “How to Grow Your Social Media Following.”

I’ve heard from so many food, DIY and family/mommy bloggers that they do not see any results from Twitter.  I know it’s easy to think that Twitter is more beneficial to social media bloggers, but in reality, it can be beneficial to anyone, including you!

Twitter only drives minimal traffic to my site, but that does not mean that it should be ignored. While traffic and monetization are extremely important, social media is also about overall brand awareness and connection. Engaging my audience on Twitter is still a high priority for me, even if it is not currently creating high referral traffic or immediate monetization.

Twitter seems to be much more business focused than the other social media platforms. I use Hootsuite to schedule all of my tweets, to free up my time, and to ensure that tweets are sent at the optimal times.  

My following on Twitter is 75% home/family and business, and 25% cancer related, however the engagement of retweets are almost identical.

I use the list functionality in Twitter to categorize my followers. This way, when the need arises, I can easily access the lists for content or followers without having to scroll through everyone.

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So How Do I Change My Twitter Strategy?

Be a detective. This is social media stalking 101. Who do you want to follow you?

First, who are the “Hubs” – the leaders who are going to be able to connect you with your target audience? Scroll to the beginning of the Hub’s list. The first people they follow are those individuals and businesses who are the closest to them. Who are they following? And who are they following? And who are they following?

Follow someone who will follow you back. If someone has 10,000 followers, but is only following 200 people back, chances are, unless they are your sister, they will not follow you back.

Look for accounts with a minimum ratio of 70-30, if your sole intent to follow someone is in hopes that they follow you back. If not, don’t waste your time, unless you want to follow them for the sole purpose of following them.

New bloggers and businesses are usually just as excited as you are to gain new followers, so don’t rule out those with smaller amounts of followers, as they are more likely to follow you back.

Follow someone in bulk, and tell them. Follow them on Twitter first. Add them to one of your Twitter lists (if you keep lists, which you should). Retweet and favorite one or two of their tweets that look to be “important” to them. Then tweet directly to them that you are a new follower, and in that same tweet, note something personal on their profile that you have in common. “Great to meet you!” “I’m from Nebraska too!” “I’m a #coffeeaddict too!” “I’m a #milspouse too!” “Have a great day!” This will give you a better chance of them seeing you in their notifications, and following you back. Once they do, then you want to follow them on all of their other social media profiles. The goal is for them to recognize your name and follow you back across the board.

This individualized approach is slow and tedious, but will typically yield more personal and positive results.  Pair this approach with mass following.  Find several of your “Hubs” and look through the lists that they follow.  Find several lists that are in your niche and follow the accounts on those lists.  It’s quick and easy, but not as personal.  There are several tools to help manage your Twitter account, but even at 5,000 followers, I still prefer to manage mine manually without too many headaches.

Connect and Share

What about you?  What are some of your top strategies to grow your Twitter following?  What has worked for you?  What are some of your struggles?

If you choose to link up here today, please commit to following at least 3 other people. Let them know you are following them so they can follow back as well!

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Holly Bertone, PMP is an author, blogger, and breast cancer survivor and advocate. She is the President and CEO of Pink Fortitude, LLC and Editor in Chief at the inspirational blog The Coconut Head’s Survival Guide. Holly holds a Masters Degree from Johns Hopkins University, a Bachelor’s Degree from Elizabethtown College, and is a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Holly is an Ambassador for the Tigerlily Foundation,was accepted into the National Cancer Survivor’s Day Speakers Bureau, and was named a 2014 Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women.  She is passionate about reaching out to breast cancer survivors, and also volunteers for organizations supporting our military veterans. In her free time, she loves to garden, hit flea markets, antique stores and yard sales, and drink a cup of coffee on her back porch. Holly is married to a retired Green Beret, is a stepmother, and lives in Alexandria, VA.