Format Your Tweets To Gain Followers

 Have you ever wondered why you’re not gaining the followers you ought to? You make funny tweets, you upload the best pictures, you only retweet @WeirdHorse’s finest jokes and yet… here you are: barely any new followers since you joined in 2010.

Now whether you’re a business looking to increase brand awareness or whether you’re an average civilian– followers matter to all of us, we can't kid ourselves. So how do we get more of them? 

Here are a few tips to help you format your tweets to make sure you’re taking full advantage of what Twitter has to offer:

Rule 1: Choosing your Hashtags

Please don’t just hashtag every word or make extremely long hashtags like #BreakingTheWorldRecordForHashtagsDoYouThinkThisIsEnoughYetShallIStop. I know it’s absolutely hilarious to you and your current followers but the likelihood is no-one new is going to stumble across that whilst they’re searching Twitter.

By using https://twitter.com/search-home you can search your hashtags and see if it’s popular in the Twitter-sphere.

Let’s say we’re interested in Costa coffee. We type in #Costa in search and we can see that #Costa is talked about/tweeted every few minutes. So it’s popular.

However, say I want to say #IloveCostaCoffee – well type that in and you can see it’s been used eight times. Since 2011. Not a good choice for a hashtag.  

Can you see where I’m coming from? If a hashtag is used regularly and is popular in the Twitter-sphere then other users are more likely to come across your Tweet. And therefore, they’re more likely to follow you.

Rule 2: Placing your Hashtags

Okay, so it seems to be custom that you write your tweets like:

Having a coffee in Costa today #Goodtimes #Coffee #Costa #Yum #Lovinglife #UK #Mocha  

Let me tell you now, this is rubbish. 

Users won’t see you as a real person, more like an annoying robot, begging for followers.

I suggest you limit your hashtags to 2/3 per tweet. I also recommend that, whenever possible, you integrate your hashtags into the body of your tweet. For example:

Having a #coffee in #Costa today, sooo #yummy !!!

Rule 3: Content

If you’re a business, the recommended split for your content being product related and just general information should be 20/80 split. Your followers won’t want to be there if all you ever do is plug your own brand.

Try putting up funny pictures, quotes, questions and articles with the occasional advert for your own stuff and you’ll see your interactions and followers begin to increase.

And if you’re not a business, still think about keeping your content as varied as possible. Bear in mind, nearly 40% of shared tweets are images.  

Above all, remember that nasty character limit and try to keep things concise. Statistically, interaction rate is higher on tweets that are less than 100 characters, so don't fill up every space because you can! 

Rule 4: Regular Updates & Timing

Optimal times to tweet occur when people are on the commute home and sitting down in the evening. Make sure you send out your important tweets in the evening and save your funny pics and videos for the daytime.

Rule 5: Try to get RT

RT or Retweeting is a valuable tool. You should try to get retweeted because when you do, you are being put on somebody else’s platform and yes, all their followers can see you.

The best way to get retweeted is to say something good about a person/business with a lot of followers and tag them in it. Yes it’s sucking up, but who cares? They have 1.6 Million more followers than you and you want in on that action!

So going back to my Costa example, I’d try something like this: @CostaCoffee I just tried your new pineapple fruit cooler #Mindblown (maybe add a happy emoji just to top things off).

Also look out for the brand asking people for their opinions, using particular hashtags. Recently, Costa asked their fans a question. @SarahNinnis had the right idea!

https://twitter.com/costacoffee

If you’re a business, it is also worth asking for your followers to retweet you. If you don’t ask you won’t get! 

Sometimes offering a competition or a prize for people who retweet you can help get people involved and can increase your followers in the thousands!

But finally, my biggest tip will be: be patient. If you follow these tips you are bound to increase your Twitter following but it won't happen over night. Keep at it and the followers will flock to you. 

Megan Herdson

Megan is a country girl who moved to the city with some big dreams. She is studying her MA in Creative Writing whilst also managing an American Football Team.  She loves her blog and wants nothing more than to have her words read. That and to win the Championship, obviously. Follow her @MeganAtSMF

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