Twitter is one of the fastest growing social networks out there –  and with its 17.1 millions users in the UK it represents a substantial tool for small businesses wishing to expand their client bases. It’s important therefore, for all small business owners to know how to get more followers on Twitter.

When it comes to business development, Twitter should be an important part of your marketing strategy.

Connecting with your target audience via Twitter can be a struggle for many users, but it’s also a springboard for businesses to tap into new markets. So how do you get more followers on Twitter?

Well, here is everything you need to know when it comes to bringing more visibility to your business.

Be accessible

Twitter is accessible to anyone in the world so it goes without saying that you will not be the only company seeking followers out there. As the competition may be tough you can play your cards right by making yourself accessible. If you wish to reach the widest possible range of customers, people have to be able to find you easily on Twitter.

Your Twitter handle

Your handle – or username as it’s commonly referred to – is your identity. You should pick wisely to best represent your small business. And as it will also form the URL of your Twitter profile page, it’s pretty important to get right.

A profile picture

Start with a profile picture. It’s one of the first things that users see when they come into contact with your account, after the handle. Through your profile picture you can attract two types of followers: those who already know your business and the ones who want to know more about it.

Don’t just choose a random picture for your profile because it’s important that people who already know you are able to recognise you through your own personal logo or via a representative image of the company.

Potential customers who don’t know you will see at first sight that this is a serious professional account and will find it easier to check out your profile and press the follow button.

Your Bio

Optimise your bio. Once a user is interested enough they will visit your account and read your bio. Keep it professional, don’t exaggerate or blow your services out of proportion, just be clear about what your business does. This will help potential customers understand what you have to offer from the get go.

Use Keywords

Use relevant keywords related to your business services as it will allow people to find you easily through a Twitter search. Add your location too so local people can connect with you. If you have other social media accounts post their links in your bio so people can get additional information.

Follow Others

Don’t hesitate to follow other accounts. Research has proven that the number of followers you attract are related to the number of accounts you follow. If you’re following somebody else, chances are they’ll return the favour.

Be careful, though. Don’t randomly start following accounts just to boost your ratings. Even if they do follow you back, the likelihood is that they won’t have a credible interest in your business, so they won’t promote you, and they might unfollow you in the future.

The best way to go about this is to choose other professional accounts to follow, like influential people within your industry, or potential clients that you can find through hashtags and paid platforms.

Stay active

In order to keep your current followers on board – and attract new ones – you have to be an active social media user. Twitter relies on speed, it’s practically replaced mainstream news feeds, so if you’re inactive for too long, people can easily forget about you.

How do you keep people engaged and interacting?

Post regularly

Post as often as you can. Tweeting on a regular basis will keep people interested and curious about your account. Don’t leave too much time in between tweets, as this discourages people from following.

If you can, post once a day or even a few times. If you are out of ideas for original content, you can always retweet other posts you find relevant, funny or important, and it will still increase your visibility.

Post at specific times for maximum impact

Post at the right moment. Research has shown that the best time to tweet is on weekdays, both early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Tweeting during key moments will allow you to reach a broad range of potential new followers. You can use free or paid platforms such as Hootsuite, Buffer or SproutSocial to schedule your tweets.

Promote your account

Platforms such as Twitter Ads offer to promote your account directly on Twitter. Besides, you have the possibility to increase your account visibility by promoting it out of Twitter, on all your marketing materials. Put your account link on other social media sites, websites or business cards.

Engage with users

When you are seeking to extend your number of followers there is an essential matter to consider: the content of your posts. What content would you like to share? What content can attract new followers?

Be professional

Twitter is a communication channel which allows you to spread a marketing message to promote your business products or services. As a professional user, your tweets needs to remain relevant to your target customer. Personal messages are fine from time to time, but what will make the number of your followers increase is relevant informative and coherent content about your business.

This doesn’t mean you have to be monotonous. You can avoid simplistic tweets that don’t catch people’s attention. On the contrary, colourful tweets with images, videos, links or gifs are more trendy and will definitely be useful in your quest for followers, as they are proven to engage more.

Hashtags

Include hashtags in your tweets and retweets, they will allow users who have common interests to connect with you easily. Add a question in your retweets or a “Please retweet” in your posts and you can be sure that your number will go up.

Finally, take time to engage with people. General tweets are simple and efficient but engaging personally with your interlocutor is always a plus. Reply to users as much as possible by mentioning their @. Likewise mention users @ whenever you are communicating directly with them.

Twitter is a powerful tool to expand your client base, so what are you waiting for? Join the Twitter revolution!