6 Techniques to Take Your Twitter Account to the Next Level:
When the experts give away their “secrets” to growing a massive following on Twitter, 4 times out of 5 it involves following people with the hopes that a high percentage of them follow you back. (Then of course, you discard the ones who don’t reciprocate.)
While it works pretty consistently, this shouldn’t be seen as a standalone technique. There are a couple reasons why.
First, following people with the hope that they’ll return the favor is not a marketing strategy by itself. It’s just one technique. Without following up with truly purposeful, strategic moves, you won’t benefit as much as gurus might like you to think.
Second, that if you’re only following people who you would like to listen to and follow you, but who you have no intention of listening to, you’ve completely missed the point of social media. You’re treating people like numbers. There’s also a good chance that most of the people who do follow back are only doing so because they’re trying to build their following, too. They don’t want you to unfollow them if they don’t follow you. In the end, everyone’s following people they don’t care about, but no one’s really engaging anyone else.
That’s not what Twitter is about. If you’ve ever sent out a super interesting tweet that no one responded to, you know what I mean.
Now, following targeted people is an effective way to build the kind of Twitter audience you want to have. But how can you stand out from the crowd when most of the people who are actively building their following are using this method (and many use autofollow software programs to make it even easier and less personal)? Here are some ideas I guarantee your favorite Twitter expert has never shared with you.
Take the Law of Reciprocation to the Next Level
Humans have a natural desire to “pay back” kind things others do for them. They’re happy that you followed them, so they feel compelled to follow you back, even if your tweets are of no interest to them. It’s called the law of reciprocation.
If this hard-wired desire is strong enough to get people to follow back even if you’re not sharing content they care about, what can you do to maximize this force?
#1: Make sure you’re following the kinds of people who are likely to be interested in the topics you tweet about. Tweepi has an option that allows you to follow the followers of people who share similar content, which makes them high-potential candidates for your own audience.
#2: Go beyond just following. Create lists and add as many people to as many lists as you can. If you think following someone makes them feel good about you, think back to a time when you got the notification that someone added you to a list. It’s pretty flattering. Someone feels like what you share is important!
Give the people you want to follow you back that feeling.
Come up with really impressive titles for your lists, names that will enhance the experience even more for the people you follow. For example, you might have a list of “Social Media Geniuses.” When you add people to that lists like that, you’re sure to grab their attention and increase the chances they’ll both follow you back and pay attention to what you’re doing, and increase the chances they’ll both follow you back and pay attention to what you’re doing.
This makes your follow more authentic to the other person. They know it’s not some robot picking random people who fit a profile. They’re being followed and listed by a real person who really thinks highly of them.
#3: Periodically create “new” lists for the same followers. Let’s stick with the Social Media Geniuses list. What would happen if once a quarter or once a month, you created a new list for the same people? By adding people to the new list this time maybe it’s named “Ruggedly Handsome Social Media Experts,” you a) reaffirm the flattery and b) remind them of your presence and more importantly your interest in them.
(What manly Twitter user wouldn’t feel good about being on that list?)
Just add everyone from the first list to the second list. You can delete the first list if you want. It’ll take some creativity and effort, but the emotional impact will make up for it.
#4: Give great reasons why people should follow you and keep following you. It’s not news if you want to have an engaged audience of any size, you need to share good stuff. Consistently share valuable content, interesting links, motivational quotes, funny jokes, whatever your followers want to see and will position you in their minds as the authority you are.
#5: Don’t waste AutoDMs. Most of the auto-response direct messages I see are lame. They usually ask me to like a Facebook profile or buy an affiliate product. Neither one of those are great ways to start a relationship.
What’s the best piece of content you have? Maybe it’s an E-book or an instructional video. Could you make it available for free to people who follow you on Twitter? If so, you’ve found an outstanding way to instantly demonstrate to everyone who follows you just howawesome you are. You’ll set an expectation in their minds that you are a giver, not someone who’s just looking for people to exploit.
Putting a strong piece of thought leadership in your followers hands right away proves that you’re an expert and an advocate they can trust going forward.
#6: Take it to the limit. Once you’ve shown your followers how much your content can improve their lives, it’s only natural to take your relationship to the next level, whatever that is for you. Ask them to sign up for your email list, sign up for webinars, etc.
It can be hard to “sell” directly from Twitter, but once followers have opted into your list, they’ve given you permission to market to them more directly. You can use Twitter as a way to establish trust and prove your worth to entice them to engage with you through your other marketing channels.
Whatever your Twitter goals are, from growing your business to spreading a message that’s important to you, these tips will help you to be among the most unique people in your segment of the social media world. Standing out is the best way to get where you want to go.
P.S. What radical Twitter marketing techniques are you using? I’ve shared some of my best ideas, now I’d love to hear yours. Show off your brilliance in the comment section.
Donnie Bryant is a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant. He specializes in radically improving businesses with Stealth Salesmanship and Strategic Marketing. Find out more at http://donnie-bryant.com/.
