- July 15, 2018
- Posted by: Con P. Sweeney
- Categories: Social Media, Twitter
A common problem that I encounter with clients is growing their Twitter followers.
I’m not talking about the usual difficulties of organic growth or getting people to follow you back.
(As if those aren’t problems enough!)
I’m talking about the indiscriminate following of people on Twitter which can set up a roadblock to your adding new followers.
Let’s discuss this!
Here’s the trap that many set for themselves on Twitter.
Following people on Twitter is a good thing.
Assuming that there’s a method to your madness and you don’t let your reach exceed your grasp.
Clients typically ask why shouldn’t they just follow whomever they take a fancy to.
Here’s why.
These days, Twitter only allows you to follow up to 5,000 people until your own followers number 5,000.
Then there’s the 10% rule, where you can’t follow new people if the number of people you follow exceeds 10% of your followers.
Of course, people can follow you at any time.
(This goes back to engagement and content, which I’ll address in future articles.)
Oh, and then there’s Twitter’s own arbitrariness and fickleness which can raise their ugly heads from time to time.
OK, so what do you do about this?
First, use lists!
The often overlooked Twitter feature which allows you to follow the tweets of those you’re interested in by theme, keywords, or whatever else makes your socks go up and down.
Not only does this get around the following problem but it organizes your tweet stream so that you view it in a rational way.
(Ever look at your Twitter feed after you follow a few hundred folks, it’s like drinking from a firehose!)
Next, keep your followers in excess of the number of people that you follow.
In other words, if your divide (Some basic arithmetic skills are required here) your followers by your following and the number is excess of 1 then you’re golden.
If not then you have some work to do unfollowing folks.
(Yes, sometimes we have to do it!)
When you start out on Twitter this ratio is difficult to achieve.
But, by the time you hit 5,000 followers, it starts to get easier.
Just don’t slack off!
Let’s face it, many of the Twitter accounts that you want to follow for perfectly good reasons will never follow you back.
Sorry, but Katy Perry’s just not that into you.
However, you can use lists to follow her tweets and all the other celebrities you like to your heart’s content!
Look at the major players on Twitter.
They have millions of followers.
But, follow very few themselves.
Think about it!
That’s it for now!
Please check-out my 8 step approach for developing a social media program to get some more ideas on how to use social media.
Also, never forget to reach out to either ask questions or to ask for help from someone like myself!
In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!
I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.