Let me first of all caveat this post with the fact that I do not believe I have all the answers, I don’t have a huge following on Twitter in comparison with a lot of bloggers, but I do have some tips that have worked for me and thought it would be nice to share them with others.

How To Increase Your Twitter Followers

I’ve been trying hard over the last 6 months to grow my social media following, giving it a real push since the turn of the year, with my main focus being on Twitter and Instagram. Since January, I’ve gained 336 followers on Twitter. It may not sound like a lot, but with circa 5,000 followers in total, it’s a lot to gain!

1. Join Twitter Chats

This point is key. Engaging with other bloggers is a sure way to increase your followers. Chances are you’re going to stumble across some awesome blogs, get some great tips and potentially make some really good blogging friends. I’ve learned a lot from joining in the chats, so as well as gaining followers, I’ve also improved as a blogger as a result. My top tip for making the most of the chats is to ensure you follow every person you interact with, 9 times out of 10 they will follow you back, and there you have a great connection, and one that you’ve actually spoken with, not just followed for ‘numbers’.

2. Schedule Tweets

If you’ve put up some new content, make sure you share it with both current followers and potential new followers on Twitter. I use Hootsuite to schedule my tweets and do it as soon as I’ve scheduled a blog post. I tend to promote three times a day at the weekend, and once on an evening during the week, as I work full time. I’ve seen a lot of advice suggesting doing this more, which I think I will try myself, but I do worry that my feed will just look to be full of spam. Another tip with scheduling is to include a picture, I’ve seen a lot of bloggers state in the chats that they are more likely to go to your post if you’ve added a picture to the link.

3. Collaborate

If you are given the opportunity to collaborate with a brand who has a large social media following, they are likely to share your collaboration through their own channels, directing their followers to your account. I recently collaborated with a brand who were happy to share my post and YouTube links, which I saw an increase in followers from.

4. Be Active

It may sound like a no-brainer, but actually use Twitter to talk to people and interact, don’t only post links to your blog, you’re likely to lose the followers you already have if you’re just spamming them. Additionally, if you’re inactive on Twitter, you’re also likely to lose followers, as there are apps available that tell you how long people you follow have been inactive for. I personally unfollow people who have been inactive for three months or more. Even when I’ve taken a break from blogging, I’ve remained active on Twitter.

5. Make Use of Apps

There are lots of apps you can use to help you increase your followers, I’ve already mentioned Hootsuite for scheduling, but I also use Crowdfire. I use this app to track people who follow me and unfollow me. There is an increasing trend for bloggers to follow you, wait until you follow them back, and immediately unfollow you, to increase the gap between their own followers and those they follow, basically inflating their own popularity. I think it’s just rude, so I unfollow them back. You know they’ve only followed you to make their numbers better, and aren’t going to engage with your blog, so what is the point!? I’ve actually had the same people do it time and again to me, so I just don’t follow them back anymore. You’re likely to find this on Instagram too. The app is great for following back those who have followed you too, as well as clearing out anything spammy.

I’d also recommend the app ‘Stats’ which is from the same makers as Crowdfire, this breaks down all of your followers vs. unfollowers etc.

Let me know if you try any of the above and if they help you! Do you have any tips that you can share?

Lauren xx