To get more followers on X (formerly Twitter), focus on quality followers: people and companies interested in your startup or industry. The post covers profile setup, content, keywords and hashtags, posting frequency, timing, engagement and promotion.
Why should you care about X?
A 2012 social media marketing industry report by the Social Media Examiner found that 82% of marketers used Twitter (now X) as part of their marketing mix, and a 2012 B2B content marketing report put the figure for B2B marketers at 74%. Those numbers are from the era this post was written in, but the reasons below still hold. X is an important platform for marketers for at least two reasons. First, it provides a distribution channel for your content, especially if you’ve built up your following. Second, it provides a method for two-way engagement with others that are interested in your space, whether it’s customers, partners, or other industry participants.
As a channel for distribution and engagement, X provides marketers the ability to drive qualified referral traffic. For instance, blog posts shared on X tend to generate more inbound links and pageviews than posts not shared at all. In addition to driving referral traffic, X enables startups to build their brand and thought leadership within a niche. It also helps them cultivate relationships with prospects and customers.
All followers are not created equal
You might have numerous followers, but if the bulk are low quality, then most will care little about your product/startup and your content. Low quality followers will rarely click on your links, retweet your content, or engage you in conversation. More importantly, these followers will rarely progress from viewing your X account to visiting your website and engaging your startup in a relationship.
Simply put, your primary concern should be to attract and retain quality followers. What’s a quality follower? A quality follower is an individual or company that is genuinely interested in your startup or industry and in the content you’re sharing on a regular basis. These are individuals and companies that are your target customers, potential partners, suppliers and competitors as well as analysts, journalists, evangelists, and hobbyists.
For more discussion on the quality versus quantity of followers, here are two interesting posts.
Success starts with your profile
Success in attracting quality followers starts with your profile. Your profile needs to accomplish at least two things. First, it needs to explain to potential followers the value they will gain by following your account. What’s in it for them? What kind of content can they expect from you on X? Second, your profile (and bio photo, background, etc.) needs to emotionally grab potential followers. It needs to grab their attention in the split second they take to review your profile and your prior tweets. If your profile is poorly constructed, then expect to attract fewer followers as well as followers that have little interest in your company and products. For more details on structuring your X profile, here’s a useful article.
Methods for growing your X following
While there are a variety of methods for increasing your followers on X, we’re focusing here on the techniques that we’ve found to be the most effective. By effective we mean methods that help you attract high-quality followers. Although the following techniques are highly effective, it takes time and effort to build your following, so don’t expect instant results.
Curating Quality Content
Posting quality content: It’s very important to share content that provides significant value to potential and existing followers. This high value content needs to be the focus of your posting efforts. The content can be pithy insights, curated third-party content, and the very occasional plug for your startup. Several commentators also encourage people to go off topic every now and then. This signals that real people are behind the account and that it’s not just a virtually automated advertising channel for your startup. We wouldn’t recommend taking this approach too far. Focus is important.
Keywords and hashtags: To attract quality followers it’s important to incorporate the primary keywords and hashtags used in your industry. These keywords or hashtags are often what people search for when they’re looking for new content and people on X. As an example, if you’re working in the area of Startup Communities, then you would want to include keywords in your tweets such as founders community, founders network, founder group, startup group, and so on. You might also include these as hashtags, such as #startups or #techfounders.
Regularity: Tweeting great content on a regular basis is crucial to building a following. If you’re tweeting drops significantly in a week there’s a good chance your follower count will decrease. There also might be a negative residual effect that persists into subsequent weeks. In 2012, some advised posting at least 3-4 times per day, while others put the optimal number of daily tweets as high as 22. Posting norms have shifted since, so treat those as a starting range. The right number depends on your time availability, the amount of quality content you can create or curate in any given day, and the nature of your audience, so experiment to find it.
Timing: As for the best time of day to Tweet to gain followers, it depends on your market and the nature of your potential and existing followers. For instance, if you’re targeting business users on the West Coast of the United States, then the best time to Tweet is likely between 9-11am and 1-3pm on weekdays Pacific Time. If your target market is students, then the evenings and weekends are likely better times to tweet. To find the best times for your market, you should initially spread out your tweets and identify the time windows when you observe the most engagement from your quality followers (e.g., retweets, replies). Here are several useful resources for determining the best times to tweet.
Engagement with others
Following the right people: Following others on X will make them aware of your presence, and there’s a reasonable chance they’ll follow you back. Because you’re trying to attract quality followers, you want to follow the people who are most relevant to you and your area of focus. You can use X search to find the right people by using the keywords and hashtags for your industry. You should also look for the influencers you’re already familiar with. Another approach is to look at who your quality followers follow. Twitter directories can also be helpful in the search for relevant people to follow.
Help others to promote your account: Since you want others to promote your X account for the purpose of gaining followers, it’s important to make it easy for your followers to retweet your content and give you credit when doing so. The key here is the length of your posts. When this was written, tweets were capped at 140 characters, and if you used all of them people had no space to include your @account (e.g., RT @youraccount: Someone just found your awesome tweet and it still has room for you to be credited when retweeted. #example). Shorter posts still leave room for others to credit you when they repost.
Sharing other people’s content: Another method for gaining quality followers is to share content and include @mentions of the content author. For instance, let’s say you just read an interesting post on the Scobleizer Blog and you’re hoping to get Robert Scoble’s attention so he will follow you. In this case you should include @scobleizer in your tweet. Retweeting is another great method for building followers. When you retweet, there’s a good chance the original author will notice you and in turn follow your account.
Hashtag discussions: Hashtags are a useful way to signal that your tweet is part of a larger discussion around a particular theme or topic. If people within a community realize you are part of that community, they are more likely to follow your account. A discussion (and related hashtags) might focus on a current event or live conference. There are also numerous “twitter chats” on various topics. For instance, here is a list of regular twitter chats on social media marketing.
Advertising & promotion
Paid advertising: The main place to advertise your account and gain quality followers is the platform’s own advertising program.
Promoting your X account: Aside from advertising, you should use every opportunity outside of X to promote your account. For example, you should promote your account on your homepage and blog, as well as on other social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn. You should also include your X account in your email signature and potentially on your physical business cards.
X is an effective tool for startups and marketers, but you need quality followers before you can reap any benefits. We’ve offered some best practices above on how you can increase your followers. There are many other approaches and techniques. For those interested in digging deeper, below are several useful articles and resources. We’d also like to hear your tips and tricks in the discussion below.
Useful resources:
- Everything You Need to Measure Twitter Marketing ROI
- 8 Great Twitter Tools That Will Get You Tweeting Like A Pro
- How to Get More Twitter Followers–The Right Way
- How to Get More Twitter Followers—and Keep Them
- Kevin Rose: 10 Ways To Increase Your Twitter Followers
- 7 Ways I Accidentally Got Twitter Followers (and 7 Ways You Can on Purpose!)
If you’re a tech founder, and want to learn about the latest tips for building a successful tech venture, please follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @foundersnetwork or click here to learn more about how we can help your startup.
A version of this post first appeared on the Intigi blog.
Founders Network is a peer mentorship community for tech startup founders. If that fits where you are, request an invitation.
Frequently asked questions
How many times a day should a startup tweet?
The post cites 2012-era suggestions ranging from at least 3-4 times a day to as high as 22. It says the right number depends on your time, how much quality content you can create or curate, and your audience, so experiment to find it.
What is a quality X follower?
An individual or company interested in your startup, industry and the content you share. That includes target customers, potential partners, suppliers, competitors, analysts, journalists, evangelists and hobbyists.
What is the best time to tweet to gain followers?
It depends on your market. For business users on the US West Coast, the post suggests 9-11am and 1-3pm Pacific on weekdays, while students are more likely reached in evenings and weekends.
How do you make it easy for people to retweet you?
Leave room in each tweet for your @account to be credited. The post notes that when it was written tweets were capped at 140 characters, so shorter posts left room for a retweet to add your handle.
