There are tons of ways to get more followers on Twitter. Don’t believe us? Do a quick search on Google. Countless articles, blog posts, and presentations will show you how to do just that – and subsequently win support for your business and brand through the popular microblogging / social media service.
But if you’re looking for unconventional ways to increase your Twitter follower count, it might not be worth your while to sift through so much online content, only to find the same tips and strategies. So we came up with this list, which we hope differentiates your Twitter social media marketing efforts from that of others – and will just as successfully prompt users to click that green Follow button.
1. Join tweetups. These face-to-face meetings between a local community of Twitter users can help you meet new contacts, find new partners and clients, establish your industry expertise, gain more followers, and say something without a 140-character limit.
2. Organize tweetups. If there aren’t any industry-related tweetups in your area, go ahead and organize one. You never know how many people will thank you for it.
3. Participate in industry events. And let everyone who visit your booth or read your brochures see that you’re on Twitter.
4. Use your Twitter name when leaving comments on others’ blogs.
5. Write a guest post for others’ blogs – and, in your author bio, leave your Twitter username to encourage readers to follow you.
6. Print your @username on a sign. Or many signs: storefront banners, tabletops, menus and menu boards, sandwich board, order and takeout counters, etc. It’s a great, offline way of giving added prominence to your Twitter profile.
7. Print your @username on your business cards.
8. Print your @username on company shirts.
9. In traditional ads and press releases, tell audiences you’re on Twitter. Close the loop between traditional marketing and online marketing by adding your Twitter information to print ads, TV commercials, press releases, and banners.
10. Link to your Twitter profile in your E-mail signature.
11. Create a Twitter archive. Archiving lets other people read, search, share your tweets long after they’ve “disappeared” from the Twitter timeline. For more on this, check out our guide to creating a Twitter archive.
12. Ask Twitter users to follow you. Do this when you’re approaching a milestone, like a 2,000 follower count.
13. Reward milestone followers. Even if it’s just with a special discount or a free dessert that they can redeem at your store.
14. When organizing or joining charity events and fundraisers, display your Twitter name wherever possible. To put it simply: people love to follow the good guys.
15. Add hashtags to your content – and not just on Twitter. If you’ve ever watched an episode of the American reality talent show, The Voice, you’ll notice a hashtag prefixing the show’s name, so that when people talk about it on Twitter, it shows up as #TheVoice. It’s an excellent way of catching potential followers’ attention.
16. Add captions or annotations with your Twitter name to your YouTube videos.
17. Join #FollowFriday. It’s a weekly Twitter trend wherein users make suggestions on who to follow on Twitter. The people you suggest will, hopefully, return the favor and put your name out to their follower community so they can follow you, too.
18. Get yourself listed in directories like Just Tweet It and WeFollow.