Tim Soulo (CMO of Ahrefs) recently asked on twitter why people followed him, and the answers outline a bunch of amazing ways to grow your following if you’re so inclined.
To be fair – I built @hookagency‘s following along time ago, with old-school and outdated tactics.
- I followed 100 people a day – anyone who liked or retweeted accounts like mine
- Then I’d unfollow people who didn’t follow back.
- I’d use tools like ManageFlitter and auto-like tweets in gigantic amounts
Sometimes these tactics would actually work…
But these methods annoyed people, and lost effectiveness over time
So I dug into what people were answering on Tim Soulo’s tweet on why they followed him.
I absolutely loved hearing about how people were doing it these days, and thought I’d curate them here for posterity. Hope it’s useful for someone!
How did I get +10k new Twitter followers in less than a year? ☝️
No, seriously..
How did you folks end up following me? 🙂
Instead of playing smart and making a list of random "grow your flwing" tactics..
Let's see what ACTUALLY worked!
So what made you follow me here? 🙂
— Tim Soulo (@timsoulo) November 6, 2020
How to Grow Your Twitter Following in 2022
Promote a Tweet
“You had a promoted tweet for a long time that sort of prompted us to check your profile. Then we realised you’re with ahrefs and followed you.” – Lidia Infante
Speak at Events
“Saw you on CMSEO 2018 and had to follow you. Unfortunately I didn’t talk to you, but got a nice tshirt T-Shirt from one of your team members ;)” – Sercan
Get on Podcasts
“I’ve heard your podcast interview on Confessions of a B2B Marketer episode 3 — 9 Unconventional SaaS Marketing Strategies by Looked you up and wowzee it’s from Ahrefs. Immediately followed. Brand recognition and of course your tweets.” – Elius Lim Santos
Tweet useful stuff so much that people promote for you
“Actually I don’t follow you, but just saw your profile based on someone tagging you in their reply as being a great resource. Now that I checked out your profile I’m gonna follow you.” – Jared Kimball
Do videos and share your @ on them
“I’ve been using Ahrefs for 6 years and love it. But you’re “inside Ahrefs marketing videos” introduced me to you as a human which tipped the scale for me to follow you.” – Jonas Sickler
Create courses if it makes sense
“Registered to your blogging for business course. And I was like this guy may share some golden nuggets over his Twitter feed.” – Mohammed Nadir Ali
Don’t be a dick – if you disagree, be polite about it
We disagreed but politely and constructively talked about it. pic.twitter.com/CIp5mq50N4
— Sara (@sdvinlondon) November 6, 2020
Write and share articles / be active on other platforms and invite people to crossover
“I first time came across the person `Tim Soulo` was by reading an article on Ahrefs growth along with a couple of your podcasts interviews. I started following you on LinkedIn to learn more. The frequency of your post over there is very minimal. So, had to jump ship to Twitter. Mostly because of the marketing lessons, learnings, insights, and so on and so forth. This also lead me to subscribe to your marketing Vlog on YT” – Saminathan Viswanathan
I kept digging – surely there are still ways to gain a following besides just YouTube, blogging, courses and conferences!
Other currently working methods for growing a Twitter following:
Pin your best tweet to the top of the page
This is kind of a way to create social proof:
See – I’m funny.
See – a lot of people interact with me.
See – I’m going to keep your feed interesting, or give you value.
They can’t all be insanely clever. But by pinning the best of the best, you give them a quick flavor of your best content.
Use a human face, and make your bio represent you well and accurately
We don’t have to be viral influencers to put our best foot forward on Twitter. Having a clear, visible headshot, and having some personality on your bio (whether you prize accuracy or humor) is an important fundamental to help people take the leap into following you.
Embed your tweets in your blog posts
Well what do you know – here’s one:
Social Media Brand Index: Best Brands Twitter & Instagram | Top 10's | Hook Agency https://t.co/zdgzFblJr5 pic.twitter.com/h5HzMamwiz
— Hook Agency (@HookAgency) March 30, 2019
Collaborate with other epic content creators
It was an absolute pleasure to have Brian Dean, Matt Diggity and Tim Soulo on a blog post with us, and then have them all tweet it out. Never underestimate content collaborations. A ‘expert roundup’ is one way to do this, and it helps more than just your blog traffic, and can also help you build a bigger Twitter following.
Didn't read that post yet, but the visual part of it is totally amazing!https://t.co/fJe3TzDH5N
😍
— Tim Soulo (@timsoulo) December 30, 2019
Tweet about the things that are trending & relevant
The Twitter platform is built on hashtags, and trending topics. Be involved in the discourse of conversation as much as is appropriate for the purpose of your account, and don’t shy away from real conversations with real people. Use the hashtags, tap the trending topics, and be nice along the way, and followers will grow naturally.
Share value, share value, share value!
Whether that’s by making people laugh…
Or by putting out epic content and making it visual, the #1 thing you can do on Twitter is share value.
That’s not some esoteric, pie-in-the-sky BS thing – that’s MAKE SOMEONE’S DAY BETTER.
Make their job easier.
Make them smile.
Basically – be human, and be helpful on Twitter. These are the things, as well as interacting daily and being active, that really set the foundation for long-term growth on Twitter. It’s less about growth-hacking your twitter these days, and more about getting the right people to follow you, and be in conversation with you. The rest is just noise.
I may not be actively trying to grow my personal Twitter these days because I don’t love the pressure, but if you’re nice I’d love a follow @timbrownmpls and our company account @hookagency. Follow other people who’s awesome tactics are showcased here – Tim Soulo, Ahrefs, and HootSuite.
