How do you gain followers?
This is the question I am often asked.
“Do I buy followers?” No. In fact, most of the time people can tell when you have bought followers, as my colleague Carol Stephen describes in her post here. This strategy sort of backfired for former Speaker of the House and Presidential Candidate, Newt Gingrich, too.
Twitter is one of the major spokes in the social media wheel. Social media, people seem to forget, is about being social.
During the question and answer period of the Digital Influence panel at ACEC California’s April Conference, I was asked what the best practice for Twitter is.
My answer: “The most important thing for you is to be a human being.”
In fact, my social media strategy revolves around being a polite, helpful person.
That seems to do the trick.
How does this work.
1. I avoid Twitter’s Retweet button.
This is controversial and everyone has their own opinions. Read my blog post here.
I did say I'm full of opinions and I give unsolicited advice. Why not try retweeting the #OldSchoolRT and see if your engagement goes up?
— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) February 22, 2013
2. When I do retweet, I add a comment first.
This continues the conversation the original tweeter intended, presumably, when they sent the tweet in the first place. Awkward sentence? Sure. But the point is that Twitter is a conversation. By that logic, every tweet is potentially a conversation starter.
See: Retweet Styles
