Last week, I explained the different terms you’ll encounter on Twitter and showed you how to create a Twitter profile.

Now it’s time to take the next step—building a Twitter following.

When I mention “following,” I’m referring to an engaged group of people that’s interested in what you have to say. Real people with active Twitter accounts. I’m not going to teach you how to gain followers on Twitter with $20 or less.

Building a Real Twitter Following

Twitter gives you a platform to share your ideas to the public. But only a true set of followers can help you spread that idea further.

Without followers, tweeting is just like sending messages to an empty abyss. There’s no feedback, much less a conversation.

It’s also hard to deny that the more active followers you have, the bigger your reach is.

How to Gain Followers on Twitter: 8 Easy Strategies

1. Upload a Picture with Your Tweets

Tweets can now include pictures, unlike a few years ago when you had to click a link to see the picture included. An experiment done by Buffer showed that tweets that include images got 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets.

Click one of the buttons shown below to add a picture, video, or GIF with your tweet.

2. Retweet Others then Ask for a RT

Adding “Please Retweet”—not the abbreviated “Please RT” gets you up to four times more retweets, suggests data from Data Scientist Dan Zarerella.

Getting more retweets means your posts are republished and shown on other people’s feeds, giving you more exposure to people outside of your immediate network. Some of those people might be interested in what you have to say, so they’ll follow you.

Others might like the tweet, so they’ll RT it again. Doing this recycles your post again to get more exposure on another person’s feed.

Of all the ways you can learn how to gain followers on Twitter, this is probably the easiest. So don’t over do it. Balance this strategy by retweeting others first. This way, when you ask for RTs, your followers are more likely to return the favor.

Please retweet so we can find him. ❤️🙏🏻. pic.twitter.com/mllYILGMwg

— Sam (@notthesingersam) November 20, 2016

As of this writing, Sam only has 390 followers. But after using “Please retweet,” the post already has 230+ retweets.

3. Alert Other Businesses of Problems they Might Want to Correct

This could be customer-service problems, in-store problems, or their online presence.

@GreggsOfficial, a bakery chain in UK, mentioned @GoogleUK in a post after getting alerted about a weird logo found on a Google search of their business name.

@racheldixon total fail! Come on @GoogleUK please fix it!!

— Greggs (@GreggsOfficial) August 19, 2014

This started a conversation where Greggs and GoogleUK handled the gaffe in good humor, and everyone tuning in had a good laugh. Greggs got lots of retweets, likes, and followers because of it, too.

Hey @GoogleUK, fix it and they're yours!!! #FixGreggs pic.twitter.com/d5Ub7qtrLG

— Greggs (@GreggsOfficial) August 19, 2014

4. Reply to Tweets by Big Brands

If you want to learn how to gain followers on Twitter, you should first accept the fact that not everyone who follows you could be a customer.

And that’s okay! That means your feed won’t be a vacuum of blogs and other promotional content about your industry.

Reply to questions tweeted by Big brands, even if it’s not related to what you do. It’s a good way to diversify your Twitter audience.

Users who see the same question sometimes expand the tweet to see other replies. If they like what you said or you gave an interesting link, some of them might follow you.

That’s how Mandy Kilinskis got new followers after replying to a question from @WaltDisneyWorld.

5. Tag Brands Mentioned in Your Blog Posts

Write blog posts that mentions other brands not in direct competition with you. The post could be a list of tools you use for the business, or a round-up of tips on a subject your audience would appreciate.

The goal isn’t just to flatter them and hope they’ll tweet back. What you write needs to be informative, otherwise it just looks spammy. Brands don’t want to be connected to anything spammy.

Here’s an example of a tweet where the author mentioned people interviewed for the article:

22 Email #coverletter Tips: With Easy to Follow Samples via @tutsbusiness @tutsplus featuring @JohnPaulEngel and @weitingliu pic.twitter.com/pJeiibXA3O

— Charley (@CharleyWrites) November 22, 2016

Sometimes, you don’t need more information but it’s good to use other businesses as examples to make a point in your articles. In the blog post “Out of Ideas? Here are 7 Websites and Strategies to Inspire Your Writing,” there’s a screenshot from Orman Guidance as an example for employee features.

When the article is promoted, Orman Guidance and other websites featured on it are mentioned in the tweet.

7 Websites & Strategies to Inspire Your Writing @Mcdougalljohnd feat.@oneworddotcom @thebestofemail @Orman_Guidance https://t.co/Aw0WktznRa pic.twitter.com/mzprIzGx6R

— Charley (@CharleyWrites) November 22, 2016

6. Mention Authors of Articles You Like

As a writer, I know other writers love getting recognized for things they create. That’s why I take the time to tag the authors of articles I share on Twitter.

“Confessions of a Google Spammer” by @jgdeutsch https://t.co/JRDsyVlAVF

— John McDougall (@Mcdougalljohnd) November 18, 2016

Sharing thought-provoking and informative articles builds my authority online, even if I didn’t write it. Doing this also helps me build a relationship with other writers—and to some extent, the people already following them.

7. Participate in Interesting Conversations

Twitter is like one big chatroom, so don’t be afraid to chime in on conversations that interest you.

Answers that add value to the conversation will earn you a couple of retweets, some likes, and even new followers. Just make sure you reply to the original tweeter, and mention other relevant parties in the conversation so they see your post.

@ramit you don't need those things specifically. But some self-chosen ritual increases odds of success.

— Darshan (@Darshan_Desai) November 17, 2016

8. Join the Hashtag Party

Twitter users loooooove hashtags.

Jumping on a rising trend (hashtag) puts your tweet in front of other users tweeting about the same topic. This exposure could bring you like-minded followers. It also makes your tweet searchable.

Trending hashtags change and vary depending on what industry you’re in, so do some research on hashtagify.me for popular trends before posting.

Regular hashtags like #FollowFriday, #TBT (throwback Thursday) or #MotivationMondays are also good trends to join.

Unlike seasonal hashtags like #NFL2016, these are used every week so your tweets won’t be irrelevant once the trend passes. These hashtags may not be related to your industry, so you’ll have to find a way to make it relevant for your existing and future followers.

Career Coach Michelle Riklan (@ResumeWoman) uses the hashtag #FunnyFriday to add humor in a challenging job market.

#FunnyFriday – Riklan Resources… always trying to find the humor in a challenging job market. pic.twitter.com/RWHHPOaL2H

— Michelle A. Riklan (@ResumeWoman) September 23, 2016

Start Slow with Real Followers

I know finding real followers might be slower than you expected. But that’s the only way it will be worth it.

How slow (or fast) it goes depends on the effort you’re willing to put into building your authority on Twitter. For now, just keep at it. Keep sharing interesting articles and keep joining interesting conversations.

Next week, I’ll discuss how to use Twitter lists to grow your audience even further. I’ll also tackle different ways businesses use Twitter to serve their customers and grow their online presence at the same time.

As a beginner, it might be overwhelming learning how to use Twitter for businesses but it is a key part of building your authority on social media.

What is a tweet? How do you get followers? Why is there a character limit? These are just some of the questions a new twitter user might ask.

Twitter, unlike Facebook and other social networking sites focuses on “microblogging,” where users post short entries called ‘tweets.’

How is Twitter Different from Other Social Networks?

Aside from the character limits, Twitter is also more accessible to the general public. User tweets and profiles are made public by default.

Unless you ‘protect’ your tweets, everyone can see it, even if they’re not connected to your account in any way. Protected tweets are only seen by your approved followers.

Because Twitter is such a public domain, it’s also easier to build a following compared to other social networks. Facebook and LinkedIn limits your posts reach to your connections and extended network, which includes groups and friends of friends.

Another upside to this is it’s easy to connect with potential customers, influencers, businesses, and the media. With Twitter, you can tweet to big businesses like Apple (@AppleSupport), and celebrities like Katy Perry (@katyperry).

The downside is the community is somewhat hyperactive that it’s sometimes impossible to get heard with all the noise. On average, over 6000 tweets are published every second.

Twitter Jargon, Character Limits and Other Restrictions

Like any website or app, part of understanding how to use Twitter for business is familiarizing yourself with the site’s limitations and jargon.

• Tweet: Any 140-character text post, which may also include a picture, video, or link that you post on your feed. The character limit includes spaces, special characters, and URLs, so use a URL shortener. 

Getting used to writing concise tweets is probably the hardest part of learning how to use Twitter for Business. For me, that meant using “&” instead of “and,” and using actual numbers (i.e. 1, 2, 3) instead of writing their text counterpart. Using tweet templates also made things easier.

Update: The 140-character limit no longer includes the “@usernames,” “RT, URL, and the URL for the picture attachment.

• Feed: The list of tweets from people you’ve followed, as shown in your home page.

• @ – The sign used to call out other Twitter users in Tweets. Users will use this sign, followed by your username to reply to your tweets, or mention you in their own posts.

• Handle: The “at” (@) sign followed by your Twitter username. Usernames are limited to 15 characters, but you can change it later on as long as the name you pick is available.

• Bio: A 160-character description of yourself or your business. It can also include hashtags, business hours, a list of services, or your company tagline.This bio from Keoghs Farm is simple and straight to the point. The added #glutenfree hashtag also increases their chances of getting found by other gluten free enthusiasts.

• Follow: Following another Twitter user means you’ve subscribed to get their tweets on your feed. To do this, just click the “follow” button next to the person’s username on their profile.“Following” also refers to the number of users following you on Twitter.

• Retweet: Tweets preceded by an “RT” on the platform. A retweet happens when you repost a tweet you saw from another user, thereby forwarding the post to your followers. Users RT a tweet to share interesting posts, while attributing the user who originally posted it.
  To retweet something, you can click the RT sign at the bottom of the tweet.

  

  Another option is to add “RT” at the start of anything you want to retweet then add the handle (@username) of the person who originally posted it. Here’s an example retweet from Ted Rubin

👍🏻 RT @TLBurriss: @TedRubin thanks for the messages this AM. I’m working on a Listening in my Workspace video. These help. Happy Holidays

— Ted Rubin (@TedRubin) November 21, 2016

• @Mention: The “@” sign followed by the username. It’s one of the ways Twitter users can interact with each other for everyone to see. A mention is a way to call other user’s attention to what you tweeted, such as if you included them in your article or shared one of their tweets or articles, like this post by Bruce Clay that John shared on Twitter.

How to Optimize for Google Home NOW #OKGoogle https://t.co/bLokA2B0dU via @BruceClayInc

— John McDougall (@Mcdougalljohnd) November 19, 2016

@Mentions don’t have to be at the start of the tweet like an RT is. In fact, mentions are often at the end of the post.

• @Reply: Starts with the “@” sign followed by the username of the person you’re replying to. Everyone on Twitter can see @mentions. But @replies are only seen on both participants’ timeline, and by people following both of you.
   
  To avoid confusion, just click the reply button below the tweet you want to discuss.

• Direct Message (DM): The private version of an @reply. Twitter only allows users to send direct messages to their followers to prevent spam.

• Like: Getting a like means someone appreciates what you tweeted. To like a tweet, just click the heart sign below it.

• Geotagging or Geolocation: You can add the hash sign (#) and the location on your tweet, or add the location using Twitter’s geotagging feature.Let’s say you’re on a vacation touring the Golden Gate Bridge. When you tweet about it, you can add #GoldenGateBridge to your tweet to let others know you’re there.For businesses, geotagging can help you reach audiences in a specific area. Reef Retreat Resort in Boracay used the hashtag #boracay and #Philippines to target tourists traveling to that island.
  

  Louis Hutter ripping today @ReefRetreat #kitesurfing #boracay #asia #philippines #kiteboarding #kite #kitesurf #kiteholiday #freestyle #jump pic.twitter.com/ZkoaFZHd2E

  — Reef Retreat Resort (@ReefRetreat) November 18, 2016

• List: A customized list of Twitter users organized per category of your choosing. For instance, you can create a Twitter list of your friends, competitors, or target customers. A list can help you monitor the Twitter feed of everyone in that group.

• Pinned Tweets: A tweet marked as important that will remain on top of your feed.

• Follower to Following Ratio: Not exactly a Twitter jargon, but helpful to know if you don’t want to have problems. If your followers far outstrip the number of people you follow, that’s okay. It just means you’re selective of who you follow but tons of people like subscribing to your tweets.On the other hand, if you follow way more users than you have followers, Twitter may temporarily ban you from following others. You’ll also come across as an auto-follower or spammer.Twitter’s rules are pretty clear about this:
  • You can follow a total of 1000 people a day, and 5000 in total.
  • After you’ve followed 5000 people, whether you can follow more people or not depends on your follower to following ratio.

The 5-Step Guide to Creating a Twitter Profile

1. Set Up Your Account

Go to Twitter.com, then type your complete name, email, and chosen password. Hit “Sign-up.”

2. Pick a Username

You’ll need to pick a username after creating your account. For personal accounts, authors, and solopreneurs, it’s best to use your real name.

If your name is too common, or it’s already used by another user, you can try adding a number or use your middle initial. Using “the,” “real,” or “official” also works for key personalities, so it could work for you, too. For instance, writer John Soares uses the prefix “the” on his Twitter username.

Businesses have different options. Some owners use their personal account so they use their name for the username and mention their company’s name in the bio. It’s a good strategy if you’re well-known in your industry. Others use the company’s name for Twitter so they can build a dedicated brand for their business.

Pro Tip: Use caps for your first and last name to make it readable. Same goes for your business’s name.

3. Upload Your Profile Picture

Since the profile picture also appears beside every tweet you post, it’s better to use your brand’s logo to avoid confusion. Profile pictures should be 400 x 400 pixels.

4. Choose a Header Image for Your Brand

Like the name suggests, this picture appears on top of your Twitter.

Choose an image that will remind people of your brand. Don’t use a stretched out version of your logo—that’s redundant. For Uber, it’s their iconic city backdrop that’s also featured on their website.

Header images are 1500 x 500 pixels, but it’s often cropped 2:1 on mobiles so check it on different screens.

5. Write a Catchy Bio

Twitter bios are limited to 160 characters. Don’t worry, there’s a separate space for your website and location, so that’s two less things to worry about.

Use your bio to explain what your business does, and what your potential followers could expect from following you. Use a combination of keywords and clever copywriting to write a bio that’s both memorable and informative.

This spot-on bio from Salesforce sums it up. It’s complete with a catchy one-liner, tells people what they will tweet about, and also informs users of their active tweeting hours.

Next Step: Start Following People

Twitter is lonely if you don’t follow people. It’s also hard to get followers if you don’t follow other people first. Don’t worry, Twitter makes this easy for you by showing you a list of your contacts that’s already using the platform.

Next week, I’ll tackle more strategies for building your authority and an active community on Twitter. Stay tuned!

This is the last of our 3-part Instagram tutorial. If you missed parts 1 and 2, here’s a quick recap:

Part 1: Instagram Lingo, Profile Creation and Optimization

Part 2: Basic Photography, Editing, and Sharing Tips for Beginners

Instagram is a great platform for visual marketing, and a good source of a highly-targeted leads. But that’s only if you use it correctly.

Since we already covered the basics of how to use Instagram for business, including profile creation and photo editing, this week is all about promoting what you post.

I’ll show you how to get more likes and followers, so you can build your authority and an engaged audience in the process.

Are You Posting at the Right Time?

The Golden Hour

In general, Hubspot’s data suggest posting anytime on Mondays and Thursdays, except 3 PM to 4PM. That applies to whatever time zone you’re in.

Not targeting a specific state? About 80% of the U.S. population are in Eastern and Central time, so you can reach both audiences by finding the middle ground of both time zones.

Unfortunately, there’s no perfect time to post on Instagram because it varies per business, location, and target audience. Take this advice with a grain of salt.

The only way to find the best schedule is to experiment posting on different days and times. Then review your engagement statistics to check which days, or times, get you the most likes and comments.

Post at Least Once a Day

After analyzing 5000 Instagram accounts, Quintly, a social analytics tool, revealed that the average user posts at least once a day. Accounts with more followers post an average of two to three pictures a day.

What does this tell you? Post consistently and post often, two to three times a day, if you can. That’s probably one of the easiest Instagram tips for beginners.

Short Instagram Tutorial for Getting More Followers

Well-known brands average 37 comments or likes for every one thousand followers they have, according to a report from Track Maven. In other words, smaller brands can expect 3.7 likes or comments for every 100 followers they have.

How do you get so many likes and comments?

Get more followers.

1. Use Hashtags to Connect with Other ‘Grammers

Hashtags aren’t just used to amp your photo’s number of views. You can also use them to find your industry’s influencers and customers.

VSCO cam is a popular photo editing app, that’s why many photographers and enthusiasts use the hashtag #vsco.

If you’re in the business of photography, whether that’s selling cameras, accessories, or photography classes, you can get more followers by searching Instagram for this hashtag. Then like and leave insightful comments on photos that include it.

Other users will see your comments, and some of them might check your feed and follow you, especially if your comment got them curious or interested.

Use these tools to find popular hashtags:

• Populagram
• Webstagram

2. Try Shout-outs for Shout-outs

You might’ve seen ‘S4S’ on some Instagram comments. It means shout-out for shout-out, a give and take strategy where two users promote each other’s account to their own followers.

In the example below, @thedannorris gave a shout-out to @richbenny to promote him to his followers.

A proper shout-out isn’t just tagging the user’s handle, it should also include a screenshot of one of their Instagram uploads or comments.

S4S Instagram Tutorial:

To get started, look for Instagram accounts targeting the same audience you do. Type your target keywords or hashtags into Instagram’s search box, or search the web for related accounts. Put them on your ‘target list’ if a review of their feed reveals a previous S4S.

Make sure an s4s is mutually beneficial for both parties before commenting on a photo, or sending a private message.

3. Take Advantage of User Generated Content (UGC) 

Using the hashtags #BufferCommunity and #BufferStories, Buffer gave their customers a way to show the world how they use the social media scheduling service.

How does this relate to getting more followers?

Buffer got a ton of posts, from digital nomads sharing travel pictures, to marketing tips from other social media experts. Of course, their users loved getting featured on the brand’s page. They get bragging rights and exposure so it works both ways.

Ikea Norway did this, too when they asked followers to share favorite products they found on Ikea’s catalog.

But this list of Instagram tips for business won’t be useful if it’s exclusive to big brands. So the question now is how can small businesses and relatively unknown brands leverage UGC?

Use a combination of contests and clear call to actions.

Ikea gave participants a chance to win free items in exchange for posting a photo and tagging them. Buffer encouraged users by including a call to action after each post saying, “Share your story using #BufferStories.”

Hold a contest for free items or discounts. Encourage users to tag you with pictures of how they used your products and services with a specific, branded hashtag. Your hashtag can be something as simple as #BrandNameStories, or #ILoveBrandname.

5 Step Instagram Tutorial for Getting More Likes

1. Pick a Theme and Stick to it

Successful Instagram accounts have a theme, one that’s consistent through the pictures, videos, and captions they post. For example, there are accounts filled with artfully crafted lunch boxes, and accounts filled with dogs and cats.

Mind you, a little variety keeps your audience from getting bored, such as in the example above from @lunchboxdad. But consistency establishes your authority in a given subject, and lets other followers know what they can expect—and WHY they should follow you.

2. Edit Your Images

Use a photo-editing app, besides the one on Instagram. VSCO cam and Snapseed are good options. Photoshop and other professional editing software work, too.

3. Stay on Trend

Reactive storytelling is the strategy of jumping on trending hashtags and events to connect with your followers.

#Oreo is a master of this strategy, as proven by their #Halloween recipe posts with 13,400 likes.

Small businesses can capitalize on events and trending hashtags, too. Take for example @justjennrecipes who used #StarWarsDay to showcase some of her recipes.

4. Write Share-Worthy Captions

Yes, Instagram is a picture and video dominated platform. But captions shouldn’t be an afterthought. Writing informative and witty captions makes your brand memorable. It’s the fastest way to stand out from a sea of uploads, especially if you’re in a competitive market.

Tell a story, but leave a little to the imagination. Don’t state the obvious. If an image is easy enough to understand, don’t waste the caption by explaining it further. Use it to say something that let’s your audience see things from your point of view.

@Solarcity’s post is a good example of this.

1. Ask Followers to Tag their Friends

Simply Measured’s report says posts that tag other users have a 37% higher engagement rate. If you post a picture of your product, you can also encourage followers to tag friends who might be in need of it.

Designer @jacvanek, maker of customized clothes, mugs, and accessories, uses this strategy to promote her products on Instagram.

 Basic Cross-Network Promotion

Tell your friends and followers on other networks that you’re also on Instagram. Share your username and profile link in your Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

If your account is new, you can post a tweet or status update to announce it. Email your list and post it on your website, too. Better yet, put it in your email signature and include a logo linking to your profile at the bottom of your website.

Of course, your posts won’t be seen by everyone. So you should promote your Instagram using other networks and your blog from time to time. You can do this by using Instagram to post on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter.

Another way is to embed your own Instagram photos into related blog posts.

That’s it for our 3-part Instagram tutorial. I hope you learned how to use Instagram for business, so you can get leads and build your authority in this photo-sharing platform.