When it comes to Twitter, you want to a lot of followers just like you want to follow others, but are there some things that turn people off?
Just having followers is also not enough, because it really comes down to the quality of your fan base.
However there are some things you should avoid when trying to maintain a valuable audience:
1. Not Enough Information
Twitter allows you 160 characters to fill out your bio information, so use it. Space is finite on this “about you” section so make it really count. People will be seeing this information when they are deciding whether or not to follow you. Make sure your statement says something relevant about your business.
2. No profile picture
One of my major deciding factors about following someone is if they are using the default profile picture. Someone that can’t bother to put up a photo usually does not get a follow back because they either don’t know what they are doing or they are a spam account.
3. Your Account is Private
Unless your account is marked as public, people who may be interested in following you will not be able to see what you tweet about. If someone can’t get a feel for what they are getting into with following you, they are more likely to pass. Make your account public to get the most traffic.
4. CAPS and #Hashtags
You don’t want to annoy your followers, so avoid using all caps to make your post stand out in the feed. If your content is good enough, people will engage with you, so don’t resort to teenage antics to draw attention. Also, the character limit is set to 140 with tweets. Make sure you aren’t using more than half of that for hashtagging or people will think you don’t have the content to fill a whole tweet.
If your sole goal is to get followers and all you tweet is “Follow Me” or #followback, you will rapidly lose your audience. People want substance and content that is engaging, or else they will get tired of you, as well they should. Focus on putting out information that is useful and relevant to what your audience is interested in and what you have to provide them.
6. You Don’t Follow Back
Following a legitimate account back on Twitter is like giving a handshake. It acknowledges that you notice when you have new followers and appreciate the new fan. Stay on top of your new followers to make sure you don’t miss any opportunities.
7. Never Engaging
This should go without saying, but take the time to respond to messages, mentions and comments. People follow accounts on Twitter that they have a connection with, so encourage that by reaching out to your fans and let them know you are listening.
8. Not Tweeting Regularly
Stay active or the dead air could cost you. The best accounts to follow are the ones that are sharing fresh content often, but not so often that they flood the feed. There is a fine line between under-tweeting and over-tweeting so be sure to be aware of how often you are speaking to your followers. Again, keep the content engaging and steady.
9. No Original Content and Too Much Repetition
Retweeting relevant tweets is a good way to stay engaged in the conversation on Twitter about your industry, but only retweeting and not posting original content yourself can hurt you. Your followers want to know what YOU have to say, not just other people that they may already be following. Keep your content relevant to your interests and those that share them.
10. Not Making Sense
This is another thing that should go without saying, but re-read anything you are about to tweet before you tweet it. Does it make sense? How will your followers respond? Will they know what you are talking about? Always proofread to prevent confusing anyone.
11. You Are Always Selling Something
Obviously it’s important to your company or brand to have a following on Twitter because it increases your visibility to potential consumers. However, you don’t want to annoy your follower base by ALWAYS trying to sell your products. Instead, approach tweeting as a way to inform your audience about their interests as it relates to your products. How-to videos, links to more information, and pictures of products in use are much more likely to engage your audience than constant sales pitches.
12. Bad Follower to Followed Ratio
Following way more people than follow you shows people that you are either too aggressive or unpopular. Following way fewer people than follow you tells people you aren’t very engaging. Keep this number more balanced to reflect an active and watchful account that is interested in audience involvement.
13. Your Content is Disproportionate to Your Following
Have you ever seen an account that has several thousand followers but no tweets? A name without content may gather you followers at first, but why should people stick with you if you have nothing to offer? Similarly, having only a few followers and thousands of tweets tells people that you oversaturate people. A good rule of thumb is having no more than 2 tweets per follower, for example if you have 10,000 followers it’s okay to have 10,000 tweets. Keep your tweets in check and make sure they are adding something valuable to the feed of your followers.
Ultimately, there are no set rules to getting and keeping followers on Twitter or any other social media site. The best way to maintain a healthy social media following is by taking an organic approach. Consider the value of what you put out there and how it will be received by those who share your interests.