There are many Twitter users who seek to maximize the number of "followers" tracking their Tweets. While this may be a useful strategy for stroking one's ego, when it comes to nurturing relationships with the potential to evolve into new business, the quality of one's followers is more important than the quantity.
Corbett Barr recently provided some tips on the TwiTip blog on how to build a high-quality Twitter following. In a nutshell, Barr recommends the following:
- Stay on topic: Barr argues that "[i]t is much easier to connect with people who will genuinely be interested in what you have to say if those people can figure out what you’ll be tweeting about." To this end, Barr recommends targeting a narrow range of topics (ideally, ones in which you have expertise and can offer valuable insights).
- Search for like-minded peers with TwitterSearch: Barr recommends searching regularly for keywords related to the topic you've chosen to tweet about. Then check out the people writing on the same subject and start following them; presumably, they'll also care about what you have to say on the subject, and start following you. Barr explains how to use RSS to monitor conversations on your chosen topics.
- Actively ReTweet: religiously retweet the "tweets" of your highest quality followers; they will typically reciprocate, and thereby promote your content to their followers.
All good advice. Read Barr's full post.
Comments