I know a lot of bloggers and entrepreneurs out there kinda hate Twitter – and I used to feel that way too.

Back in 2011 when I first opened my account, I used to just tweet random thoughts out into empty space or tweet about inside jokes with my friends.

@Jeisenberg2 i want to submit the scutigeromorpha centipede to the #fantasyarthropodleague. WHO SHALL BE THE CHALLENGER

— Mishvo in Motion (@Mishvo) June 4, 2012

But this year I decided to finally embrace Twitter. Why? Because I noticed that unlike Instagram, I was actually getting click-throughs to my blog posts through Twitter. I figured if I tried to grow my following and use Twitter to connect with new people, it could help me grow my blog.

So I’ve now graduated into a more nuanced Twitter strategy (that doesn’t include any fantasy arthropod league tweets sadly) that has allowed me to grow my account and, surprisingly, fall in love with Twitter.

Here’s what you can do to get organized on a platform that can feel like a whole lot of noise:

Make a Kickass Twitter Profile

I quickly learned that no one is gonna want to connect with you if they don’t know who you are or what you’re all about.

Some tips on how to make your Twitter profile fun and appealing to other users:

• Use hashtags in your bio mixed with regular text to explain who you are/what you do briefly. Including hashtags and @’s will help people find you based on your work/interests. Twitter is a pretty relaxed place where people like to see a bit of your personal life too, so feel free to add something personal to your bio as well. Your bio is key: many times I follow people based solely on if I like what I read there.

• Consider adding emojis to your name that reflect your personality or biz/blog branding. My girl Kyla does this on her Twitter profile if you’re looking for an example.

• Brand your cover photo. You can use Canva (a free drag and drop graphic design tool) to create one that is exactly the right size.

• Look friendly in your profile photo. Don’t be a logo, be a real face! Twitter is a personal place – be you, not a faceless brand.

• Add links to your bio. If someone decides they want to know more about you, where should they look? Make sure you give them at least one option. Put your blog/personal website link in the link section and add either your email or another social media link to the body of your bio if you want.

How to Get Followers

I started off with something like 300 followers when I decided to up my Twitter game. My goal was 500. Once I hit that, I aimed for 1000, and ended up overshooting by 200 followers. I’m not Twitter-famous (or even close) but I have seen dramatic growth since trying harder on Twitter.

I used a bit of Jeff Bullas’s 10-minutes-a-week-Twitter-growth-strategy to passively grow my account.

And nowadays, when people follow me, I look at their page and decide if I want to follow back. So I get a lot of follow-unfollows but it’s all good – I only want the people who are actually interested in my content/going to engage to stick around anyways.

Some other ideas to get more followers:

• Join Twitter chats related to your niche (e.g. #TTOT for travelers). You can search on Google to find chats in your niche. (Psst: Travelers can check out this list.)

• Participate in Twitter share threads in blogging Facebook groups. If you are a blogger, consider joining Facebook groups specifically made for reciprocal sharing threads. This means everyone posts their tweet (for example. There are different types of engagement threads) and each participant has to like and/or retweet 5 other tweets from the thread. I like the Grow Your Blog Facebook group but there a ton if you search for them.

What to Tweet

I incorporated Jeff Bullas’s strategy, plus ended up spending time on Twitter (because I enjoy it) to tweet a balance of the following types of tweets. I recommend tweeting 80% the first three and 20% links.

Tweet just text and maybe hashtags

• Random thoughts or opinions – Shoot for positive, informative, clever, relevant, or funny. A straightforward text-based tweet containing one thought/idea is easy for people to like, retweet, or reply to. Plus, it’s kinda the meat and potatoes of Twitter: people want to know what you’re thinking and doing.

Coconut milk (like the one in the can) is actually made of magic 🌴✨😍

— Mishvo in Motion (@Mishvo) February 1, 2017

• Personal and professional achievements – People LOVE this kind of stuff on social media. It somehow doesn’t come off as bragging when you just get excited about your own wins (or maybe it does but people still like it). Example:

Feels awesome to inspire people’s vacations! pic.twitter.com/JnIGM8bmz0

— Mishvo in Motion (@Mishvo) January 3, 2017

• Quotes you love – These are easy for people to retweet. Add a #quote and/or #qotd hashtag. Example:

“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.” – Seth Godin #quote

— Nomadic Matt (@nomadicmatt) January 23, 2017

Tweet photos

• Tweet your Instagram photos – Connect Twitter with Instagram using IFTT so your insta pics actually show up as native Twitter pics (not links).

• Tweet photos and screenshots straight to Twitter – Caption your pics with text and emojis and/or hashtags.

Retweet other people’s content

• Straight up retweet other people’s content.

• Quote retweet and add your two cents. It’s best if you write something that makes people curious. You can also use quote retweet to reply to people, for example:

Don’t forget to look yall https://t.co/9zNmSOmJtG

— Mishvo in Motion (@Mishvo) February 1, 2017

Tweet links (20% of the time)

• Tweet other people’s links directly. Use Buffer to schedule them to shorten the link. Add @username to tag the original author, add hashtags — use Hashtagify (table mode and sort by popularity) to find relevant hashtags. For example:

A Digital Nomad Guide to Living in #Bangkok, #Thailand https://t.co/jEziWK3bWn | @goatsontheroad #digitalnomad pic.twitter.com/iJKyB69q7z

— Mishvo in Motion (@Mishvo) December 26, 2016

• Tweet your own links using same Buffer and Hashtagify tools. This is probably where you want to drive traffic. I use Buffer to see which tweets to my blog posts get the most clicks and reschedule them to post a few more times over the span of a month.

• Pin a tweet to your profile!! This means it will remain at the top of your page so when other people stop by, they will see it first. I switch out my pinned tweets every time I publish a new post. Some people pin a tweet that introduces themselves, maybe with a photo attached. Here’s an example from Aileen Adalid, who is promoting her Youtube channel in her pinned tweet:

Honestly, when all else fails, guys, just pay someone to handle your social media accounts. It might be worth it to just pass it off to someone who is an expert at this stuff so you can focus on doing things you love and still reap the rewards of an excellent Twitter growth strategy.

Related:

How to Network on Twitter (Without Getting Overwhelmed)