Getting Started on Twitter and Growing Your Following

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Goals of This Deck

Provide strategic advice to people who are just getting started on Twitter and are looking to build their following.

I’ve included practical examples from my own experience throughout.

Creating a strong Twitter following can lead to strong reader and customer engagement and customer acquisition.

Build Your Twitter Following

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Define Your Audience

Who are the people most interested in what you’re trying to sell and what you’re saying?

Example: Businesspeople interested in tech & startups. Entrepreneurs. New Yorkers. People aged 25-60. ~50/50 male/female split.

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Decide What to Tweet: Get in Your Audience’s Head

What keeps your audience up at night? What advice or new information are they looking for?

Example: News about tech and startups. Tips about how to run a successful startup.

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Decide What to Tweet: Model Others’ Success

Find influencers in your category and see what they’re posting about.

Example: Google “top tech and startup twitter accounts.”

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Decide What to Tweet: Find the Intersection…

Find the intersection of your interests, your daily activities, and your audience’s interests.

Graphic credit: socialmediaexaminer.com

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Decide What to Tweet: Write a List

List the topics you plan to tweet about. Find topics that already intersect with your daily activities, interests, and goals to maximize efficiency.

Example:

1. Corporate business lessons (e.g., news about companies’ success)

2. Personal business lessons (e.g., advice about how to succeed as an employee or executive)

3. Business book quotes (I read a lot of business books, so this is easy for me)

4. Startup news

5. Tech and media trends

6. Interesting statistics

7. NYC stuff (I live in New York)

8. Misc interesting news (e.g., that I come across while reading miscellaneous publications)

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Post a Few Tweets to Get Started

Stay on topic for your first set of tweets.

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Define Your Key Words & Put Them in Your Profile

People will look at your profile and tweets to decide whether they want to follow you.

Example:

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Start Following Others: Search Hashtags

Search hashtags of your key words on Twitter to find people to follow.

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

Start Following Others: Sign Up for WeFollow.com

Decide which categories to list yourself under, and follow people in those same categories.

Bonus Tip: Others will start following you shortly after you sign up. Follow them back!

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

More to Come!

In my next SlideShare release, I’ll cover the topics below.

1. How to post tweets that get favorited and re-tweeted.

2. Set and track goals

3. Use lists to unclutter your feed

4. 4 great tools to help you grow and manage your following

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

References

1. http://mashable.com/2010/06/17/twitter-strategy-business/

2. http://askaaronlee.com/twitter-strategies/

3. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-find-great-content-to-share-on-twitter/#more-41129

4. http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/5-essential-elements-of-a-great-twitter-content-strategy_b38400

5. http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/33-twitter-tips-for-authors-book.html

6. http://selfpublishingteam.com/using-twitter-effectivel/

Jeff Kauflin | @JeffKauflin

About Me

Jeff Kauflin, author and head of Talent Management at Marketing Evolution (all social media posts are my own).

Articles I’ve written – please take a read:

— How Match.com’s Founder Created the World’s Biggest Dating Site – And Walked Away With Just $50,000: http://read.bi/1flgPdD. 29,000+ views. (Business Insider)

— OkCupid’s strategy to combat ad-blockers: http://bit.ly/1egqOQZ. (Entrepreneur magazine)

I’m currently writing a business book about online dating. Starting with the birth of the industry in 1995, it tells the inside story of how Match and OkCupid used brilliant strategies to change the way people date forever.