When Twitter launched, everyone looked at it as a great way to get people to follow you back and help you grow your audience. Unfortunately, a lot of people failed to realize that it wasn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ social network. Rather, Twitter is a site that requires a little time, some effort and a plan of attack to amass a strong and loyal following.
Here are 5 reasons why people aren’t following you back on Twitter.
- No profile photo
Are you new to Twitter, or did you just forget to add a profile photo? Not only are you missing out on personal branding by including a logo or headshot, but by not having a profile photo, it makes you look like you aren't even interested in using Twitter because you didn't take 2 minutes to add a basic photo to make your profile unique.- Boring tweets
On Twitter, you have to find a way to stand out from the crowd. If you're just posting your Foursquare check-ins or automating your entire Twitter stream, why would anyone want to follow you? You're predictable and your tweets are boring. Make your tweets interesting, share what it is that you like to talk about so that others can join in on the conversation too.- Protected tweets
One surefire way to not gain followers is to set your Twitter stream to private. The benefit to using Twitter is that other people can read your tweets and get to know you, without knowing you - and then make the connection. Using private tweets embodies everything that Twitter is not about, so avoid it if you want to gain followers. Protected tweets also are not searchable, so it's like you're not on Twitter anyways.- One-sided conversations
If you want to lose followers left and right, then follow this tip - and make Twitter a one-sided conversation. A majority of people build large followings because of one thing, they listen. That's the key to building followers. Listening and sharing your thoughts when necessary. Not only does this make you likeable, but it gives others the chance to say something, which everyone can learn and benefit from.
- Too many tweets
While it's ok to send out a large number of tweets, don't tweet too much. Not only do you clog up your followers Twitter stream, but it can also be quite annoying and cause people to unfollow you. This is a great example of sending too many tweets. Twitter is not about the quantity of tweets, but the quality and value you add to the conversation with them.
Remember, be proactive. Reply to other people’s tweets, retweet something you like, and show others on Twitter that you’re active. In no time, you’re sure to build and grow your followers because other people will want to follow you back because you’re so interesting and bring a lot to the conversation.
For those of you who want to build your follower base, feel free to follow me @ckroks – I’ll even follow you back.