When starting out on Twitter, one of the first things that people want to know after they have setup their profile and sent out a few tweets is how to find followers. Not just any followers, but followers who would be interested in what they have to offer.
As you may know, one of the ways to get followers is to start following people in hopes that they will follow you in return. So how do you up the odds that people you follow who are interested in your topic will follow you back?
There are several ways to find followers that are likely to follow you back. The key is in looking at the ratio of the person’s followers vs. following. If they have 100,000 people following them, and they are only following 100, chances are you may not make the cut. But if they are following 98,999 people, then more than likely they are utilizing an automation tool that follows everyone who follows them.
3 Free Ways to Find Reciprocal Followers
So outside of clicking on users one by one to see what their following ratio is, how do you find relevant followers who are likely to follow you back?
TwitterCounter
TwitterCounter keeps a historical track of how many people are following Twitter members, including predictions based on those numbers as to what their following will be the next day and 30 days out.
If you visit the TwitterCounter search page and search for your topic, you will get results based on the information in Twitter member profiles (as opposed to what they tweet, which isn’t always a good indicator of a particular member’s interest). The results show the number of people following each member, the number of people the member follows, and the number of tweets they have sent. If you authorize TwitterCounter to your Twitter account, you can follow people directly from the list by clicking the blue follow link.
TweepML
TweepML allows members to add lists of Twitter members based on specific criteria. There are several lists of Twitter members who follow back. Some example lists include:
Each list gives the user’s name and their profile description. Simply use your browser’s search feature to highlight particular keywords and check those members to follow. Once you authorize TweepML through your Twitter account, you can follow selected members. Also, remember not to follow too many people every day as you can possibly get banned by Twitter for doing so.
Tweepi
Once you authorize Tweepi through your Twitter account, you can enter a Twitter member’s username and Tweepi will bring back the followers of this user and information such as their number of following, followers, tweets, retweets, etc. So find a Twitter member in the same field, preferably with a huge following, but not someone who auto follows back (ie. someone who doesn’t follow many others). This way, you can be (almost) sure that everyone following them is actually interested in their topic, not just in a return follow.
Other Ways to Gain Followers
There are many, many ways to get followers. In addition to seeking out new followers, you can also gain new followers by:
- 1- Adding your Twitter ID to your website, blog, email signature, business card, and to other social networks.
- 2- Joining forums relevant to your topic and adding your Twitter ID to your signature as well as to any lists of forum members on Twitter.
- 3- Using your Twitter URL as a website URL when commenting on blogs on your subject of interest.
They’re Following – Now What?
What is the point of having a large following if they are not actually paying attention to you? Sure they are following you, but with the invention of Twitter Lists, they may not actually be following your updates. So your next goal is to get their attention. This can be done in a variety of ways, including but not limited to the following.
Direct Messages
Although most of them are automated or spam, some people are still paying attention to their direct messages. So if someone sends you a Facebook link, go add them as a friend. Be sure to thank them for their message on Twitter @yourusername so they know who you are on Twitter and how you found them.
Blog Commenting
If your Twitter followers have blogs, go and leave a few valuable comments. If you don’t have a website, just include your Twitter profile URL as your website. The blog owner probably won’t miss that (unless they are one of the mega-blogs).
Retweets
Retweets generally get attention. So retweet users you hope to notice you, but also keep in mind that what you are retweeting is relevant to your followers. This way you are providing valuable information for your followers as well as (hopefully) garnering attention from other Twitter members. You can do this during the blog commenting proces as well by tweeting articles including their @theirusername.
Your Thoughts
What methods do you use to gain targeted Twitter followers, and how do you get them to engage and interact with you?
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
(7 comments) June 26, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Kristi, As a rather new food blogger and even newer Twitterer, I am enjoying reading your excellent posts. I can cook up a storm, but I am so low-tech as to be nearly no-tech! So I’m always on the lookout for ways to draw more followers/readers. Thank you.
(1 comments) April 22, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Very useful post indeed
NEW from Nimit kashyap@Corebloggers´s last blog ..Buying and selling on eBay
(4 comments) April 8, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Are there any lists where people will follow you but you don’t have to follow them back? lol perhaps paid lists?
I guess I’ve just never understood the reason to follow a ton of people that follow me back if all it is done for is to pad stats.
Chris Guthrie@Make Money on the Internet´s last blog ..Work hard and you can be successful – Crush It! book review
(232 comments) April 8, 2010 at 9:42 am
When I first used Twitter, I used a lot of these follow list. But I finally decided what was the point to have 2000+ followers / following if they do not care what your tweeting, you do not care about what their tweeting and you can’t read everything in your streams. I recently started clearing out my lists and once I get down to a good number, I will be looking for more followers.
I mostly use Tweepi for this. I never dump more than 300 people I follow and never follow more than 500 followers a week. Once I figure who follows back and has good information they are tweeting about, I unfollow any I do not need to follow.
element321´s last blog ..Blogging Tips, DoFollow Debate, and Web Design Tips Weekly Round Up April 05, 2009
(1 comments) April 8, 2010 at 8:20 am
Great article with some useful tips – especially like the Tweepi tool.
We also recently wrote a Twitter related post – why bloggers should engage in Twitter and how Social Media can help increase visitor numbers.
Thanks for some interesting info, Kristi!
Emma Cunningham´s last blog ..SEO Techniques and Advice From An Expert
(6 comments) April 7, 2010 at 11:14 am
Good reference piece Kristi! Have you had any luck with Buzzom for growing and flushing followers?
Jörgen Sundberg´s last blog ..Four Social Media Outposts You Ought to Have
I haven’t tried Buzzom. My personal favorite is Twitter Karma and just yesterday read a review of a service called Refollow that has a lot of following / unfollowing options.
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..8 Ways Businesses Should Use Social Media
(6 comments) April 7, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Mmm, I used to like Twitter Karma until they disabled the whacking function. Will check out Refollow, thanks.
Jörgen Sundberg´s last blog ..Craiglist and Indeed are the Best Places to Find Jobs, Social Media a Waste of Time Says Heather Sanford!
(59 comments) April 6, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Kristi,
Another simple way be found by other like minded tweeps is to list yourself in directories like We Follow and Twellow. These are just a couple but there are a ton of others out there just like them.
I think I’ve pretty much done a combination of everything you have mentioned plus the directories.
Another seems that seems to help once you have been around awhile and people start to know who you are, many people write post about stuff like. Top SEOs on Twitter who will follow you back. Etc.
Getting mentioned in blogs posts like these also seems to help.
I would definitely recommend those directories as well. I just chose these three because they showed you stats on whether people follow others back… I can’t remember if Twellow or WeFollow gives you any information like that. Those are definitely great places to find industry leaders as it sorts by the number of followers a member has.
Getting mentioned in a blog post by someone who is an authority is a big plus, as well as including your Twitter handle on your own sites and guest articles you write. People who have just read something informative by you are much more likely to follow you , or at least add you to a list.
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..Google PageRank Update – Internal Pages and Top Content Analysis
(59 comments) April 6, 2010 at 6:35 pm
That reminds me. I really should be adding my Twitter handle to my guest blog posts. That’s one thing I haven’t been, but should be doing.
Thanks for the reminder.
(1 comments) April 6, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Hello Kristie,
always great to see you guest posting with an interesting topic!
I looked into the given lists but find it rather difficult to choose from tweepml suitable followers.
The main reason for me to go directly to these Follow-Back-Lists is that i can have a quick look what’s their last tweet and how long ago their last tweet has been. Do we want to follow members who haven’t tweeted for several weeks or months?
Some of these “inactive” members seems to build up their followers for other purposes without interacting.
That’s why i started (since April) to build my own list mainly with real members (nearly no api or twitterfeed-only tweets) who are active in Twitter at least several times a week which communicate, interact & send some “link love” to other members for RTs and so on.
You can find the list here
http://twitter.com/cornyman/top500-follow-all-back
Martin@Cornyman’s Money-Blog´s last blog ..Is Moneza (now: Hubze) a scam or THE new hype in Social Media?
I understand what you mean. Although I would argue that some bots are kind of helpful – I think there is one for Alltop that just feeds in the latest posts that get added to their site, and it does have a lot of followers.
As far as inactive Twitter users, there are reasons that some people are inactive (especially last month since some people gave up tweeting for Lent). I was following someone for a while that was taking a Twitter sabbatical, but once he came back, he started following me and we have been interacting since.
That is a good list you have compiled on your profile. I think what I like about the TweepML site is it shows you the list members’ bios – you can go from their site directly to the Twitter list to check out both sides – profile descriptions and list members latest activity.
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..Google PageRank Update – Internal Pages and Top Content Analysis
(15 comments) April 6, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Very nice list Kristi. Found a few things I didn’t know but will check out asap.
Zack´s last blog ..Is your Website Just Competitive, or a Winner?
I’m always happy when I share something that people find new and interesting. It’s hard to tell, with a world of information out there, what is actually new news vs. what everyone has probably heard of already.
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..Google PageRank Update – Internal Pages and Top Content Analysis
(12 comments) April 6, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Nice selection of applications Kristi! In my case I prefer the organic way lately. After Twitter released the twitter-lists I use them for following interesting people and to increase also my followers in an indirect mode.
Listorious and Twibes also let follow without affecting your ratio followers / following and the TOS of twitter. In many cases people check their lists that are included and some return following you back.
BTW stumbled and later RT too
Cheers,
Gera
Gera @ SweetsFoodsBlog´s last blog ..Social Media – Foodies – Diet & Health Bloggers: Best of the Week
I think at a certain point, you don’t need to go out and look for followers anymore – they will find you based on referrals from others and from the content you share. But new users and ones that noticed a stall in their growth may need to turn to more pro-active ways of gaining followers, and at least with these tips, they might gain valuable followers vs. just anyone to boost the numbers.
Thanks for sharing the post socially!
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..Google PageRank Update – Internal Pages and Top Content Analysis
(12 comments) April 6, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Yes, agree with you that for new users, it is necessary a more proactive campaign because in principle nobody knows you.
Gera @ SweetsFoodsBlog´s last blog ..Social Media – Foodies – Diet & Health Bloggers: Best of the Week
(52 comments) April 6, 2010 at 1:58 pm
At first, I was saying. Oh this is a bad method, following a lot of people is the biggest mistake, but when you said retweeting and thanking, i had to agree with you.
Conversation is a great turn on in twitter. People prefer users that converse with them, help them and solve their queries.
Great points
Gautam Hans @ Blog Godown´s last blog ..5 steps to building a power blog
I don’t necessarily believe in following just anyone to get followers back, considering that those people probably never pay attention to you, especially with the invention of Twitter lists. But if you are seeking people interested in your niche to follow and you interact with them, then you stand more of a chance of building quality followers vs. just a huge list of uninvolved followers.
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..Google PageRank Update – Internal Pages and Top Content Analysis
(33 comments) April 6, 2010 at 11:33 am
I’ve used several options you’ve mentioned, I even have a list or two on TweepML. I’m not sure what the follow limit is on Twitter at the moment, but I usually find that keeping to around 150 follows keeps you safe, and then every other day you can check who isn’t following you back and then unfollow them…
Karen @ Blazing Minds´s last blog ..How To Unfollow Twitters with No Picture on Twitter The Easy Way
I think the follow limit is 10% of your followers per day, although I think my follower limitation lasted for three days once for doing less. I always try to make it a random number of follows per day, that way it doesn’t look like you have any kind of automated tool doing it for you, as I’m sure that is a TOS violation.
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..Google PageRank Update – Internal Pages and Top Content Analysis
(33 comments) April 6, 2010 at 11:54 am
Thanks, that clears it up a little, I don’t Twitter ever actually give away a full explanation of following and unfollowing, just so people can’t play the system
Karen @ Blazing Minds´s last blog ..Blazing Minds Weekly Round Up – Google Chrome, FireFox, Google Pagerank
Yeah, the number limit is all estimation. If Twitter straight out said you could follow 2,000 people a day, there would be tools galore to do so.
Kristi Hines´s last blog ..Google PageRank Update – Internal Pages and Top Content Analysis
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