Engaging on Twitter

So many people focus on the number of followers they have on Twitter but lack the engagement benefit Twitter provides.

Focus on engaging, not growing

Yes, I’ll admit, the number of followers is important. It shows how many possibilities you have of getting in front of the reader’s eyes.

With that being said, what is the point of having 5,000, 10,000, or 20,000 followers on Twitter if you don’t get to talk to them? Now, engaging with 20,000 people seems outrageous, but, what if you looked at that follower number as a possibility to connect or learn something?

What worked for me

When I was a newbie to Twitter, I threw things out there and only the crickets answered. So, I gave up for a bit. (Like 4 years a bit.)

When I came back to Twitter, I looked around to see how other people were being seen. I had 200 followers…big whup.

That was when I saw people asking questions and pairing them with hashtags.

So, I gave it a try. I asked questions I needed to be answered as a new writer, and ones I was just plain curious about. And you know what? It worked!

Sooner than I expected, people were answering my questions and my followers were going up steadily. My posts averaged 400 likes and 400 shares!

The takeaway

The hard truth is, you get what you give. The more I engage with the people who answer me, the more I gain not only in followers but insight and eventually friends in the Twitter community.