As one of the most popular social media sites, Twitter is an obvious place for businesses to go to improve their social media marketing strategy. If you’ve created a profile, but haven’t seen the growth you’ve hoped for, there are several ways to gain followers. Here are a few simple ways you can start today to boost your overall Twitter followers and increase your social media marketing engagement.

Share Insightful Content

If you want Twitter users to recognize you as an important voice in your industry, start sharing insightful content that relates to your products and services. Writing your own content and then posting it to Twitter is a great way to go, but you can also share articles written by other users. Remember to mention the author’s name and link to their Twitter handle. This will not only help you amp up your Twitter content, but you’ll also connect with people who are in the same industry. If you remain consistent, people will recognize you and hopefully share your content with their own followers.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags allow people to search for topics on Twitter, so it’s important that you remember to include them in your posts. If you’re writing about direct mail, for example, try including the hashtag #directmail or #marketing. This allows your content to reach a larger audience and targets people who are searching for exactly what you can provide them. Since there are so many tweets being sent out at the same time, hashtags help keep your tweets organized and helps narrow down who you’re trying to reach. This is important if you want to start having conversations with the right audience.

Engage with Your Followers

Many people gain followers, but forget to interact with them. Engaging with your followers is important, especially if you want to keep them, but it also helps you gain more in the long run. If you make friends with your followers, they will be more likely to share your content with their followers or recommend you to people looking for your products and services. Engaging with potential customers is even more important. If they ask you a question about your company, make sure you help them out any way you can.

Tweet During Peak Times

When you tweet is just as important as what you tweet, so make sure you know when your tweets will reach the most people. Using programs like Buffer helps you set times and organize when your tweets will go out. A bitly study on Twitter explains that posting between 1-3pm Monday through Thursday is your best bet and will help you achieve a higher click count. If you want something read, don’t post after 3 on a Friday, and you should avoid tweeting on the weekends.

If you spend time putting in the work your Twitter profile needs, you will see an increase in your Twitter followers. Is your company on Twitter? What do you do to improve engagement and draw in more followers? Share with us!