If you’re spending a significant amount of time on Twitter trying to increase your presence there for marketing purposes, it can be frustrating when you don’t get the level of following you expected. What’s even more frustrating is when people do follow you, only to unfollow again a few days later. If you’re finding that your Twitter following is waning despite all your efforts, here are three issues you might want to have a look at to help turn things around.
1. 24/7 nonstop promotion. Although the primary point of marketing is to share your message with your audience, if your entire Twitter stream is promotion, promotion, promotion, you’re going to have a difficult time engaging with your followers. Try to mix your content up a little, interweaving directly promotional tweets with other content that may interest your audience.
2. Irrelevant content. On the other side of the spectrum is the opposite problem – not keeping your stream on-topic enough. Remember that this is your company Twitter account, not your personal one. Although it’s okay to have a tweet here and there about something totally irrelevant, the majority of your tweet stream should be at least somewhat related to your field.
3. All business, no social. Here’s where the balancing act comes in. Although you don’t want to treat your business account as if it were your personal one, you also don’t want to come across as cold and inhuman. After all, the great thing about social networking for business is that it gives a more human face to what would otherwise be faceless companies. Do your best to interact with others in your field, sharing their relevant content and participating in discussions where your expertise could come in handy. This is a great opportunity to show what you have to offer in terms of knowledge.
4. Not getting the frequency right. Nobody likes to follow an account that tweets every five seconds, but on the other hand, if you only tweet once a month, people will get bored and unfollow you. Say something when you have something to say, but don’t overdo it. You can get away with more frequent tweets if you’re actively participating with others and your tweet content is both interesting and relevant for your audience. Play around with getting the balance right and see if that helps your follower list grow more consistently.
