0-200 followers in two weeks, with three threads. 17 hacks to grow your Twitter audience.

Many of us are struggling with building an audience, especially on Twitter.
I read dozens of articles on how to build an audience on Twitter and decided to try a couple of techniques.

I started to work on my Twitter account about two weeks ago.
Here are the results:
Followers: 0 (beginning of period) / 200 (end of period) -> +200
Engagement: 140 (BOP) / 4000 (EOP) -> +3000%
Engagement Rate: 4.4% (BOP) / 12.5-20% (EOP) -> +300%

If this list helps just one of you to build an audience, I will consider that a success.

Here is my list of 17 hacks to help you build your Twitter audience.

[1] Posting daily is a myth

Let's debunk a common myth.

It's not necessary to post daily to grow your audience.

Especially when you start, inspirational tweets are not optimal You will most likely start with a small # of followers, and people won't necessarily like/retweet your content.

[2] Short & Inspirational tweets vs Long & Value-driven

Example 1 - What I did wrong

Here are the stats for a short and inspirational tweet when I just had a few followers.

I didn't do anything to promote/distribute it.

It took me about 20 seconds to write it (since I was reading the book of Morgan Hosel (Psychology of Money) - Here are the results:

Impressions: 135
Engagement: 6
Engagement Rate: 4.4%

Example 2 - What I did right

My tweets are value-driven.

I spread them over different marketing channels (Reddit, Facebook) They take an hour to write, and an hour to distribute.

Here are the results:

Impressions: 3,599
Engagement: 449
Engagement Rate: 12.5%
Conclusion

Spend your time where it matters.

80% of the results are coming from 20% of the input (Pareto rules).
I focus ONLY on the 20% of input necessary to grow this account.
The 80% left (daily thoughts) will be allocated later. Quality > Quantity

[3] Be consistent. No matter what happens.

Yesterday, I was really tired.
I didn't have any energy left.

But Sunday is the Sunday Thread. And whatever happens, I'll not break that rule.

Why? Because my community expects something on Sunday. Not a BS tweet. Real content. Value.

[4] Content Ideas

Check what is trendy. Get inspired by other Twitter accounts.

Understand the worries of people. Their Challenges.

Not only you will discover new business ideas, but you will write content that resonates with them.

[6] Don't steal. Instead, tag and interact

Don't recycle content of other tweets without mentioning the author.

Not only it's wrong, but people will notice it.

Instead, interact with the authors.
Quote them and add your thoughts to what they wrote. You will make new friends, learn a ton, and discover new opportunities.

[7] Make your tweets nice, relatable, and implementable

@uxblake wrote something amazing this week about that.

Your tweets must be"

• Shareable
• Beautiful
• Relatable
• Emotional
• Laughable
• Functional
• Implementable"

This is a checklist I'm using in my weekly threads

[8] Nobody wants to hear you brag about your last million in sales. People want to know what you've done to reach it

Be transparent. Be open. Be vulnerable. Sharing your best hacks won't make them lose their value. Don't be afraid.

Lastly, make sure you provide a lot of value so people won't have any other choice than SMASHING THE LIKE BUTTON.

Not because they necessarily want to endorse you.

But because they will do everything to keep your piece of content.

[9] Don't overuse hashtags

Have you noticed that some users are automatically liking what you're doing? That's not because they read your content They simply have a bot. A like/retweet of a bot isn't worth anything. The most popular accounts never use hashtags.

[10 ]Don't be a perfectionist.

People are going to read your tweet in 20 seconds.
As such, nobody cares if you're using a word repeatedly. As such, "as such".

If you're not convinced, let me tell you this: My gf offered me some placemats
The designer didn't even bother to replace the lorem ipsum on the text boxes.

Nobody noticed Not even the people that purchased it {Nw sweety I still love u. They're nice}

[11] People don't want to read theoretical stuff. They want the practical shit.

As much as you can, share your stats if it's relevant. Be open.
That's what I love with the build in public movement.

[12] Test. Iterate. Test. Iterate. Test, it....

Like in Business, tweeting is about testing hypotheses.

At least, at the beginning, Try everything, and see what works. Try to make sure you have your own style. Good example: Jack Butcher from Vizualize Value. He has his own identity.

Make sure people can identify you by a simple tweet.

I found my "niche" with my Sunday threads... but I'm still working on the brand identity.
Opening Adobe Illustration, pressing "CMD+N"

[13] Recycle

Make sure your tweets are so good that they could be used in an article and/or nurture your existing content.

I'm going to republish on http://thechecklist.io my best tweets + Add the content to The Checklist.

Build once. Sell twice.

[14] DISTRIBUTE YOUR TWEETS

DISTRIBUTE YOUR TWEETS. And when you think you're done, KEEP DISTRIBUTING THEM.

You're new to this game. As I am. I don't expect people to read me, except if I shout hard enough to be heard.

Leverage existing platforms.

I love and use Reddit, Facebook, @ThreadOkApp, and @ZestisApp for that purpose. You can also use slack groups, Hacker news, and @IndieHackers.

Don't spam. Make sure it's relevant for them.

[15] Do A/B testing

Do A/B testing.

You can distribute your tweet/article on Reddit with two different titles and have a 10/1 ratio of upvotes depending on the title.

[16] Don't focus on the # of followers. Focus on value.

Don't be too focused on the # of followers.

It does not really mean anything.
You could buy 10k followers but have a crappy engagement rate.

That's not what you want.

Tbh, I'm blocking anyone that follows me with a fake account.
I have nothing to offer them, and vice versa

Instead, focus on value.

Give your audience/community value. Don't try to create a Twitter account for the sole purpose of selling something. Share because you like to do it.

Otherwise, having followers it's just good for the ego.
Spoiler: it doesn't last.

Conclusion

Lastly, there is no real hack.

Only good work pays off.

Tbh, I just put that on the description because it drives engagement. It's part of A/B testing.
Always remember: Keep pushing. Success doesn't occur overnight. Be consistent, and believe in yourself.

This thread was originally published on my twitter account. If you have any recommendations/ any hacks that I could add to my checklist, feel free to share! :)