How did you grow your Twitter audience?

If you're starting from scratch, do this:

• Before you do anything, optimize your profile. I wrote about it here: https://zlappo.com/blog/ultimate-guide-optimize-your-twitter-profile-more-followers-and-conversions-examples-given/.
• Next, start following 10-20 key influencers (big accounts) in your niche/market.
• Add them to a private list called "Snipe." THIS IS WHERE YOU LIVE NOW.
• Comment 10-20 times on these key influencers' tweets daily.
• Do this for 3-6 months consistently. Day in, day out.
• Make sure your comments add a ton of value and can actually stand on their own merit as their own tweets.
• Double-down on influencers who engage back; cut off influencers who ignore you.
• The goal is to leverage other people's large followings to build your own, to maximize your visibility in the easiest way possible, and also establish yourself as an up-and-coming influencer in your niche to entice people to 1) click on your name and 2) end up following you, so your profile and your content have to really look the part.
• In 2020, this is the state-of-the-art growth hacking trick for Twitter, why else does "Eugene Gu, MD" comment so often on @realdonaldtrump's tweets?
• Also, commenting on Twitter is a very delicate art, Twitter has its very own specific social culture/networking etiquette, here's an article I wrote on Twitter commenting strategies: https://zlappo.com/blog/4-smart-twitter-commenting-strategies-grow-your-followers-examples/.
• Once you get some traction, start scheduling your own original tweets, automating retweets for your evergreen tweets, etc. to leverage automation to the fullest to turn your Twitter profile into a giant mega-funnel for your site/app/blog: see https://zlappo.com
• Double-down on followers who engage with you and your content; don't bother with those who don't.
• These people will probably be your first advocates, customers, affiliates, testimonial providers, and promoters. Treat them like your friends. Networking 101. They're your tribe.
• Yes, you need to constantly write original content for Twitter. Platitudes, lists, actionable insights, stories, tweet storms, infographics, what have you.
• You do this consistently enough, you don't even have to sell. The sale will find its way to you.

Disclaimer: yes, I'm the founder of a Twitter growth tool company + author of a Twitter growth hacking blog

Here are four things which worked for me

1. Provide value
2. Be consistent
3. Give first & you can take later
4. Building it in public

I second all of @TheNakedPoet2's points.

Probably the most common mistake is to use Twitter as just a place to post links, which of course doesn't work. Nobody wants to follow an account like that. Why would they?

I'll add one points: Spend a ton of time on Twitter, and follow and engage with useful accounts. If you're already doing this, great. But if you're not, then you're not going to understand Twitter and you probably won't ever post decent tweets until you do.

My personal answer to the titular question is I built something interesting off Twitter, which gained me some followers on Twitter. I actually don't tweet much, because I'm busy posting here instead.

Hi, thanks for an awesome article. Are these applicable for product business accounts as well?

Great question and great answers!
Thanks @richardchu and @simplisticallysimple

Provide value in your content and tag influential accounts. Here's my story:

I had 100 followers in the beginning, then I posted a tweet about how I made it to #1 product of the day on Product Hunt, tagged Ryan Hoover along with a couple of people, and I got 500 followers overnight.

The tweet: https://twitter.com/yusuf_giftworks/status/1234694242586415104

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