Your followers are more than just a statistical figure on X, a.k.a. Twitter. They can be the biggest promoters of your content, increasing the visibility of your tweets through likes, reposts, and replies. These people are also the ones that boost your credibility on the social media platform. You can build a thriving community with your followers, which in turn will boost your account’s engagement metrics. These are some of the many reasons why everyone wants to know how to increase Twitter followers.
Once you have enough followers, it becomes easier to increase your follower count as it boosts your reach. However, how do you reach this point so your account starts to experience this type of growth? Below, you’ll find several pointers on boosting your follower count so that you can become an authoritative figure on X.
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What Are the Different Types of Followers on Twitter?
Getting as many users as possible seems like a good idea when you want to increase your follower count. While this can boost your follower metrics, you may not always get quality users. In fact, if you closely examine these people, you’ll notice significant differences between them. Here is a list of the 3 different types of followers on Twitter.
1. Real but Inactive Twitter Followers
These followers belong to accounts operated by real humans. They like what they see when they come across your content on their timeline. As a result, they follow your account to see more of your posts in their feed.
While getting more real Twitter followers is good, they may not always be active accounts. What does this mean? Some people may be lurkers, i.e., they follow accounts and scroll through their feeds. However, they don’t engage with posts by leaving likes, replies, reposts, or quote posts. They may bookmark your post, which is like a silent “like.”
If you look at the profile pages of lurkers on X, it can look like they’re inactive. There are zero or only a handful of posts from their profile. Their likes tab doesn’t indicate they are active or use the platform regularly.
However, this doesn’t mean you should ignore or block real followers on X.
2. Active Twitter Followers
As the name suggests, active Twitter followers engage with your posts regularly. If your content resonates with them, they’ll comment on the tweet, repost it, or like it. When you run a poll, they’ll participate via votes.
If you include links in your popular tweets, they’ll click it and check out what’s on the other side. They will post regularly and send you direct messages.
These followers are a blessing in disguise because their engagement will improve your reach. When they repost or quote your content, your tweets will appear in their followers’ feeds.
3. Fake or Bot Twitter Followers
Fake or bot Twitter followers are those who may not have human operators. They may use scripts or other techniques to emulate human-like behavior on X. These accounts can engage with your content but won’t do so regularly. How do you check for Twitter bots? Sometimes, they will leave a comment, but it doesn’t make sense or won’t be relevant to your post.
In most cases, bad actors run these fake accounts. They follow random users and send them direct messages (DMs) with spam or malicious links.
If you check out their profile page, you’ll notice it is incomplete. The photo is a stock or stolen picture from a real person and has a username with multiple random numbers. These accounts may also have a post in an attempt to look like a real user. However, if you go through their content, you’ll notice it doesn’t make any sense or, at best, is random.
These followers are bad, as they skew your metrics. You may have a large follower base of bots, due to which your posts barely get any engagement.
Or, you notice the low levels of engagement and switch up your content, wasting your time and resources.
They also undermine your credibility on the platform, as it becomes apparent to other users that you have fake followers.
How To Get Free Twitter Followers: 3 Tips From Experts
You don’t have to spend money to increase your follower count on X. As long as you have a sound content strategy, you will see an uptick in the number of followers. At first, it can seem like an uphill task, as millions of accounts post regularly. On the bright side, if you implement the tips highlighted below, you will gain free Twitter followers easily.
1. Post Content Other Users Will Find Useful Regularly
When X’s algorithm boosts a post, it appears in your feed. Will you stop your scroll to check out a creator’s profile? Usually, people do this on X if they find their content useful.
They follow specific accounts because they want more of the same. In other words, when they see content that adds value, they are more likely to engage with the post.
Our top tip in this guide on how to increase followers on Twitter is to ensure your posts are helpful. Focus on your niche and try to provide valuable information that is easy to digest.
You can upload infographics as tweets with visual content, which do well on the platform. Also, it makes your posts stand out, making them more likely to get people’s attention. You can use the free version of Canva to make high-quality infographics easily. Also, this teaches you how to include only relevant information and trim the fluff.
If you have products or services to offer, the majority of your tweets shouldn’t be about sales. A good rule of thumb is to implement the 80:20 rule. 80% is non-promotional content, while the remaining is about sales.
2. Repost Tweets and Use the Quote Post Feature
As you start to post regularly, you could run into a creative wall, not knowing what to tweet next. This block can be infuriating, as you spend hours or an entire day creating a 280-character post instead of 30 minutes.
This is where reposts are handy, which is our second tip on how to increase your Twitter followers. When you come across posts from other popular figures in your niche, hit the retweet button. When you diversify your content, people will start seeing you as a valuable information source. Also, they realize they can rely on you to learn more about specific topics.
You can go one step further by also using the quote post feature. This allows you to add your opinions to the author’s tweet. Focus on adding value or valid counterpoints to the discussion. Why? This makes it more likely for the author to engage with the repost. Also, it gets the attention of the original publisher, which increases the likelihood of getting a new follower.
3. Leverage Twitter Threads to Showcase Your Knowledge in Your Niche
You can share content similar to blog posts on X via Twitter threads. However, you’ll have to use a technique where you break a large tweet into multiple smaller posts. When used correctly, they are a hotspot for engagement. Look at any popular thread on X, and you’ll find a lively discussion. This is our third tip on how to increase your followers on Twitter.
Find a topic that people barely cover in your niche or an intriguing subject. Do a deep dive and make sure you break down the information so that it is easy to read. For starters, you can focus on covering one point per post.
Similarly, think about how you can get the reader’s attention for the first post in the thread. Remember, when your long-form tweets appear in a user’s feed, they’ll only see the top-most post.
You only have a few lines, so you must make the most of it. Start with a bold but valid statement, a question that sparks curiosity, or a relevant statistic or fact. Unpopular opinions do well here.
The next step is to indicate that the post is part of a series of tweets. The easiest way is to use the thread (🧵) emoji or include numbers like 1/6. If you go with numbers, it indicates the number of posts in the thread.
How To Stop Bots From Following You on Twitter: 3 Ways To Remove Fake Followers
As highlighted earlier in this article, bots or fake followers are problematic as they hinder your growth. The easiest way to prevent them from following you is to make your profile private on X.
However, this can be counter-productive, as it is almost impossible for non-followers to discover your account. You don’t appear in X’s search results or any search engine. This makes it harder to grow your follower count.
How do you stop bots from following you on Twitter and messing up your metrics? Try our 3 for weeding out fake followers below.
1. Avoid Using Services Offering Free Followers for a Fee
A simple Google search shows countless third-party services that will boost your follower count. However, you shouldn’t use these tools, as this activity can backfire big time. For starters, the third-party service will increase your follower count significantly via fake or bot accounts.
While there are tools that provide real followers, how can you say for sure they’ll show interest in your content? Maybe for a short period, they’ll engage with your posts. Will they still stick around after a month? Also, it goes against X’s rules to artificially boost your metrics by buying followers. If the platform notices this activity in your account, it can suspend your profile permanently.
Also, it can throw off your analysis, especially if you’re trying to determine what your followers like.
If you have a budget, it’s better to run a followers campaign on X. With this type of digital marketing, you can reach out to people who will find your content interesting.
2. Block Bot Accounts When They Follow You
You should do your due diligence when you get a notification about a new follower. Visit the user’s profile to see if they are a bot. If there are any signs that the account looks fake, block it immediately.
Random usernames, posts, lack of activity, or incomplete profiles are tell-tale signs. When the user sends you a DM with an unknown link, it is another indicator of a bot.
When you block a user on X, the platform boots them from your follower list. Also, the social media giant prevents the same account from following you again.
While this can become cumbersome after getting thousands of followers, it is, nevertheless, a good practice. It can help minimize the number of bot accounts in your follower list.
3. Report Bot Accounts When You See Them
Don’t stop at blocking the bot account when they follow your profile and call it a day. You should go the extra mile and report these accounts. While X has several measures to catch these profiles, some will still escape the platform’s radar.
By reporting these accounts, X will take action and suspend these profiles.
How To Increase Twitter Followers With TweetDelete
Implement all the strategies highlighted in this article on increasing Twitter followers. You’ll see a significant bump in this metric over time.
More people will become curious about your tweets when your follower count increases. If there are controversial, insensitive, or offensive posts, it can tarnish your online reputation. The word will spread, and it will become harder to gain new followers. Also, your existing fans may hit the unfollow button.
The easiest way to avoid this situation is to use TweetDelete. With its powerful filter, you can scan your profile for these types of posts. It can select as many tweets as necessary and bulk-delete them quickly.
Or, you can take a fine-tooth comb-like approach by setting up the auto-delete feature. Feed it Twitter keywords like phrases with profanity or relevant hashtags and let it work its magic in the background. This way, you can use the advice in this article on how to increase Twitter followers. Also, you won’t have to worry about what they’ll find in your profile.
Use TweetDelete today if you’re serious about growing your follower count on X!
