Getting Twitter followers is not as difficult as you may think. The tips below should help you get started down the path to quickly building your Twitter following.

#1 Follow people in your target audience and industry. People that you follow will normally follow you back, but make sure they are regular users with recent tweets. Also, check their following to follower ratio. The closest it is to 1:1, the better chance you have of them following back. You don’t want to spread their messages if they are not doing the same for you, so pay attention to this.

#2 Provide useful, entertaining, or valuable content that users will want to share. As users share your tweets, their followers will become interested and follow you as well.

#3 Simply ask for your message to be retweeted (“Please RT”).

#4 Tweet often. There are so many tweets in a user’s timeline at any given moment that you must tweet often throughout the day in order to be noticed. Use some of the many tools available to schedule your tweets daily or weekly. Check out 20 essential social media channels and tools for tips on choosing the best social media tools.

#5 Don’t tweet the same thing over and over. Your link can be the same, but use teasers that will capture the attention of your audience. Otherwise they will ignore you and not share your tweets. Scheduling tools like SocialOomph will not allow you to post the same tweet more than once a day.

#6 Link your Twitter account to your website, blog, Facebook page, Linkedin account, ebooks, emails, etc. Make sure people know you exist in Twitterverse.

#7 Use relevant industry keywords in your profile. Many times people search Twitter using keywords. Make sure you can be found easily when they do.

#8 Most of all, be engaging. Customers want to interact with you. Thank new followers and encourage two-way communication. Browse this list of marketing tips to learn more about engagement.

#9 Tweet using relevant keywords and hashtags. People need to be able to find you and know who you are and what you do within the first 5 seconds of seeing your tweets. Twitscoop will show you which words are buzzing and who is using them the most. This will help you narrow down power users as well.

#10 Know what people are saying about you and your industry. Do a Twitter search using relevant industry keywords to find out what customers are talking about and how you can help them.

#11 Target power users. These are people in your industry that you may consider your “Twitter idols.” They have a huge following and the respect of other industry professionals. Build strong relationships with them in order to attract their followers.

#12 It’s your turn to retweet. Keep followers by showing you are paying attention as well. Retweet information that you find useful. This is also a great way to achieve #4 when you don’t have anything to new to say.

If you want some great campaigns using Twitter or other social media, then brief now!

Tonya