Along with Facebook, Twitter is the best known and most commonly quoted social site of all.
If you're marketing anything on the web, you should have a presence on Twitter.
More importantly, a Twitter following is something that every Internet Marketer must build.
But followers won't just flock to you automatically you have to know how to attract them.
The purpose of this article is to share some helpful tactics for attracting lots of followers on Twitter.
Search through the trending topics (also called hash tags) and find the ones that pertain to your market or niche.
When you've done this, join in on the thread.
People get to see that you know what you're talking about in your particular niche.
It also lets people see that you're joining in the conversation and being helpful, and not trying to just sell stuff.
This draws people to you, so they start checking your profile to find out more information.
Lots of people will start following you, simply to see if you have anything else to offer them.
This means that you shouldn't be tweeting about the meal you just had or when you go to the store.
Never say stuff about the hike you just went on, or how you fell in injured your knee.
Tweeting should always be professional at all times.
Only discuss personal stuff on your personal account.
You will definitely get the praise of your followers.
Replying to other people's tweets is worthwhile.
Replying to tweets with questions or comments is always appreciated.
Send them a "@ reply" (pronounced "at reply") and offer your own opinion.
It's also fine to disagree, as long as you're polite about it.
Simply expressing gratitude for a useful link or idea is also valid reason to write to them.
It's best to take the initiative when it comes to contacting people.
The most effective networks understand the value of opening up the lines of communication.
Whether you're replying to a follower or someone you're following, this will make sure that they notice and remember you.
The best avatar to use is a photo of yourself.
This can be more complicated if you're using more than one Twitter account.
It's your choice, but you will get a better response when you use a real picture.
It's just natural that when people see an actual picture they will feel better about dealing with you than if your avatar is a caricature or logo.
Trust is extremely important when you are marketing anything on Twitter.
Your objective on social sites is to become well-known, and a photo helps you accomplish this.
Photos are simple to take these days, whether you use a webcam or the camera on your phone.
The "retweet" function on Twitter is one that you should make use of whenever you can.
The person who created the message will know when you retweet it, for he or she will get an email.
So if you retweet something, the author will see your name (or Twitter name) as the one who took the trouble to do this.
So you get two benefits from this -getting noticed by the people whose messages you're sharing and getting good content to send to your own followers.
Tweeting can also help you gain new followers, as people will tend to look up the profiles of someone who retweets their messages.
When you frequently retweet posts, there's also a good chance some people will do the same for you.
There are many ways to use Twitter to your advantage.
It's more than a passing fad, as it only gets more popular each year.
It can be just as effective as a marketing tool as it for socializing.
To get the most out of it, you need to build up a large and targeted following of your own.
By applying the above principles, you'll be well on your way to accomplishing this.
Don't feel you are limited to these tactics, though, as once you get started you should keep looking for creative and novel ways to use social media to help your business.