So, you’ve spent all that time growing your following on Twitter, but now you’ve got to keep them attached to your account. Do you ever think about how many people unfollow you?
The Twitter crowd can be fickle. One day they love you, the next day they don’t.
It’s not the end of the world if you lose a few followers. In general, it matters more to have an engaged audience than a massive follower count. But if you’re not aware of how many people are unfollowing you then you might not be aware of the mistakes you’re making on the platform. You may be losing followers for simple reasons you could easily fix.
In this article, we will share with you some ways to help prevent people from unfollowing your Twitter account. These tips may not stop everyone from unfollowing you, but they’ll definitely reduce the number of people who do, and they’ll also attract new users to your account.
Provide Real Value
Twitter users look for a value exchange, or to get something for free. If people sense that you no longer give them anything worth seeing, they’ll be more likely to unfollow you.
How do you provide value? When you tweet helpful links, quick tips, informative studies, news, jokes, insights, worthwhile opinions – anything that people really want to see.
How you do you not provide value? When you talk too much about yourself or your feelings, giving off a narcissistic attitude. If you are a business, the equivalent might be talking too much about your product or doing too much hard selling.
According to the New Republic, social scientists said that people with narcissistic personalities are drawn to Twitter. It doesn’t automatically mean that being on Twitter makes you a narcissist, but it does mean that you can buck the trend by being different.
Gary Vaynerchuk has over 1.5 million followers on Twitter, in large part because his tweets are of value to anyone who reads them. He is a source of inspiration and ideas. He shares excellent content. He spends time responding to his followers. He is a giver and not a taker.
#mood pic.twitter.com/xF0DLQybzu
— Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) June 25, 2017
Provide Information
People love and crave information. Twitter has become a tool to source information for topics that you are interested in and beyond. There is a connection between value and information. Twitter users with a ton of followers most probably provide valuable information to their followers, unless they fall purely into the ‘comedy’ category.
You can tweet a variety of information, but it’s best to stay within the broad outlines of your industry. You can retweet an industry leader’s quote, link an infographic, share blog posts that are relevant and useful, or provide insightful observations or tips about your area of expertise.
Guy Kawasaki is a great example of an informative thought leader who has over 1.5 million followers. If you go through his Twitter feed, every single tweet provides valuable information to his followers. It’s simple as this, give valuable information and you have higher chances of keeping your followers.
How to Build Thought Leadership with #LinkedIn https://t.co/V8GtQKCSng via @PegFitzpatrick #smm #socialmedia
— Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki) June 26, 2017
Improve your Social Proof
People follow the popular kids, and they’ll also hesitate to unfollow a very popular account.
One effective way to boost your follower count is simply by purchasing Twitter Followers from a reputable provider. This will strengthen your social proof: when people see how popular you are, they’ll definitely come check out your account. If they like what they see, they’ll follow you as well.
The more followers you get, the easier it is to get even more followers. That’s the magic of for social proof works.
Don’t Talk About Yourself All the Time
Being yourself on Twitter is important. After all, it’s a social media platform, where you should express yourself. It’s what will make you stand out.
But you have to reign that personality in a bit to be truly valuable to your audience. A good rule of thumb is, when in doubt, share less. Less can often be more.
It will be difficult for you to build relationships or provide value if you tweet an overflow of personal details. Don’t be a “Me” tweeter. People will eventually get tired of reading your tweets if it’s all about you. Always be sure you stay true to your Twitter goals.
Don’t go Off Topic
Your profile bio will usually tell people what you tweet about. If you have established a particular persona on Twitter that works for you, stick to it. Prospective followers will probably read your bio first, along with some recent tweets.
This will give them a sense of who you are and what kind of content you will be posting. From there, they will decide if they want to follow you or not. If they get confused by what they see, they may click away before investigating any further.
The key is to clearly define your goals for Twitter. You have to decide what you want to be known for and what kind of content you want to publish. You don’t have to strictly stay on topic all the time, of course, but just make sure that your tweets are aligned with your overall objectives.
Philanthropist, New York Times bestselling author, and motivational speaker John Assaraf stays on topic on Twitter. If you check his feed, it’s full of motivational tweets. Even if you don’t know him, you’ll instantly have an idea of what he does and what his beliefs are.
Image credit: John Assaraf Twitter
Don’t be Offensive
Never cuss or be too offensive (unless you’re a comedian or someone else who can use that to aid their branding). We’ve all heard stories of people actually losing their jobs or destroying their relationships with a tweet. You have to be careful. Here are the kind of tweets you should avoid:
- Harsh
- Critical
- Negative
- Demeaning
- Those regarding bodily functions
- Extreme views on race, religion, and politics
- Mocking
- Insensitive
- Complaining
- Judgmental
- Arrogant
If you want to be viewed as a professional or at least someone who is pleasant to follow, be clean on Twitter. Avoid using foul language as it might have a negative impact on your reputation. Show respect, and gain respect. Talking dirty might jeopardize your Twitter follower count, and even your whole Twitter account.
After a Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down in Ukraine in 2014, actor, Jason Biggs tweeted a joke about the situation. 298 people aboard died and Biggs had to do some heavy apologizing.
Image credit: Ranker
Don’t be Too Quiet, Don’t be Too Loud
This is a fairly easy issue to fix. If you’re never tweeting, why would people follow you? Similarly, if you’re tweeting all the time, clogging up your followers’ feeds, people will want to silence the offender.
Most people want to see a variety of tweets from the people they follow, coming in at a rate they can handle. You have to find the balance that’s right for you, without dropping off the radar or oversaturating the social world.
Don’t be Obnoxious
If you are asking people repeatedly for a shoutout or some other kind of self-promotion, you may appear annoying or obnoxious to them. It’s best to avoid spamming them or bragging about your stuff.
A bad example of begging below is DJ Jimmy Matt, not-so-subtly asking for followers. He was hoping 1,000 people would retweet him, but only 129 people did.
Will Follow Back The Next 1000 followers that retweets this Tweet ! |
— Cool DJ Jimmy Jatt (@djjimmyjatt) May 11, 2015
Another thing to generally avoid is sending direct messages to people you don’t know. People might think you are a creep or simply annoying and may unfollow you. Unless you know the person or have a good reason, don’t send DMs to strangers.
Tweet It to Win It
Take a good look at your tweets. Are people responding to them? Are they retweeting them? Keep track of how many people are unfollowing you, and if it’s a regular thing then it’s time to reevaluate your strategy.
Study your analytics, and employ external tools if necessary to get a handle on your engagement rates. Remember, you can buy high-quality Twitter Followers to increase your social proof and attract more people to your account. Post some great content, and they’ll stick around for the long haul.
Your Twitter followers can be your friends or strangers, but they can also be your potential clients, customers and important contacts within your network. Don’t take your followers for granted. Follow the tips we have described in this article to keep your followers and continue to gain more.
Image credit: Giphy