5 Twitter Tricks That Don’t Actually Work (and Why)

by Hayley Irons

We live in a society where everyone is increasingly seeking the quickest route to their goal, whether that is getting rich, losing weight, or gaining Twitter followers. This is why the internet is full of ‘advice’ to reach any one of the aforementioned results in a shorter space of time, when in actual fact the best results will only be achieved through hard work.

For many people there’s a bit of a kudos in the number of followers they have on various social media platforms, but the key is in building up a quality following, something that can only be gained through patience and consistency. In the same way that crash dieting will allow you to reach your goal weight only to see you pile on the pounds a few weeks later, using the below tips and tricks that are constantly bandied about will only result in Twitter not actually working for your business the way you want it to.

To highlight what I mean, here are five most commonly discussed tips that don’t actually work, and why…

1. The follow/unfollow trick
This is where you follow an account, wait for them to politely follow you back and then you unfollow them. Often, people are advised to do this to multiple accounts to boost their follower numbers, but the reality is that this is just not very nice or friendly. Once people realise what you’ve done it looks pretty unprofessional, and this isn’t the right persona to give your business. The idea is to use Twitter to generate organic follows by posting interesting content and engaging with more people; you guessed it, this takes that aforementioned patience and consistency.

2. Buying followers
Really, what is the point? You’ll only be buying a bunch of fake accounts to boost your follow number and what does this actually equate to in business terms? Zilch, nothing, nada. Having five real followers who are truly interested in your business offering is worth far more to you than 100 fake accounts who will never buy from you.

3. Overuse of hashtags
Hashtags are a great way of making your tweets more searchable under relevant topics (such as #dentist or #London), but overusing them can be just downright annoying for your followers. Stick to two as a limit, any more than this just looks like spam, and with only 140 characters to play with you’ve probably got something much more important to say! On the subject of hashtags, remember not to use spaces or punctuation in them as it breaks the link.

4. Sending automated direct messages
Nothing makes a person hit the unfollow button faster than receiving a generic message that thanks them for following. These are always really obviously automated, which is very impersonal, creating the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve. If you want to properly engage with your followers do so through the consistent use of effective content; that old mantra of hard work and consistency is cropping up again, isn’t it?

5. Jumping on trending topics
Trending topics are great if you want to see what’s happening in the world, or what people are talking about. If something that’s trending directly relates to your business then, of course, get involved with the conversation! However, if these topics bear no relation to your product/business then please don’t bother; it won’t sit in line with your social media strategy and will jar with the rest of your content.

As you can see, there’s no real ‘get rich quick’ approach to Twitter – the answer simply lies in creating a content and marketing plan and sticking to it.


About the Author
Hayley’s passion is helping dental related companies with all aspects of marketing. Specialising in a Social Media Marketing, her unique, in-depth knowledge of marketing combined with her knowledge and experience of working in dental practices has helped many dentists, dental training companies and dental suppliers thrive in today’s changing business environment.

Hayley started out her career working in marketing and advertising , working on accounts such as BMW & Redrow Homes.  About 13 years ago she took a different path and took a job as a Receptionist within a cosmetic Dental Practice and worked her way up to Practice Manager.  Now she combines the two!

She set up HI Marketing Ltd in 2015 to help drive business’s and take away the pressure and time that the upkeep of marketing requires. Whether its social media marketing, writing blogs about your services, driving more traffic towards your website, she is here to take away the stress & pressure.  Currently she works with around 25 dental related clients, including the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Get in touch by calling 07805506477 or emailing at hayley@hayleyironsmarketing.co.uk.

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