From 200 to 2,200 Followers in 50 Days

Yes, you read this right. In 50 days @PEIBoulder, PEI’s official twitter account, grew by 2,000 Followers on Twitter. What makes this such a monumental achievement is because PEI is a small IT Consulting company located in Boulder, CO. Not only did we grow by 1,000%, but this is a completely targeted group within the IT industry. We have also been added to over 25 lists focused on IT news and expertise. How did we do it? I will highlight some of my tactics as a Marketing Coordinator and Social Media Analyst so you can do the same.

1. Target current and past clients
   1. always an easy way to gain followers, ask your clients to follow you on Twitter
2. Follow other people
   1. Following other people in your industry with similar likes can always lead to you being followed back
3. Interact with your Followers
   1. It is not enough to just update your status – directly interacting with your followers will have a greater affect and can lead to other people seeing your activity
4. Tweet during peak hours
   1. The most active time frame in Twitter is between 1 pm and 2pm.
5. Target ‘power tweeters’
   1. Target people within your industry that are widely known
6. Be a Resource
   1. Content is KING – meaningful content that is
   2. Interesting updates, links to other quality articles
   3. Limit what we say about yourself – you want to keep people interested and not bore them
   4. Any sort of tutorial of interesting information is appreciated by followers
7. Retweet, Retweet, and Retweet
   1. Retweeting relevant and important posts can lead to more followers and showing people you are interested in your entire industry, not just yourself

These directions can help you gain followers but also become a resourcing within your industry. I understand that sometimes social media can seem extremely time-consuming, however I would suggest a solid hour a day to help you grow your presence and build your brand awareness! Feel free to follow us on Twitter, @PEIBoulder,  if you are interested in IT news and valuable information.

Adam Lee, PEI