Thread by @tclarkmedia

Twitter growth for startups comes down to a (mostly) repeatable playbook.

Here are the 5 simple steps I'd follow if I wanted to grow a brand on Twitter from scratch in 2023:

This is how I approach content with @triplewhale, where we went from ~2k -> 12.5K followers in 2022 and built an insanely engaged community

(Kind of crazy as a B2B SaaS company lol)

1) Get clear on WHY someone should follow your brand

Is it

→ Humor
→ Education
→ Combination of both

Hint: it's not going to be 'look how cool our random product is!'

2) Establish a realistic but aggressive cadence

On Twitter I like 2-3 tweets per day. Tweets are low pressure and simple to crank out. Don't put too much pressure on yourself here.

Test ideas and see what works. And if you need a simple template to use...

A simple format to follow:

1) 1 meme
2) 1 engagement question
3) 1 misc. post or product related post

Iterate on this as u develop your own voice but this is sufficient from Day 1

Keep an eye out for formats, angles, or topics that over perform

And double down

A funny example from @triplewhale: Hasbulla memes

Every time. Without fail.

Ofc this doesn't make up our entire strat, but it's a button I can push when I need engagement

Find those buttons

3) Engage, engage, and engage some more

From 0 → 1000 followers this is the MOST important part of Twitter grow

Nobody knows your brand. Nobody cares about your brand.

So instead of tweeting into the void...

Hop into the replies of well known accounts and people in your industry

But do NOT be insufferable!

You need to add something to the conversation. Be funny. Give a unique take. Don't just reply random emojis and hope for the best.

4) Study other industries to get better content ideas

Studying competitors and industry incumbents is helpful

But the best content ideas come from studying brands and creators (especially creators) that aren't in your industry

Ex: Triple Whale is a B2B SaaS

But most B2B SaaS content is boring

So I looked to:

→ Gaming
→ Fashion
→ Meme accounts

and other industries for content inspo

(and now every other b2b saas wants to do memes 🤣)

5) Don't optimize for sales right away

The type of content leadership 'thinks' will make sales is not the type of content that will do well on social (pitches, blog links, etc)

For the first 6-12mos optimize for an engaged community on Twitter

And along that line of thinking, keep track of metrics like

→ followers
→ engagement rate
→ impressions

They're not vanity metrics as long as you're putting out content that attracts your ideal customer.

And now, one last (crucial) note

Growing a brand account is much easier when your team is also active on Twitter (it's almost a necessity)

People engaged with people

And when they know the people behind a brand account, they're more likely to engage and show support

Using TW as an example again

I'm convinced that a large reason our brand account succeeds is because our team is so front facing on the platform

I almost treat the brand account as a personal account

This approach has risks, but it's worked wonders for us

Worth thinking about

TLDR:

1) Get clear on your value prop
2) Set a cadence of 2-3 tweets per day
3) Spend MOST of your time engaging with others
4) Study brands outside of your industry
5) Optimize for engagement, not sales

And get your team active.

It's not complicated, but it's also not easy.

And if you found this helpful...

Share the first tweet. Ya boy is tryna hit 10K followers soon and I'll be posted 1-2 threads per week to help you grow a successful social presence

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