Twitter is a highway hub for like-minded people and businesses. It’s a platform where ideas are shared and discussed. A space where connections are made.

However, Twitter may seem like a lot of work if you don’t know your way around it or the best strategies for garnering the interest of your target audience.

With the speed at which Twitter moves, don’t get overwhelmed. Follow these simple tips.

Follow Those You Admire

Whether you’re a young professional or part of a startup, you should follow Twitter accounts you admire.

However, this doesn’t mean you need to go out and follow all your favorite actors and sport stars. No. Start small and be specific in those you follow when you start out.

Many influential Twitter users don’t have millions or even thousands of followers and will welcome the interest from a like-minded account.

For instance, if you’re a pub or bar, search out the Twitter accounts of popular products you carry like Ketel One Vodka and Jose Cuervo Tequila.

Share as You Care

Of course, your business or personal career is why you’ve joined Twitter, but this platform isn’t only about how great you or your business are.

Twitter is about sharing, and this means you should show an interest in what other people say and do.

You won’t gain influence or garner interest from others if they don’t see that you care about the larger community.

Whatever industry you’re in, share the most recent news or report on deals and events.

For instance, if you tweet for a hotel, share the news of local events such as plays, concerts and festivals, as these events will pull people from out of town to your city and maybe to your hotel.

Boost Your Interactions

After you have followed some Twitter accounts and gained your own followers, it’s time for you to boost your interactions.

There’s an acute difference between a stagnant Twitter follower compared to an active one, and the second is the one you should strive for.

An active follower is someone who interacts with you on a regular basis. They might retweet you, start a conversation or just give you a simple like.

However, you’ll find that some types of tweets garner more engagement than others for a multitude of reasons.

Using of the correct hashtags for your product and area may boost your Twitter interactions, as well as the use of photos, images, links and videos.

Communicate

Once you have solid, shareable material on your account, interact with others. Start conversations with like-minded people or businesses.

Twitter is essentially a place to expand your brand’s reach, so reach out and introduce yourself. This could be in the form of a question or a comment on someone’s tweet.

Share something someone else has tweeted and showcase them for people who follow you. This increases the chances that same person will retweet your posts in the future.

At the end of the day, use Twitter analytics to understand how you’re doing.

Twitter analytics breaks down how many impressions you made (the number of people who saw your posts that day), how many engagements you had and what your engagement rate was.

This will help you determine which tweets made the most impact on your followers.