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5 Clever Ways to Connect with Influencers on Twitter

January 27, 2015 by Alicia Lawrence

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Influencers are everywhere on Twitter. They’re witty, they’re insightful, they’re powerful… and they’re bombarded every day by people like you who want to tag along on their coattails towards stardom.

Here’s the problem, though: They don’t know you yet, and you have to stand out from among all the voices striving to gain their eyes and ears. So what are you going to do to make sure you’re the shiny piece of gold amidst the iron scraps?

If you really want to connect with influences using Twitter, you have to get downright creative. You also have to be willing to be totally real. Act like you’re both human beings, and stop telling yourself that the influencers will never respond to you! After all, they’re made of flesh and blood, too, and they are obviously open to learning.

The trick is to stop force-feeding your messages and pitches. No one likes to feel like they’re being manipulated, and that includes all those influencers. Instead, try one or more of these techniques to cleverly and properly get noticed.

So what are you going to do to make sure you’re the shiny piece of gold amidst the iron scraps? -Ali Lawrence

#1: Storify Your Releases

When you have to make your next pitch, turn it into a story and add tweets by relevant influencers. Make sure you only use items that are pertinent to your story. When you publish on the Storify board, you’ll get the option to notify those who you mention in the Storify board. Those influencers will see that you’ve used their quotes, and might even be willing to talk about your client’s piece. This is a boon, especially if your influencers are big in media, as in the case of journalists or radio personalities with large followings.

#2: Add Your Influencers to a Twitter List

“Duh” you might say, but you might be surprised the amount of people who don’t put their influencers in a list. If you haven’t already, create a list revolving around the topic your influencers like, such as “awesome foodies,” and add those you want to connect with, to it. The influencer will be notified that they made it to your list. Then, follow them like crazy and make sure you re-tweet or favorite anything they say that’s relevant to your list. Who knows? They might even decide to follow you back if you keep up with the Twitter list and make it interesting and fun.

Don’t forget to join #SocialCafe every Tuesday 6p PST / 9p EST!

#3: Join Twitter Chats

Does your influencer get involved with Twitter chats? If so, you can partake in those chats, too. Bring up thought-provoking ideas revolving around the topic being discussed. Ask questions and make a special effort to favorite or retweet what the influencer tweets.

#4: Stroke Their Egos… A Little

Influencers like to be stroked, but only subtly. For example, you could publish a Top Ten list with the best gardening blogs and include those you want to connect with on Twitter. When the list goes live, send them a tweet to let them know they were included. Who knows? A “thank you” or follow might be your reward.

5 Clever Ways to Connect with Influencers on Twitter

#5: Be Interesting, for Glob’s Sake

Okay – this might be tough for all the folks who are by-the-book and not accustomed to tapping their right brains, but it’s essential. Start… Being… INTERESTING. When was the last time you retweeted a boring tweet? Never? That’s probably why your tweets aren’t getting retweeted or seen by influencers! Harness your goofier or creative side once in a while; you might even attract enough attention on the Twitterverse to be asked to speak at a convention, host a Twitter chat or add your two cents to an article.

You’re on Twitter anyway, so be a little bold this year and start working on your influencer communications. You might just discover that those influencers aren’t as untouchable as you thought.

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Alicia Lawrence

Alicia Lawrence

To find out about Ali Lawrence, visit her SocialWebCafe author profile.
Alicia Lawrence

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  • 5 Clever Ways to Connect with Influencers on Twitter - January 27, 2015

Filed Under: Latest Posts, Marketing, Social Media, Social Web Cafe Article, Twitter Tagged With: influencer marketing, public relations, Twitter

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42 comments… add one
  1. Kristi Hines

    February 19, 2015, 4:07 pm

    I like to follow influencers and answer their questions… it really gets their attention if you are helpful!

    Reply
    1. admin

      February 22, 2015, 2:53 pm

      Thanks, Kristi. That is excellent advice, really highlights the expertise. Thanks for sharing that with us 😉

      Reply
  2. Raza Nagori

    February 24, 2015, 7:09 am

    Great Post Alicia and These all are Great tips to Increase Twitter Followers and make some Fans

    Reply
  3. sandeep

    March 10, 2015, 9:41 pm

    I am really confused in between Twitter & Facebook. that which one is better for converting likes to visitor. for me its really tough to manage both so advice me the best.

    Reply
    1. admin

      April 24, 2015, 5:12 pm

      Hi Sandeep. The comparison between Facebook and Twitter is really a deeper discussion. It depends on your objective. For one example, Twitter works well if you want to provide the same message over and over at intervals. You wouldn’t want to send it every 30 minutes or you would be spamming, but certainly scheduling a similar tweet, referencing your blog post, say a few weeks later is fine. You can do this a little bit with Facebook, but not as much. People do not want to see the same status update multiple times on your page or profile. And, using Pinterest in this example, you generally only want one pin per board, so you wouldn’t repeat that one at all. This is only one example (a minor one at that), but shows how different social media networks are used differently. Truly, for your question, there needs to be a deeper analysis of what you are attempting to accomplish, your objectives, what you hope for as far as ROI, then the answer is more readily identifiable. I am not writing this to solicit business, but if you want specific coaching for social media marketing for your business, feel free to contact me to schedule paid coaching. The first session is free.

      Reply
    2. Ali lawrence

      April 27, 2015, 6:52 am

      Hi Sandeep! Sorry I’m just now seeing your comment! I completely agree with Deb’s advice–It will depend on your goals and audience. For example, if you have an SEO blog then you’ll do very well on Twitter vs Facebook (at least in my experience). So the best thing you can do is find out where your audience is and focus engaging with them on that platform.

      Reply
  4. ManMohan Khangarot

    August 26, 2015, 5:45 am

    Hey Alicia
    You have solved my big problem in this article, as I love to connect with influencers but won’t succeed in connecting with them. But now after reading your article I’m going to using all 5 steps that you have mentioned in this post to connect with them.
    Thanks for sharing and I’m going to bookmark your website.

    Reply
  5. Khagesh Darji

    September 15, 2015, 3:00 am

    Hey Alicia,
    Noteworthy article!
    I’m sure about these tips that they will definitely work to connect with influencers on twitter.
    Thank you for sharing highly valuable information.

    Reply
  6. judi poker online

    September 23, 2015, 3:09 am

    5 ways that really help us a users twitter

    Reply
  7. Claire Greenhow

    September 26, 2015, 3:04 am

    I really like the Twitter list idea. I used this feature quite a lot when it was first released but have let it fall by the wayside. Thank you for the reminder!

    Reply
  8. Jimmy Alex

    September 27, 2015, 9:48 am

    Point no. 4 is though provoking one. I think this is the most effective way to get noticed by influencers. Interviewing and guest posting on their blogs will add up the spice.
    But, one need to be consistent and patient.

    Reply
  9. Kanayo

    November 5, 2015, 10:46 am

    I recently became more active on Twitter despite joining since 2009 (I had like 10 Tweets between 2009 & 2015. lol.)

    Recently, I noticed how quite some influential people started following me, mentioning me, direct messaging me, favoriting me. I’m talking people who had 500K+ followers, and I thought I must be doing something right. I was in cloud 9.

    And yes, it seems I was doing something right, which your readers could try.

    1. begin by following several influencers simultaneously: as you follow one, Twitter recommends similar people. Follow them immediately.
    2. Once you follow several of these. Retweet their tweets, reply to it, favourite it, etc. And also add insightful comments of your own. Do this often enough, they will take notice of your name/@handle and sooner than later will follow you.
    3. And once a few influencers starts following you, they just start rolling in somehow.

    This is what I did with my personal account. I am going to replicate this with my business account and see it it happens again.

    Reply
  10. vylv0401

    December 2, 2015, 11:52 pm

    How an useful your post !

    Reply
  11. Ashish Mehta

    December 20, 2015, 11:53 pm

    its a great blog. i like this blog.i am very happy to get this 5 clever ways to connect with influence’s on twitter. Storify your releases its a best idea for making ideas..

    Reply
  12. Adam George

    December 25, 2015, 2:38 pm

    I just wanted to say great article. Good tips I am going to take advantage of right away. I really like the point about being interesting and find something creative to say. Put some thought into it don’t just be boring. 🙂

    Reply
  13. Rayhan Islam

    January 10, 2016, 4:25 am

    Great to see the ways to connect with influencers on twitter. These are really excellent ways. Hope it will help me a lot.
    Thanks Alicia.

    Reply
  14. Louis

    January 14, 2016, 11:20 pm

    It’s interesting using Twitter and it’s a great way to interact with influencers.

    Reply
  15. Ankit

    February 22, 2016, 8:54 am

    Hey Alicia thanks for sharing this article. I have been searching for long about the ways for connecting with influences in Twitter. The 5 points you shared is very relevant and descriptive. Thanks for the upload.

    Reply
  16. sweetschoice

    March 8, 2016, 3:44 am

    great article….Thanks for sharing it….as i am not friendly with twitter….i think this will help me to become friendly with twitter……..

    Reply
  17. Anjali

    April 14, 2016, 12:29 pm

    Hi Alicia, I’m really glad you wrote the post.

    Reply
  18. Yash pandy

    April 17, 2016, 10:21 pm

    Good idea’s!!More features about twitter that I Didn’t know but after read this I learn many things.

    Thanks for detail information!!!

    Reply
  19. kindle customer support

    April 28, 2016, 4:40 am

    Twitter was a really good social networking site .,.,.

    Reply
  20. باربری

    April 30, 2016, 11:09 am

    thats great thanks for share

    Reply
  21. Andy Paul

    May 9, 2016, 3:07 am

    Awesome work on this post Alicia. I appreciate you putting in the time to create this great resource!

    Reply
  22. Music Download2

    May 14, 2016, 1:50 am

    For example, if you have an SEO blog then you’ll do very well on Twitter vs Facebook (at least in my experience). So the best thing you can do is find out where your audience is and focus engaging with them on that platform.

    Reply
  23. Santanu

    May 16, 2016, 8:19 pm

    Awesome tips to make friend on twitter. Twitter is a best place to market your content. Thanks for this wonderful share.

    Reply
  24. Marty

    June 24, 2016, 9:28 am

    Twitter offers more today, post your videos, images or just text tweets to get more followers and generate traffic for your website.

    Reply
  25. Ankit

    July 7, 2016, 1:51 am

    These are some great piece of information. I really appreciate your hard work. Thanks a lot. I worked fr me.

    Reply
  26. imran sury

    July 19, 2016, 11:33 pm

    hello alicia,
    great post about how to Connect with Influencers on Twitter and very useful tips. i will try this tricks soon. also looking forward to more about Facebook.
    kwwp it up

    Reply
  27. Gautam.

    August 3, 2016, 10:19 pm

    Connecting with influencers is the smartest way of getting huge viral traffic with minimum efforts and Your guide is really helpful. Thanks.

    Reply
  28. Taufeeq Umar

    August 4, 2016, 12:28 am

    Really very effective tricks to connect with twitter. Thank you very much for writing here for us.

    Reply
  29. Leesa Johnson

    October 25, 2016, 10:19 pm

    Thanks for sharing these fresh ideas! Twitter – all of their accounts, personal and business. Tweet about Interesting stuff. Do something valuable & important in your real life so that people are compelled to follow & listen to you. Some point-
    Engage, interact & build relationships.
    Have an active, focused and useful presence.
    Persistence/determination.
    Publish quality content, consistently.

    Reply
  30. Danny

    November 2, 2016, 11:52 pm

    Thanks for sharing this post about 5 Clever Ways to Connect with Influencers on Twitter. This awesome post help me a lot.

    Reply
  31. arbour

    March 8, 2017, 10:21 pm

    Thanks for the nice article on twitter

    Reply
  32. Smith willson

    March 19, 2017, 10:07 am

    wow tip are awesome. thank you again 🙂

    Reply
    1. Deborah Anderson

      June 7, 2017, 3:53 am

      On behalf of our wonderful guest author, thanks, Smith. Much appreciated!

      Reply
  33. Bhavik Solanki

    March 28, 2017, 2:54 am

    Thank you for sharing this great information. In this post give good information about Connect with Influences on Twitter for that good explanation in detail thar helpful .

    Reply
  34. Filip

    April 29, 2017, 4:51 pm

    Thank you Deborah for a great pro tips to improve our Twitter skills. Definitely you should write more texts.

    Reply
    1. Deborah Anderson

      June 8, 2017, 12:02 am

      Hello, Filip. On behalf of our wonderful guest author, I thank you 🙂 But, I will try to publish more often here, on SocialWebCafe. It has been other popular sites that have been benefitting from my authorship, but SocialWebCafe is my baby, so I will provide more content to my valued readers, such as yourself. Thanks.

      Reply
  35. kim

    May 23, 2017, 3:22 am

    i like this article with precious infromation which i will use in my daily life

    Reply
    1. Deborah Anderson

      June 8, 2017, 1:01 am

      Kim, I am so glad that you found this article helpful. Thanks!

      Reply
  36. norton tech

    July 3, 2017, 1:31 am

    Well done…
    thank you very much for sharing an important and useful information….

    Reply
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