5 Steps for Adding Twitter Followers on #EcoMonday

Born spontaneously on Twitter, #followfriday (or #ff, for short) has become the universally accepted hashtag for recommending other Twitter accounts. As the name suggests, many Tweeters use this hashtag every Friday to promote other accounts whose tweets are worth following.

In 2009, Max Gladwell (@Max Gladwell) started using the hashtag #ecomonday, which quickly became known as the “official” green version of #followfriday. Within two weeks of its inception, the hashtag was used a couple thousand times. Green tweeters still use the hashtag on Mondays to recommend sustainability and nature related Twitter accounts to their followers.

Participating in #Ecomonday is a great way to gain new followers, because if you recommend following others, it is likely they will follow you. Plus, they may retweet your shout out or tweet a thank you to your Twitter handle, which increases your handle’s visibility.

Use these 5 steps to effectively use #ecomonday to gain followers and strengthen connections with the handles you follow.

1) Use the hashtag to promote your tweets.

Whether you are posting a news article or a picture, including the hashtag #ecomonday will increase the amount of exposure it will receive. Since it trends every Monday, many active green tweeters will scan the posts that include the hashtag and look for new Twitter accounts to follow. It's a good way for active green Twitter accounts with valuable content to find each other and connect.

2) Give a shout out to your followers.

On Twitter, a shout out is a way for people to highlight their followers and show appreciation for the support. On #ecomonday, give shout outs to Twitter accounts that you want to follow you, because it will likely inspire them to follow you. Also, you can give shout outs to Twitter accounts that have given shout outs to you in the past, even if they are already following you. This is a good way to strengthen existing relationships, because they may recognize the gesture and may retweet more of your tweets, or direct message you to work together.

Though strategic shout outs are important for building followers, it is essential to only choose Twitter accounts that post good, valuable content that your Twitter followers would be interested in following. While shout outs should target accounts that you want to follow you or that you want to build a relationship with, your followers might think you are spamming their Twitter feeds if you are promoting accounts that would not be helpful to them.

3) Follow people who are using the hashtag.

Following people is one of the easiest ways to gain followers, and targeting people with the #ecomonday hashtag ensures that they share your green interests. Instead of waiting for them to follow you, take the initiative and do it first. After following them you could always ask for a follow back (if they have not already done so) in a respectable manner. Speaking to them will also help to make people aware that there is not an automated system running the account.

When using this strategy, it's important to note that if the number of people you are following is much higher than the number of people following you, you can lose credibility. You can use websites like ManageFlitter to track the accounts that you are following for free. If someone does not follow you back after a certain amount of time (i.e. a week), you can unfollow them to maintain an even balance of "followers" and "following".

4) Retweet the shout outs you receive.

This is another simple way to show appreciation to your followers. Usually when people give a shout out it is done in a group with several users together in one tweet. Re-tweeting it will expose your other followers to some great users they can follow. Just like re-tweeting stories from other users, your followers may return the favor by doing the same for you. Help others so that they can help you.

5) Say thank you.

May people do not take the time out to say thank to people who follow them, give them shout outs, or recommend them on #ecomonday. A thank you can go a long way on Twitter. Next time someone follows you or gives you a shout out, just say thank you. Even if they do not it back, other people on Twitter will see this and will be encouraged to follow you, because they know that you will tweet at them and boost their visibility.

If you follow these simple steps, you can gradually boost the amount of followers you have along with creating more connections for your business. Happy tweeting!