Recipe for a Viral Twitter Account

In an online marketer’s ideal world, social media would follow a simple recipe. With a dash of work, a helping of new followers, and an appropriate amount of baking time, each account would grow and prosper. Sure they’d need maintenance to continue to thrive – much like wine, cheese, or an extremely long-term version of bread – but said maintenance would also make the outcome that much better. After all, it’s a recipe; follow the directions and the final product will be a favorable one.

IRL, however, social media recipes are more of a hodgepodge of knowledge and tasks. In general, what works works, but some profiles might need more – or at least different – tweaking than others. Big names bring in followers all on their own, clever posts aren’t always well received, and hundreds of other factors. There’s simply no way to predict social media response rates in a foolproof manner.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t still try to create our own ingredient list. Then, by adjusting that concoction, we can find the most successful results.

To date, unique and celebrity viral accounts alike have taught us:

Humor works

Whether clever or even slightly offensive, a good joke can bring tons of new followers. Just be sure not to overly offend; a little bit of bad press can go a long way.

Give fan favorites a new spin

Twitter followers love a good parody account. Or one that introduces two of their favorite things, like humor and Harry Potter a la @MuggleHustle, or Seinfeld and modern technology, through @SeinfeldToday. Each tweet outlines a (very realistic) scenario for different characters and relates them back to something that didn’t exist in the 90s. For instance: “Elaine Instagrams other people’s photos to seem cool. A cute guy falls for Instagram Elaine, but real Elaine can’t live up to her fake life.” Or “Kramer creates an app that gives you ideas for other apps.”

Between the continued love for the sitcom and jokes that only current-life readers can understand, the account has become a hit.

Characterize

While an entire writing crew may be behind each show or book, Twitter accounts read as if they’re maintained by the main character themselves. These tweets read straight from the character’s state of mind, have frequent show/literature references, and are usually out to entertain. For instance, Ron Swanson’s parody handle, which stems from the character of the same name no Parks and Rec. An anti-government government worker, the account tweets, “I have noticed no discernible difference between the government being shut down and the government being open for business” and “Any dog under 50lbs is a cat, and cats are useless.”

Oftentimes real-life singers or on-air personalities will manage their own account; either way tweets should be clever, informative, and offer readers a point of interest.

Go Verified

Largely performed by Twitter, not the users themselves, hosting a verified account is essentially earning a stamp to attract new followers. This act not only shows an account is legit, it gives clout to each tweet, proving a trusted source (or at least whoever’s listed) was the one who shared it.

Bottom line – if an account has something to offer, users will follow it. Largely growth comes from consistency, hard work, and a regular posting regimen. While the above – and other proven methods – can add to one’s follower count, nothing will make up for an account that fails to account for basic maintenance. And though there may not be a catch-all recipe to improve Twitter accounts, there’s still plenty that can be done. By finding a way to set themselves apart, these already-used recipes can still bring in hundreds of new followers.

The post Recipe for a Viral Twitter Account by Bethaney Wallace appeared first on The Social Robot.