Your Twitter following is equivalent to your credit score. Those words were uttered by an attendee during a conference presentation I conducted recently.

Although she was being facetious, she made a good point. In essence, your Twitter followers undoubtedly add weight to your influence. Sites like Klout and Kred consider this when assigning an influence score to your Twitter handle.

With this in mind, it is important to build your Twitter following to lift your brand’s influence and become a viable resource for potential consumers. In fact, this is exactly what I’m doing with my Twitter account. I’m pulling back the curtain and revealing some of the key tactics I used to build my following.

Below you will find how to get thousands of followers on Twitter:

Optimize Your Profile

• Determine your purpose for being on Twitter. Your Twitter profile images and description should reflect this purpose.
• Customize your Twitter profile. Include an attractive photo and header that will convey why you’re worth a follow.

Don’t Stop Tweeting

• Tweet around the clock. The best way to increase your Twitter following is to consistently engage. Remember, people from all over the world have Twitter accounts. It’s never too late to Tweet!
• Diversify your Tweets. Tweet content you create, tweet content created by others; and tweet that content more than once.

Start now. Tweet this article!

Curate Content

• Use tools like Feedly, Goodreads, Alltop, Twitter (lists), StumbleUpon, LinkedIn Pulse, and what’s hot on Pinterest and Google+ to discover great content to tweet. Using the Twitter search will also provide great content to retweet.

Make Tweets Visible

• Take the time to create great visuals and include them with your Tweets. Use Twitter Cards to make your Tweets pop!

Follow People

• The second best way to grow your followers other than tweeting around the clock is to follow and list people (without violating Twitter’s follower restrictions).

Use Hashtags

• By using hashtags, you are able to have your Tweets appear in the assigned hashtag stream. As a result, you can pick up new followers interested in your content.

Make Your Profile Easy To Follow

• Add the Twitter follow button to everything that your consumers see such as your website, your email signature and marketing collateral.

How are you gaining new Twitter followers?

Photo credit: istockphoto