How to Increase Your Influence on Twitter

What is an influencer?

An influencer is “someone who influences”. Influence, as defined by Merriam-Webster is

: the power to change or affect someone or something : the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen
: a person or thing that affects someone or something in an important way

Therefore, in describing a Twitter influencer, I would say ‘someone who influences people on Twitter’ and ‘a person that affects someone on Twitter in an important way.'

What does an influencer really do?

An influencer affects someone. As in “the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen.” So without telling people what to do exactly, or without specific instructions, the actions of the influencer affects the actions of the person being influenced.

Why would you want to be an influencer?

Why is this so powerful and why would you want to be a Twitter influencer? There are many reasons to want to be an influencer. As an influencer, you get to affect behavior, so as a Twitter influencer, you influence Twitter behavior as in you affect what people talk about, share and tweet, RT and chat about and even who they will follow. This is pretty powerful stuff. Think about how Twitter influence can affect web traffic, audience growth, product sales, product launch, consulting gigs, brand recognition and client work. If this makes sense to you, read on.

How can you find and identify Twitter Influencers?

There are social media tools available which will help you identify your Twitter influencers. Klout, Kred and Tospy come to mind, and of course, there are many others.
The tools are easy to use and if you are new to social media, new to Twitter or new to a specific industry, those are great places to start your search for influencers in your niche. These tools can also help you build your own influence. The effectiveness of building up your social media influence using these tools has been debated many times over, and that’s another blog post in itself, so I am going to let it rest right here. Let me just say it’s really hard to put a number on it!
In this recently written article by Michelle Hummell, she answers How to Find the Right Twitter Influencers to Grow Your Business by identifying 3 groups of influencers, namely

• customer demographic
• industry influencers
• amplifiers

How does this having this information help you? Answer these questions: Who knows most about your product? Who knows most about your industry? Who shares most about your brand? Bingo…! Those are your influencers! (and that person could be you; you could be an influencer in your industry already.)

How to Become a Twitter Influencer

How To Become a Twitter Influencer: Science and Practice talks about two additional influencers; Hub Influencers and Bridge Influencers. It’s a super interesting read by Neil Patel for Social Media Examiner, yet it leaves the reader hanging a bit. As I read the comments, one comment jumped out at me. It stated:

“Becoming a hub (influencer) isn’t easy.”
“There is nothing easy about becoming a Twitter influencer.”
No offence, but your post doesn’t give any help about the HOW, just information about those who already are twitter influencers.”

There, that was my cue to write this Twitter article.
Am I an expert on Twitter and influence? By no means! Am I the best person to answer this question? Probably not! Yet I do know that I influence people with my written words and I know I influence my audience on Twitter. So far, I have a passing grade; I am working on increasing my own influence by trying to be more consistent, have more conversations, be more active and grow my audience.
Regular people can become influencers. Regular Twitter users can become Twitter influencers. It takes hard work, perseverance, collaboration and a strategy to build and increase your influence on Twitter!
Read. Learn. Apply.

25 signs you are on your way to become a twitter influencer in your industry

1. You are present!
2. You tweet (quality content) daily
3. You tweet organically too, not only automated
4. You have conversations (you talk @people)
5. You answer questions
6. You ask questions, people read your tweet(s) and answer
7. You get retweeted
8. You seek out new connections
9. You share OPC (other people’s content)
10. You are listed on industry-specific lists
11. You have subscribers to your Twitter lists
12. You share images
13. You have a personalized Twitter profile and bio
14. You have a social media voice and personality
15. You thank people for sharing your content
16. You experience audience growth
17. You participate in chats
18. You have a diverse audience
19. You are known by name, not just your handle
20. You get thanked for great content
21. You use the right hashtags when appropriate
22. You are told you influence people
23. You inspire people to take action
24. You are consistent
25. You have a twitter strategy

Read more at: http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/how-increase-your-influence-twitter-0