The best way to expand your Twitter presence, reach new customers and strengthen your brand is to boost your daily Twitter engagement. In fact, research points to a direct correlation between the number of Tweets and number of followers: the more engagement you have, the more followers you'll have. But Twitter engagement is more than just posting random Tweets several times a day. It requires planning and discipline. 
First and foremost, make sure your Twitter profile is fully optimized. This involves having a cool and attractive profile picture that will engage users, an interesting (but relatively brief) business bio, and links to other social media networks and your Web page. Setting up an effective business profile will increase the chances that other people and businesses will engage with your page.
With your profile in place, next up is searching for people to chat with on Twitter. Start by searching lists grouped by specific industries, topics, and hashtags. In addition, Twitter will also suggest people to follow. You'll quickly find each outlet provides a seemingly endless amount of contacts. Of course, you can't realistically follow everyone, so be judicious. HubSpot, for example, recommends you follow 20 people or business per day, max.
OK, so now you have a set of individuals you'd like to contact. Next up: create Tweets that are engaging and result in retweets or further chatter. Your space is limited, so make sure your Tweets are short and sweet: put your key message first, include a link (if necessary), and the applicable hashtag. Of course, you want to make sure that the message itself is interesting. Here are some ways to accomplish this:
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Establish your brand as a thought-leader. Link to a blog post that speaks to this experience (e.g. "Nine Ways to Easily Save For College.")
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Provide commentary on other pieces of content. And don't just rely on one third-party content source; if you're an auto dealership, pull from multiple third-party sources rather than simply, say, Consumer Reports.
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Most importantly, make sure your Tweet reflects your brand. Inject humor and cool photos, and post funny and non-commercial content.
Now that you're optimized your profile and are Tweeting interesting things, you can reach out to identified followers and start a conversation. You can do this by:
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Retweeting cool stuff from followers. Odds are they're reciprocate the favor somewhere down the line. That said, don't Retweet every Tweet that mentions your brand — that's overdoing it. Also don't spam other profiles with your blogs.
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Thank or "favorite" those who Tweet at you. It's the same logic that applies to positive comments on Yelp or other social media platforms: don't let a good compliment go to waste.
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Similarly, answer questions people may have. It's a great way to establish your brand's expertise.
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Run Twitter contests; it's a sure-fire way to boost engagement.
How often does your company Tweet? What's been particularly effective in boosting Twitter engagement? Any other tactics you can recommend we didn't mention in this article?
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