5 Proven Steps to Grow Your Twitter Followers from 0 to 1000s in 90 Days

How Dakota Robertson Went from Zero to over 260,000 Followers

Diagram by Ismael Adekunle

In January 2023, I published my first Medium article, but I’ve yet to achieve the engagement and success I envisioned.

Now, inspired by successful writers like Dickie Bush and Nicolas Cole from Ship 30 for 30, I’m turning to Twitter. They advocate starting small by sharing atomic essays on platforms like Twitter or LinkedIn to see what resonates before expanding on those ideas in longer blog posts. More Twitter followers mean more opportunities to connect, validate ideas, and drive traffic to my Medium articles. One key lesson from my Medium journey is to avoid the mistakes of inconsistency and not engaging with my audience.

This time, I’m learning from the best, like Dakota Robertson.

Robertson went from being a Domino’s pizza driver with no social media experience to a Twitter powerhouse with over 260,000 followers in under three years, earning over $100,000 monthly. His success shows the power of mastering the craft of concise writing and consistent engagement, and we can learn from his experience and craftsmanship.

Here are Dakota Robertson’s five steps to grow Twitter followers from 0–1,000 followers as quickly as possible.

Step 1: Give Your Audience Value

What is value? “Value” refers to your content’s usefulness, relevance, and impact on your audience. You are helping people move away from pain and toward a desired outcome. To provide value: learn and share a skill with a content-market fit.

Content market fit on Twitter is when your skill aligns with two things:

1. Your interest and
2. Market demand

So, if you aren’t interested in the skill, you won’t enjoy making the content and will give up. Then, if there isn’t market demand for your skill, nobody will want to consume your content or follow you. So when you pick your skill for Twitter, you want to choose one that helps other people solve their pain points and achieve their desired outcomes.

This skill should fall into one of three categories:

1. Health
2. Wealth
3. Relationship

Every product or service fits into these three core desires or markets. You can look at the diagram for further elaboration:

Diagram by Ismael Adekunle

Diagram by Ismael Adekunle

Experiment at the beginning until you find a skill that has the best content-market fit.

You don’t need to be an expert with years of experience in these categories. All you have to do is find the top 5 to 10 experts teaching that skill, study them, apply what you learn, and then create content teaching those a few steps behind. You’re sharing your real-world experience, which is more relatable and valuable to your audience.

Step 2: Optimize Your Profile Picture

You need to optimize your profile because the image is everything, and your image sends a signal to your potential audience about whether they should trust you and follow you on Twitter.

Profile Pics

The profile pic is the face of your brand, so take a quality picture from the chest up.

Bio

Keep it simple and state clearly:

• The value and benefit your target audience would get from following you.
• Who you are trying to help
• Social proof to back up your competence; if you don’t have one, share what you are working on.

Banner

You should use a call to action promoting what you have to offer or a photo that represents the vibe of your brand.

Username

Please keep it simple, professional, and easy to remember. Don’t use numbers or underscores.

Pinned Tweets

Pinned tweets are the first tweets that someone sees when they visit your profile, so choose a tweet that showcases the value of your account.

For your pinned tweets, choose a Twitter thread that shows your target audience step-by-step how to solve one of their pain points. The Twitter thread will position you as an authority.

see the diagram below for example:

photo by Ismael Adekunle

Step 3: The Three Content Pillars

Create content on Twitter using the GAP framework.

The GAP framework consists of three content pillars:

1. growth content,
2. authority content, and
3. personal content.

Creating these three types of content bridges the gap from a stranger to a die-hard fan who knows, likes, and trusts you. Check the diagram below for more explanation:

Diagram by Ismael Adekunle

Step 4: Traffic

Traffic is what you do to get eyes on your content.

There are three primary forms of getting traffic into your Twitter ecosystem:

Commenting

You should list people with the audience you want to have and make it a priority to comment on their posts.

The benefits of commenting on other people’s posts:

1. It builds a relationship with the original poster. When you comment enough times, you will build relationships with them. Some of these people will end up following you and start to engage with your content, so more engagement equals more traffic.
2. Some of the original poster’s audience will start to follow you. Since the person you’re commenting on already has traffic on their post, you can tap into this. When you post an insightful or interesting comment, some of this person’s audience will click on your profile and look at your content. If they like what they see, they’ll follow you. If you’re between 0 and 1,000 followers, Robertson recommends commenting 20 times daily on posts in your niche. Use Twitter’s search function to find trending topics that align with your interests.

When commenting, do not just rephrase what the original poster said or say, “Good job.” Use the “Yes, and” principle from improv as a powerful tool for building engagement on Twitter.

For instance, if someone posts about their productivity struggles, you could respond, “Yes, and here’s how I overcame a similar challenge by using the Pomodoro technique.” Your comment not only adds value but also encourages further conversation.

Look at the diagram below for more:

Diagram by Ismael Adekunle

Paid Engagement

Paid engagement is when you look for social media accounts that have traffic with quality content and good engagement, and then you pay the owner of the account to get your content in front of that traffic.

If the paid social media account engages by reposting or commenting on your content, a fraction of the paid Twitter account followers are shown your content.

Engagement Group

An engagement group is when you collaborate with other creators to exchange engagement on social media.

For this to be effective, the members of your group should meet three criteria:

1. They should have the size of a similar following,
2. Be actively working on growing their social media presence and
3. Have an audience that would be interested in your content.

This strategy works well because everyone leverages each other’s audiences, leading to faster growth than going alone. When one person grows their audience, the entire group benefits.

Find 5 to 10 Twitter creators to join your group. The key is to ensure everyone posts once a day, and when you post, you must engage with everyone else’s content. This Twitter growth strategy is straightforward yet effective.

Step 5: Two Content Formats

Use these two content formats to grow your followers.

Here are the main content formats:

1. Twitter Threads
2. DM Giveaway

Twitter Threads:

1. Definition: A Twitter thread is a series of connected tweets that provide more in-depth value than a regular post, making converting views into followers practical.
2. Structure:

• Pick a Pain Point: Choose a common problem your audience faces (e.g., a fitness coach might focus on how to get 8 hours of quality sleep).
• Create an Outline: List all the steps needed to solve the pain point (e.g., avoiding blue light before bed, getting sunlight in the morning, etc.).
• Detail Each Step: Explain why it’s important and how the audience can take action.

3. Call to Action: At the end of the thread, encourage people to follow you for more content.

4. Frequency: To grow quickly, aim to create 2–3 high-quality weekly threads.

Twitter DM Giveaways:

1. Definition: A DM giveaway involves offering a free resource to your audience in exchange for engagement (e.g., commenting on a keyword).
2. Benefits: This method incentivizes engagement, boosts your post’s visibility, and can position you as an authority, leading to follower growth.
3. Execution:

• Use a tool like Tweet Hunter to automate the process.
• Convert existing content (like a thread) into a Google Doc or video, and use it as your giveaway resource.
• Set up the DM giveaway with clear instructions, a benefit-driven introduction, and a scarcity element (e.g., limited time or quantity).

4. Automation Setup:

• Write your post and set up an auto-DM for those who engage.
• Include a link to your resource in the automated DM.
• Schedule the post for optimal timing.

Summing It All Up

Action Plan to Grow from 0 to 1,000 Followers on Twitter:

1. Content Focus: Base your content on an actionable skill that interests you, has market demand, and solves people’s problems.
2. Daily Tweeting: Tweet three times a day: one growth-focused tweet, one authority-building tweet, and one personal tweet.
3. Engagement: Comment on 20 tweets daily using the “Yes and” principle to build engagement and foster connections.
4. Traffic: Leverage your engagement group and paid engagement to boost your visibility.
5. Content Formats: Use Twitter threads and DM giveaways to deliver value and grow your followers.

By following these steps and learning from others, you can quickly build your Twitter following and connect with a larger audience.

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