How to Get Followers with a Twitter Contest
It’s impossible to truly control what’s popular on Twitter. Users on the site reign from all over the world, and trending topics are not always what you’d expect. It is a crowdsourced forum, so everything that becomes popular was slowly brought up from the bottom and essentially voted to the top. While there are significant things happening around the world, you might not see trending topics such as “#presidentialcampaign” or “#ebmbassyassasination”. Sure, there are people talking about world news, but that doesn’t necessarily mean these topics are trending. Some more common trending topics include “#robotpickuplines” and “#Googlevoicemistakes.” These are just fun jokes that continue to bounce off of hundreds of people.
 If you’re unfamiliar with the infamous hashtag, it’s important to gain an understanding before making any plans to market your brand on Twitter. On Twitter, the hashtag is not all that complicated. By putting the pound symbol— technically known as the hash mark—before a word, you are making it easier for other users to find your tweet in a list of tweets related to a similar topic. For example, you might be discussing the latest Twilight movie. To make sure fellow Twilight fans (or haters) see your post, you should include “#Twilight”. So, you might ask the question, “Team Edward or Team Jacob? #Twilight.” Even though you didn’t use the word Twilight in your post, the hashtag will give others the ability to find it in their search for Twilight discussions. If you’re confused, simply log into Twitter and search any buzzword with a hashtag. You’ll see a list of related posts.
 Now that you’ve got the hashtag thing down, it’s time to use it to your advantage. As previously stated, it’s hard to get people talking about one thing. Especially on social media sites, they’ll talk about what they want to talk about, and they might become downright offended if you suggest anything different from a corporate standpoint.  If your company’s name or product is not a trending topic though, don’t lose hope. There is one way you can jump into the hashtag universe without fail. To get people talking about you on Twitter, host a contest.
 The Washington Post had great success with this idea. This past week, they announced the winners to their Twitter humor contest. They chose the top five one-liners and announced the winners right on their website. To enter the contest, users simply had to post a funny one-liner with the hashtag, “#wphumor.” While “wphumor” does not immediately indicate its affiliation with the Washington Post, followers of the people who used the hashtag probably looked it up and started following the publication on their own. It’s fun to see people’s quirky posts for the contest, and people who hope to be included in the next contest are eager to become followers. People who never thought to follow the Washington Post likely changed their mind when they read through the list of hilarious one-liners posted for the contest.
 As this is probably starting to make sense to you and you see that more followers are imminent with a simple contest, it’s time to start planning your strategy. It’s important to consider each of the following steps.
 Decide What Results You Want
Before making your contest a reality, you should take time and brainstorm with your team about what you want out of it. If you want website traffic, you should consider somehow incorporating your website in the contest so that followers pay a visit. If you want more followers, you should make a contest that is based only in the confines of Twitter so that potential followers can get all the information they need right from your profile. Similarly, vamp up your Twitter account for a few months before the contest so that people see how fun your Tweets can be. That way, they’ll be impressed when they check you out.
 Follow the Rules of Twitter
Once you’ve settled on an appropriate contest, make sure you fully understand the rules of contests and entries on Twitter. If you misstep any of these guidelines, you might jeopardize your own account or the accounts of your followers. Make sure everyone is on the same page with the terms and conditions, and be careful not to accidentally break any of the rules.
 Decide on a Hashtag
The hashtag is an important part of this contest. Using a generic one such as “#blondejokes” or “#fashion” would be a waste of your time. Few people would think to follow the hashtag and see what all the fuss is about. Instead, consider including your companies name in the hashtag or making it unique enough to cause a stir.
 Determine the Prize
For a contest as huge as that of the Washington Post, the followers and Twitter fame that the winner can expect is enough. However, for a contest on a smaller scale, you should offer your contestants a prize for first place. A first place prize could be as expensive as a new iPad or as simple as a complimentary service or product from your company. You could even structure the contest so that there are multiple winners. When multiple people are vying for a variety of prizes, they’ll often be checking back to see when the winner was announced.
 Decide on the Duration of the Contest
Both short and long contests have their benefits. By hosting a contest that lasts 24-hours or less, people might be using your hashtag wildly and you might start trending. However, the contest will be over quickly and not everyone will have seen it. On the other hand, people will have more time to find your contest when it lasts a week or more, but your followers might lose interest. The nature of your contest should help your decide.
 No matter what your original goal was when you decided on a contest, you will probably get more followers, see more website traffic, and even make more sales. It is an excellent way to get your name out there, and people will probably be begging for more. You should even consider thinking of a second round of the contest while the first is in progress. Creating a Twitter contest is easy with the right attitude, and once the responses start pouring in, it will even be fun.