Interview with Dr. Salber: How to Get 15,000 Twitter Followers

Below this synopsis is the full excerpt of our 30 minute interview with Dr. Pat Salber who has over 15,000 Twitter followers and has made a living from her social media content and consulting.

But for those short on time (like me) I've condensed her wisdom in these 3 key takeaways:

1) The easiest way to get followers is to...

Medical professionals have an almost unfair advantage to getting followers that most of us (except celebrities) don't have - doctors and dentists on Twitter often have a "Colleague Effect" - where if you follow them as a fellow doctor or dentist - they have a high chance of following you back.

The "Colleague Effect" is the easiest way for most medical professionals to get their colleagues as followers.

[For MDs: Tweet "@Seattlemamadoc is a great example of how doctors can use Twitter to establish thought leadership."]



 

[For DDS: Tweet "@drkevinsands is a textbook model of how dentists should leverage Twitter."]



Congratulations, you've just gotten your first follower. And it's that easy to get even more.

2) Attach pictures if possible to every Tweet and grab more attention.

If pictures tell a thousand words, then pictures on Twitter (which you can easily attach next to any of your tweets) will get a thousand more views than simple text.

In my opinion, one of the best places to get free pictures to attach to your tweets is Flikr - just go to their Advanced Search page and remember to check this box to filter for royalty-free images.

 



 

3) The next time you're at a conference, tweet about it using the "hashtag" for the conference.

Almost every conference large and small now has a hashtag (example: #amaconference2014). Just say something about the conference and add the "#" sign and the keyword the conference has listed for their hashtag and you'll have -

i) Other conference attendees start to follow you and comment on your tweets - it works so well it's like magic!

ii) Other peers who were not able to make the conference but are 'Twitter-savvy' will actually attend the conference virtually - and read your hashtag comments and either follow you or comment on your tweet.

The easiest thing to tweet + hashtag about at a conference is when you're attending an interesting track or seminar - simply break the news of the presentation on twitter and watch the "reporter effect" your tweets get.

More Reading:

Tweeting at Conferences