I’ve found that most tools and processes start with analysing your existing audience, but that doesn’t work if you’re an early-days startup. So, this is my process for building a following from nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Some things to keep in mind:

• This process takes time. It will probably take several months. Stick with it, though, because it’s worth it.

• A lot of this process involves trusting your gut. Save the science for later, this is about experimentation and getting to know the humans you hope will buy your product.

• Forget your competitors, for now. This is about you and your potential customer.

Make sure your profile looks top-notch

First things first! Get your profile looking super impressive. That includes your description, website, logo, header image, the works.

Remember that people don’t know your brand yet, so it’s a good idea to include two or three words about your product in your name. That’s the first thing they’ll see when you interact with them.

Start with your problem statements

Make a list of the top 5 problems you solve for your customer. If they were looking for a solution, what keywords would they use to find it?

Get to know your audience

Now, think about who your potential customer already engages with. Brands, influencers, etc. Pick 20 accounts they likely already follow.

Go to those accounts and read their recent tweets. You're looking for ones that got lots of likes and comments. Pull out the keywords, topics, and ideas behind them. Add those to your keywords list.

Expand and validate

Take your list of keywords and topics, and use a keyword analysis tool to expand it. You're looking for additional keywords that seem like ones your audience would search or engage with.

Now it’s time to validate your list. Search Twitter for each of these keywords individually, on the "Latest" tab. Your goal is to weed out any that don't get frequent engagement, or that don't bring up tweets which seem relevant to your audience.

Remember, this is about what your audience is interested in, and the pain points they have, not your product.

Take your final list and create one big long search by using Twitter search operators:

Keyword OR Keyword OR (Keyword AND Keyword) OR "Key Word"

Bookmark or save this search. It's your new favourite place on the internet.

Create daily engagement

Check this search at least twice per day. Look for tweets you can engage with naturally, and slip your product into conversation.

Them: "I can't wait for the weekend I'm going to play some music with friends."

You: “Nice! Our product makes playing music with friends even better. Check it out at [download link]. Have a great time this weekend!"

✅ DO include something that makes it clear you read their tweet, and this isn't an automated message.
🔴 DON'T write like a door-to-door salesman. "Why not try it today!" is not how people talk in real life. You want to get them to like you, as a person.
🔴 DON'T feel like you need to talk about your product in every tweet. Just engaging is enough to build a brand.
🔴 DON'T feel like you need to reply to every tweet. A silent like is okay, if that’s what feels right.

Always follow the person you engaged with. You can clean up your follows later.

💡TIP: Mix and match responses from your brand, and yourself as a person, if you are comfortable with it. Tweets from individuals get much higher engagement because people trust them more. If you reply as yourself, tag your brand account and follow from both.

The trick to easy content creation

When you reply to a tweet, you can "invert" it to create a tweet of your own. Using the example above, some tweets you could write:

"Who's playing music with friends this weekend? 👋 Make the gig it even cooler with [product] [download link]"

"[product] makes playing music with friends better. [download link]"

✅ DO play with questions, statements, and polls.
✅ DO use images. Tweets with them get 2.3x higher engagement.
✅ DO highlight your audience’s pain points and your product’s value propositions.
🔴 DON'T post all versions right away. It's best to keep a list of tweets and mix them up over time.
🔴 DON'T feel like every tweet has to be an award-winner. It’s ok to experiment.

Learn and adapt

Every two weeks, repeat this entire process to develop a strategy and tone of voice. Consider factors like:

• Which of your tweets and replies got the most engagement?

• Which accounts followed you back?

• What insight does your Twitter analytics provide?

• What are your competitors tweeting?

• Which tone of voice gets the most engagement?

💡 TIP: When you find a tweet that gets good engagement, use a scheduling tool to post it again in 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year.

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