6 Smart Twitter Automations to Hook Your New Followers

X/Twitter is the go-to platform for global popcorn moments.

But the place is buzzing with so much chatter it sometimes feels like trying to whisper in a rock concert.

So, here's the scoop – I've got 6 nifty tricks up my sleeve you can use to keep your new followers hooked and engaged.

6 Twitter Automation Tactics

1. Welcome and brand intro

You don’t need to roll out the red carpet for each new follower on X/Twitter, but the least you can do is send them a message.

One that gives them something to remember you by.

They're peeking over the fence into your world, curious and ready to be wowed. So make the best of this opportunity to open the door to a conversation.

Fire up your Scrollmark account and set up a 'Welcome and brand intro' journey:

• Get things rolling by setting up your Scrollmark journey to trigger when a user starts following you on Twitter. This will automatically initiate the welcome sequence for anyone who decides to follow you.
• Now, create a DM that introduces your brand in a way that sticks. This is your chance to make a strong first impression and tell your audience more about you. Offer them a taste of the unique content, insights, or benefits they can expect by being a part of your community.

For example, your message could be: "Hey there, welcome aboard! Thrilled to see you here. Here’s a quick snapshot of what we're all about and why we're passionate about it: [link to your brand story or About Us page]."

If you’re unsure about what message will work and want to test a few variations, you can add the A/B Test node after the Trigger node and test up to 5 different variations with different weights.

For example, you can set 25% of your followers to get message A, 55% to get message B, and 20% to get message C. Then see which message worked well.

• Build in a 2-day buffer after your initial message with a Time Delay node. This gives your new follower some time to explore your content and get acquainted with your brand before you reach out again.
• Post the 2-day delay, circle back with a follow-up DM to deepen the connection. This step can help turn the interaction from a simple hello to a meaningful dialogue.

The message could look like: "Hope you enjoyed our story? Here’s more on how we can help you: [link]."

2. Follow-up and check-in

Keeping the conversation going with your audience is key, not just after the initial intro but as part of an ongoing dialogue.

A well-timed follow-up can show your new followers that you're genuinely interested in them and value their thoughts and experiences.

Consider setting up a journey that checks in with your new followers.

It's a simple yet effective way to demonstrate that you’re attentive and invested in building a lasting relationship:

• Kick off this journey by setting a trigger for 3 days post-follow. This gives your new followers a chance to get familiar with your content vibe.
• Create a DM thanking them for the follow and asking them how they feel about something you recently shared on X/Twitter.

Send somethink like: “Hiya! Thanks for joining our journey on X. Curious to know, what's your take on our latest [post/update/game release]? Any feedback or thoughts you'd like to share?”

• Use a Listener node for the reply. This is what a Listener node in Scrollmark looks like:

You can add listener for 5 types of user actions for Twitter in Scrollmark: DMs, follows, tweet replies, retweets, and mentions.

For this journey, we’ll use a listener for the DM.

We can also tell the listener to listen for certain words in the DM but we don’t need that for this journey.

“No response action time” is how much time the Listener node will wait listening for the desired response from the user.

Set it to 48 hours to wait for them to respond to the DM.  If the user doesn’t respond, the journey continues on the “User does not respond” path.

One way to continue building the journey from here is:

• Delete the node for the “User Responds” path. If they hit you back, ditch the automation and switch to a personal touch by using Scrollmark's Inbox feature to continue the convo, tailoring your replies to their feedback or questions.
  This is important because we can’t predict what the user might reply and so we can’t pre-define what message should be sent.
• No reply? No problem. Keep it cool by sending a parting DM like, "Just popping in to say hi! Exciting things are on the horizon. Stay tuned!"

This journey helps you make people feel seen and heard.

It's not just about sending messages to get something out of them; it's about opening a two-way street for conversation.

Keep it authentic and watch your community thrive.

3. Sharing a resource

One of my favorite moves to keep the conversation fresh with new followers is to slide into their DMs with some super handy resources.

I think of it as my way of saying, "Thanks for joining the ride, here's some cool stuff to make your day."

This journey positions you as a thought leader and resource hub, providing followers with actionable insights and in-depth information.

• Set this journey to trigger 2 days after a user follows your Twitter account.
• Send a DM asking for their permission to share the resource with them. This is the right way to share stuff because, first, you ask users to opt-in so it doesn’t feel like spam. And second, it creates an interaction loop.

Here’s a message you can send to get permission to share a YouTube video link: "Hey there, new pal! 👋 Thanks for joining our X community. We've got this wicked YouTube video that dives deep into [Topic] – it’s like the ultimate hack into the [Industry/Game/Market]. Hit us back with 'Count me in' and we’ll teleport you straight to video wonderland. 🎥"

Sometimes you've got a PDF, a guide, maybe a report, and you'd want to share it on Twitter. But Twitter's not too friendly with file attachments in DMs. A few ways around this are:

1. Upload to a cloud service: Go ahead and upload that PDF to Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Once it's up there, you just share the link in a Twitter DM. You gotta check the settings though, make sure whoever's on the other end can open it.
2. Convert to an image: If your PDF isn't all that long, you could turn specific pages to images (JPEG or PNG) and then send these images through Twitter DMs. Works pretty well for shorter documents or when you only need to share a snippet of some part of the PDF.
3. Host on your website: Then there's your own turf - your website. You can put the PDF up there, then just shoot over a direct link in a Twitter DM.
4. Use a file-sharing service: Last, there's always something like WeTransfer. You upload your PDF, and it spits out a link for you to share. That's another way to get around Twitter's little quirks with DMs.

The way forward can be designed like this:

• Use a Listener node for the opt-in. Set the listener to catch the opt-in phrase or word and then set a “no response action time” duration of 48 hours to wait for the user to respond to the DM.
• If the user opts in, send them the link: "Awesome sauce! You’re officially in for a wild ride. Buckle up and click here to jet off to your video adventure: [link to your YouTube video]."
• If the user does not respond, you have three options: you can again send them a DM telling them about the resource, you can send them the welcome and brand intro journey we covered already, or you can also just delete the node for the “User does not respond” path. I would say use a Time Delay node and try sending them another nudge 4-8 days later in case they missed your first message or didn’t have time then.

After you've sent your resource, you can choose to end the journey.

But there's more to it than just sharing a resource and walking away.

You've got this chance to keep the ball rolling. You're building something, a connection, a back-and-forth.

You reach back out, poke them a bit - ask what they thought about what you sent. That's where the real conversation starts.

• Give the user some time to go through the resource by using a Time Delay node. 3-4 days is good enough.
• Send a DM asking them their thoughts on the resource and topic.

Use something like: "Hope you’ve survived the mind-bending journey through our video 🌪️🧠. Spill the beans - what did you think? Which part made you go 'Whoa!' and what left you scratching your head? Your uncensored thoughts, please.”

4. Networking with micro-influencers

This journey helps you build a connection with the folks in the crowd who've got a bit of a following, a bit of clout.

When you connect with these folks, it's like hitching a ride on a mini rocket. They've got the audience, the reach, the influence.

And let's not forget, it's not just about the numbers. It's about credibility, trust.

Their followers listen because they trust them.

This journey is designed for brands, especially in the Web3, indie gaming, or influencer marketing sectors, to identify and engage with high-value followers (e.g., those with a significant follower count) to build influential connections and foster networking opportunities.

• Set this journey to trigger 3 days after a user follows your Twitter account.
• Create a Conditional node to check if the new follower has more than 5,000 followers. Here’s a Conditional node in Scrollmark, it looks similar to a Listener node:

Currently, it supports two kinds of conditions but we're going to release a lot more very soon:

I’ll talk about the ‘Make Your Own’ condition some other time.

For this journey, we’re going to use the ‘Number of followers’ condition and set the minimum number of followers to 5000.

You can continue building the journey like this:

• If the condition is met, send them a DM inviting them to your upcoming event, webinar, or asking them to join a networking group. You can send this kind of a DM: "Howdy! I just had peeked at your profile - impressive stuff in [replace this placeholder with relevant field]! 😎 It’s not easy to rack up 5,000+ followers on X. We think you'd be a perfect fit for our upcoming [your event/webinar/networking group brief info]. How about joining us for some real talk and fun? Let me know what you think."
• For the “If no” path, if you haven’t already set the “Welcome and Brand Intro” journey, you can set it here. Otherwise, you can delete the node.

• Use a Listener node for the reply to the DM. Set a “no response action time” duration of 48 hours to wait for them to respond to the DM.

The journey can be designed to continue in this manner:

• Delete the node for the “User Responds” path. When a user shoots back a response, that's your cue to roll up your sleeves and dive in manually. Hop into the Inbox feature inside Scrollmark and engage them based on their reply. You can't put this part on autopilot. The user might ask you questions about the event or networking group or they might suggest a direct way to collaborate together.
• For the “User does not respond” path, set action to send a parting DM: "All good! Maybe next time? Keep rocking in your corner of the world. We’ve got more wild rides up our sleeve, so stay tuned for the next big thing."

5. Increasing giveaway participation

Alright, so how about a journey that will really jazz up the crowd, get them all revved up?

Here's a classic move, tried and true: tap into that age-old love for giveaways.

You're not just saying hello, you're handing them a ticket to the funfair. It's a chance for them to play, to win something that's valuable or maybe just cool.

You can either have a giveaway underway that’s open to all or have a recurring one exclusively for your new followers.

This is a great way to plant seeds for a community that'll be active and loyal.

• Set this journey to start 2 days after a user follows your Twitter account.
• Create your giveaway invitation DM.

For example, your message could read: "Whoop, whoop, welcome to the thrill ride! We're rolling out a fantastic giveaway just for our new followers. Fancy winning some cool prizes? We’re giving away [details of the prizes] Reply 'I’m in' to get all the juicy details.”

• Use a Listener node for the reply to the DM. You can set a "no response action time" of 48 hours to wait for them to answer the DM.

I would design the rest of the adventure like this:

• If the user responds with the opt-in phrase or word, can send the details of the giveaway and how to participate: “You've got the spirit! Here's the scoop on our giveaway: [Details/Link]. Follow these simple steps to enter, and who knows, luck might just be on your side! 🎁”
• If the user doesn’t respond with the opt-in phrase or under 48 hours, you can send them a message saying they missed the offer but there will be more chances in the future if they stay in touch with you. Something like: “Uh oh, this giveaway train missed you but there's always the next one. Keep your eyes peeled for more fun times and mystery gifts with us!"

6. Creating UGC

Alright, let's talk about a secret weapon you can get in your arsenal with Scrollmark: user-generated content, UGC for short.

This journey is all about getting those new followers to roll up their sleeves and join in on the fun.

You're asking them to not just watch from the sidelines but also be part of the show.

For Web3 projects, indie gaming devs, and influencer marketing agencies, UGC is like gold dust. It ramps up engagement, creates real, authentic connections, and boy, does it amplify your brand's reach.

It's like having a chorus of voices, each singing your brand's tune, but in their own unique way.

• After a user follows your Twitter account, you can set this journey to begin 2 days later.

• Send the UGC invitation DM.

An Indie game developer could send something like: “🎮 Stoked to have you in our gamer's guild! Next week, we’re going to feature the best content creators in the indie gaming space on our profile. Share your most thrilling or funny gameplay moment, fan art, or cosplay with #[yourgametitle] and tag us to be featured on our feed!“

• Use a Listener node for the mention. You can set the listener to check for the hashtag in a post mentioning you made by the user. Set a “no response action time” duration of 2400 hours to wait for the user to make this post.

The journey can continue like this:

• Delete the node for the “User Responds” path. If the user creates a post mentioning you with the hashtag, you’ll have to manually follow up with them using the Inbox feature inside Scrollmark and engage them based on the post they made. This allows for a personalized response tailored to the user's specific post, enhancing the user experience and engagement.
• For the “User does not respond” path, you can send a DM to end the journey: "Not ready to share your game moments yet? No pressure! Keep enjoying the game and remember, our community loves seeing new heroes rise. When you're ready to showcase your adventures, we'll be here!"

Final thoughts

Success in social media marketing comes from cooking up an engaged, interested community.

With these slick automations at your fingertips, you're not just waving at new followers; you're pulling them in, making every interaction count.

That's how you turn passersby into pals, into your community.

Let me know your thoughts on Twitter, and as always, all my best.

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