How to get local followers for your Twitter feed – Policing Twitter Tip

You often see police officer tweets saying "I only need one more follower to break 600. Please help". Unless you are wanting to build up a huge amount of Twitter followers to get paid by advertisers to send out tacky adverts, you as a police officer are missing the point.

If you are using twitter to engage with your local public and provide a police newsfeed then you really only want followers who live in the area you police. You want quality not quantity. You want to reach the right people, the ones you provide a service to.

The best way to help local twitter users find your tweets is to remember to add the town or city name you police, in your tweets. This helps them to be found when people use Twitter's search box. A young mum was searching Twitter using the word 'Addlestone' to see if any other mums were using it in her area. In the results she found the Surrey Police Runnymede Beat tweets because the local Neighbourhood officers add the town name Addlestone to all their tweets. "Wow I didn't realise the local police were on Twitter that is so cool" She discovered the police tweets by accident.

Your tweets must be interesting and informative to make this young mum into a 'follower' of your Twitter feed. If they are, she will tell her friends, who will tell their friends, who will tell their friends. You get the picture. All these people will be local and have an interest in what their Neighbourhood officers are doing. If your tweets are boring you will fail.

Another way to obtain local 'Followers' is by handing out a leaflet at busy locations like supermarkets and railway stations at rush hour. When you are out on patrol the same leaflets can be handed out to people you see on your beat who have a smart phone. Stop and have a chat with people. "Hi there. I see you have a smart phone. Did you know that your local Police are on twitter and send out daily updates on what is going on…". It's not Rocket Science

Surrey Police have been very clever. They managed to get their three local papers to follow their Twitter Newsfeed. The journalists liked what they were reading and retweeted then to all the newspapers local readers. Now that is clever! Your task for today is talk to all your local newspapers. Ask them if they use twitter, follow them and tell them what you are doing. The same trick could work for you.

Remember when talking about the 'followers' of Neighbourhood Officers on Twitter it is quality not quantity.