X.com (formerly Twitter) is a great platform for building an online presence, solidifying your authority and finding quality leads. Still, many entrepreneurs don’t realize the potential this platform can bring, either because they’re uninformed or can’t figure out how to use it effectively.

I began my X.com journey in November last year. In less than a year, I grew my profile from zero to more than 12,000 followers. Now, I want to share what I’ve learned in the process.

Let’s explore the five strategies I’ve used to grow my X.com presence, form connections, establish authority and generate more leads for my business.

Related: How I Grew My Twitter Following in 30 Days With Just 30 Minutes of Use Each Day

Is X.com a good platform to generate leads for your business?

X.com is still relevant for generating quality leads. In a recent update, X’s CEO Linda Yaccarino revealed that the platform now boasts over half a billion unique monthly users. This impressive user base solidifies X.com as a perfect platform where you can build your brand, establish your expertise and even generate new leads.

Below, we’ll talk about the five exact tips I used to grow my X.com following to 12,000 within a year and how you can do the same.

Here’s how you can use X.com to get more followers and leads:

1. Focus on you

One of the common mistakes I see entrepreneurs make on X.com is creating a company profile and adopting a corporate persona to talk to your audience. Nobody wants to read content from faceless corporations. Instead, users seek authentic experiences and stories they can relate to.

You need to focus on building a personal brand to connect with your audience and attract more leads. Be yourself, share genuine experiences, and tell your unique story. That way, more people will want to engage with you, and you’ll generate more leads.

2. Pre-load your profile

Most entrepreneurs getting started on X.com delay publishing new content because they don’t have an audience. But how do you gain an audience without quality content?

The answer is you can’t. So, a smart strategy is to pre-load your X.com profile with quality tweets and threads. That way, when people visit your profile, they can instantly see the value you bring to the table, which makes them more likely to follow you.

In addition, you need to optimize your profile with a clear and engaging bio that explains what you do and why people should follow you. You should also add an eye-catching cover image and pin a tweet thread that showcases the content that people can expect from your profile. That helps show what you’re all about from the get-go and is more likely to convert profile visitors into followers.

Related: Why It’s Important to Incorporate Twitter Into Your Business’s Marketing Plan

3. Create native content

If you want to make the most out of X.com, you need to create content native to the platform. Nobody wants to read the same old articles from your company’s blog or posts from other social media platforms. X.com users seek fresh insights and unique tweets tailor-made for this platform.

The good thing about X.com is that you can quickly figure out what type of content has the most potential to go viral and generate more engagement.

A great way to do this is to find influencers in your niche and see what content performs the best. Then, you can use it as an inspiration to create something similar but add your unique spin.

For example, if you’re in the digital marketing world, you can observe top tweets from leading influencers to see how much traction they create. Maybe it’s a quick marketing tip or a tweet thread showcasing their recent case study. Use this insight to design tweets and threads showcasing your experience and perspective to engage the X.com audience effectively.

4. Use tweet threads

Tweet threads are a series of connected tweets that allow users to share longer, more detailed content. That’s a great way to overcome X’s word count limit, share longer stories, provide insights or offer step-by-step guides.

Tweet threads are the best way to engage your audience, create viral content and generate more leads. That’s why you need to focus on creating value-packed threads and do it as often as possible.

To create a quality tweet thread that can go viral, you need to:

• Create valuable, action-packed content

• Use an excellent hook to grab attention

• Add screenshots for visuals

• Use copywriting techniques to keep people reading

• Include a clear call to action to let the audience know how you can help

5. Build connections

Building an organic audience on X.com is vital to bringing in more leads. The trick is to connect with people who are actively engaged on the platform because otherwise, you won’t get meaningful results.

The best way to stay active and build connections is to find influencers in your niche and engage with their content. Always be the first to comment and share your insights.

This will help you create and foster authentic relationships, which is vital for establishing that initial audience.

Related: You are Missing Out if You Don’t Use Twitter. Here’s 3 Reasons Why

In summary, X.com is still a great platform to build your online presence and drive more qualified leads to your business.

To do that, you need to focus on building a personal brand, pre-loading your profile with content, creating content native to the X.com platform, using tweet threads effectively and making genuine connections.

These practices helped me gain over 12,000 followers in less than a year, and they can do the same for you.