There isn’t much of a “secret” to social media success as much as investing your valuable time and energy into being your true and authentic self. Give it a try.

Admit it. When you come across someone with over 100,000 Twitter followers, you more than likely have one of three reactions: (1) Wow, how did they do that? (2) How much did they have to pay to do that? Or, (3) Why would anyone want to do that?

Let’s get #2 out the way right up front. Sure, you can pay some organizations to artificially inflate your Twitter follower numbers. But, that’s not what this article is about. Other than a brief narcissistic ego boost, I see no worth in artificially inflating your Twitter followers with “zombie” accounts.

Instead, I spent some quality time with Marji J. Sherman, a top social media strategist and consultant for brands such as Walmart, PepsiCo, McDonald’s, Kohler, Zillner, BPI Sports and PRIME research (to name a few). Marji spent over a year cultivating and building her Twitter following to over 108,000 followers at the time this article was published.

Here’s what she believes does NOT work:

• Automating: Don’t automate your communication. People want to engage with other people, not with automated messages, alerts and replies.
• Broadcasting: The method that works for television, radio and other broadcast channels doesn’t translate to social media. Therefore, don’t try to force fit what you’ve done in other channels.
• Buying Followers: Promoting your account on Twitter is acceptable. However, how does buying a substantial amount of followers help your cause?
• Hijacking other people’s ideas: Even with small character limits, attribution is important. If you discovered something, share with your followers who it came from. Support the people you follow.
• Trying to be something (or someone) you’re not: It’s difficult already to not be yourself. Instead of wasting all that energy, focus on being real and authentic.

Instead, the methods that helped Marji build her personal brand, include:

• Listening deeply: No one wants to be talked at. If you’re not willing to listen to someone, why should they listen to you? Begin with deep listening and uncover what’s important.
• Following the people you aspire to be: When finding the people you aspire to be, follow them and pay attention to what they are saying.
• Talking to as many people as you can: Social media has become an affordable and easy way to communicate. If your aim is to grow, utilize it the way it was intended and engage frequently.
• Adding value to the conversation genuinely: Don’t tell people what they yearn to hear, but instead look for ways to add to the conversation with your own insights and viewpoint.
• Engaging on articles–not just retweeting them: Although retweeting is fine, people would much rather hear your personal perspective on what you’re sharing. Let them know why you think this information is important.
• Connecting the issues you are passionate about: Another way to remain authentic is to care deeply about the issues you’re writing about. Connect your passions with the issues you’re talking about, and you will inspire others to share your passions.
• Learning and Applying (Not Replicating): Don’t try to replicate the Oreo Super Bowl thing. It was great that Oreo’s Super Bowl team was inspired to act, but learn from success stories and case studies like this and apply them to your own work rather than trying to copy it.
• Being awesomely true to yourself: This is your safe harbor. If you’re aware of yourself and are true to yourself, no one will be able to ask for more than that.
• Discussing the bad stuff too: To err is human, and that’s fine. Talk about what you did wrong and what you learned so others don’t make the same mistake as you just did.
• You are your own unique brand: There is no one exactly like you. The more you embrace your own unique brand, the faster you will attract others who want to collaborate with you.

During our time together, I found that I was in “violent agreement” with these themes, ideas and overall approach to social media growth. There isn’t much of a “secret” to social media success as much as investing your valuable time and energy into being your true and authentic self with as many people as you can in these social media channels. If you can learn from the experts who are doing it right, you can apply these principles to cultivate your own brand and that of your company’s via Twitter and other social media channels.