Most people, particularly younger social users, want value from the brands they follow. It’s about them, not you when it comes to social media. When you want to get more followers, it means it’s not about the type of content you’re producing. It’s about who you are as the brand. You have to show you are trustworthy to grow your social following. Here are some of the best practices and ideas for organically growing your audience on social media.
1. Choose the right social media channels to get followers.
Your first step is to find out who your audience is and which social channels they prefer. There is no point focusing all your attention on Facebook, when in fact, your customers like to hang out on Instagram.
- Facebook sends more website referral traffic than anybody and is geared towards both news and entertainment.
- Twitter views itself as a news platform and as a social network and is well-suited to brands sharing blog posts or promoting website content.
- Instagram is highly visual and is not always optimal for driving website traffic. It’s best suited for strong visual brands.
- LinkedIn is a professional network used heavily for sharing industry articles and professional content.
The best way to suss out where your customers are
- Ask what platform they prefer
- Look at where your competitors are making their mark
- Search for niche groups on different platforms such as Twitter or Facebook and join in the conversation.
Once you know where your audience hangs out, it’s time to lean into the platform so you can start making content that attracts followers.
2. Optimise your social media profiles.
Now you know where your audience is, you need to build the platform to attract your potential customers. Here is how:
- Upload a professional photo, logo, or video for added appeal making sure it is the correct size for the selected platform. Try and use the same image across the board so all social channels are in-sync.
- Choose handles that are the same or similar, and easy to pronounce.
- Be discoverable via search by targeting specific keywords your audience uses. Add them to your bio and description areas e.g. Content Writer, Ladies Clothing Boutique
- Include links to your website, your contact details, and other social profiles. Test the links once your social media platform is activated to ensure they work.
- Fill out all areas of your profile completely.
3. Know your best time to post.
Check YOUR insights and analytics to see when it is recommended that you post. Just because a website shares a generic time of 10am, 12pm or 9pm does not mean that is the best time for YOU. If your audience is predominantly online at 10am, schedule your post for 9.55am to make sure and capture the allocated time slot on the hour.
4. Post consistently, but with purpose.
If you are posting daily, but your audience doesn’t find your content helpful, inspiring, or actionable, they will not engage with or follow your account. Your posts should be based on quality, not quantity. With that said, make sure and be consistently showing up for your audience with content that adds value.
5. Actively engage with your audience.
It is all in the name…SOCIAL media, so make sure you are being sociable. Do this by
- responding to comments,
- liking/commenting on photos,
- sharing relevant articles,
- answering questions,
- sparking new conversations.
Connecting with your audience helps to humanise your brand, and it’s key to transforming followers and customers into loyal advocates. Build long-lasting relationships.
6. Don’t use jargon.
You are communicating with real people, try not to sound robotic. Use language your audience uses and understands themselves. This will build trust with your customers.
7. Work with micro influencers.
Another way to extend your reach and build an authentic following is to work with micro influencers (less than 50K followers). micro influencers can be a perfect fit because:
- Affordable rates – some will even do free collaborations in exchange for a free product or service
- Higher genuine engagement compared to macro influencers – their engagement isn’t always high or authentic
- More influence due to having closer relationships with followers, so there’s higher trust when they recommend a brand/business.
8. See what’s trending and get involved.
Check Twitter to see what’s trending that day and start talking about it on your social platforms, if you can make it relevant to your business. Scroll Instagram Reels or Tik Tok to find trending sounds and music and create a video to it. Use popular hashtags for example on awareness days, in the hope that others will come across your post when creating content for their page.
Try out some of these tactics to start building your social media following today. For more Social Media Content Tips sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter here.