What it takes to really grow your following on social media
Last week we looked at how risky it is to buy your followers on social media. It’s way too easy to buy your way to the top especially on social media where all the hype’s about how many followers you have. But today I want to share some ideas on how to grow your followers without buying them.
Social media is great right? It allows us to get our message out to the world and instantly see what people think about it. The excitement of the unknown awaits then we start seeing how many people like, love, or comment on our posts…or even better, start following us. The more likes we get, the more we feel it was a good post. The more followers we get, well, the more popular we are and who doesn’t want that, right?
I am about to open your eyes to the side of social media that is not so pretty. It’s a side you’ve probably seen (especially on Instagram), but really haven’t paid attention to. Fair warning, knowing this has ruined me. Every time I post on Instagram and start getting notifications of a new follower I check their profile out. I want to see who is following me and if I should be following them.
Well, if you’re on Instagram and have ever looked at who is following you (you should be doing this regularly otherwise you could be missing out on sales opportunities) then you know there is a lot of spam! You know what I’m talking about. All those weird accounts that have 5 posts and a million followers. Oh, or the ones with the hot girls who just want you to check out their “shows.” These are just a few of the bogus accounts I come across. The minute I get these, I go through and report the account as spam, hoping to clean up this mess!
Why am I telling you this?
So you’re aware of what you can do to clean up Instagram, but more importantly to realize that while many people have a huge following, most of it’s either spam or purchased. Purchased? Yeah, purchased. As I mentioned in my last post, “Don’t Buy Your Followers,” there are ways you can buy followers so your account doesn’t look so lonely. But I don’t recommend this option as you need to earn followers, put in the work, and not expect to grow overnight.
You grow by providing quality content daily and by engaging with others – that’s what social media is all about! Sure numbers are great, but what good are they if no one is engaging? Think about: How many people are actively commenting and sharing your content? How many people are you actively commenting with? No “bot” (a service that can automatically like posts that have certain hashtags) can replace you commenting on others’ work.
If you want to get noticed and grow your following you have to be active and ENGAGE!
- Share quality content
- Comment on articles and posts you take the time to read
- Follow people that make an impact and are in your niche
- Don’t just comment on the one platform you are seeing the person on. Find out where else they are online and engage others there. The more people see you “around town,” the more they notice.
Let me tell you, it is a lot of work if you haven’t figured it out already! You have got to focus and really zone in.
My recommendations:
Choose 1-2 social media platforms that fit you and your audience. If you choose to be on all of them, you’re only limiting your reach and will burn out quickly. Make a game plan to expand once you nail down the ones you’re on. For example, I spent 4 hours with a client last week narrowing down their social media game plan and preparing a launch for Instagram. In these 4 hours, we not only came up with the game plan, we created a schedule of postings and the processes needed to complete the task. If you think social media is just signing up, posting, sharing, and making a few comments you are in for a big surprise.
Here are some resources for you:
- Tapped out on creativity
- The 4 E’s to grow on your following
- Some business advice from a personal stylist
- The year of yes?
- Not getting comments on your posts? This could be why
- Flex your social media muscles
- The secret sauce to winning with social media
Ask yourself, “What’s your value proposition?” In other words, what makes YOU stand out among all the other sales/smms/interwebs experts out there trying to grab the same clients as you? Do you have other areas of expertise, or additional skills that make you different? If so, what are they? (I love this question and I can not take credit for this one as it was one someone posted in a Facebook group I am in.) Answering will not only help you, but will help grow your following. I’d love to see your responses in the comments below.