One of the big questions people and brands have asked since social media’s beginning is how to build a following? A real following, which means no bots. Both want to ideally grow their following authentically by bringing onboard real people who will appreciate you and look to engage.
To start off doing this in 2019 is no small task.
To build a large following on social media is becoming increasingly difficult by the hour. There is so much content vying for people’s attention and it’s multiplying.
First of all, it’s important to say that unless you are a social media influencer or you’re being paid to handle someone’s social as an employee or consultant, the numbers of followers is a vanity metric and your self worth should not be derived from that. Plain and simple.
The number of followers that you have do not have a direct correlation on engagement. You could have thousands of followers and have nothing to show for it in terms of engagement or click thru rate of a piece of content. On the other hand, the number of followers can demonstrate a something about your personal brand. Trust.
Trust. It’s essential to your brand, especially given that trust in the media is at an all-time low. People are inclined to follow those who have a large number of followers because they view them as more trusting than those who don’t have as much. Follower count influence follow-back behavior that it becomes a feedback loop upwards.
So how does one build up a social media following? Here are some pointers:
- Your content should be relevant and up to date. Be interesting. Discuss trending topics and be the first one to post them or at least the first to be heard.
- Be genuine. Understand that your followers are people and want to engage in what you post. So be illuminating.
- Look at what’s looking for everyone else. Analyze your competition. That’s true for marketing and that is equally true for social media. Understanding them will give you a roadmap to your own success.
- No ifs or buts. Address your posts to your followers and not to yourself so make sure you analyze the insights from all your posts so you can be aware of what works and what does not. Schedule your posts for next month accordingly.
- Check your sources. Don’t blindly post. You don’t want your credibility to ever put into question.
- Always check the stuff you post, don’t blindly post links to articles without verifying their quality first.
The above will help you in building an public persona that is worth binging on your social media posts. All of which is key in building an amazing relationship between yourself and your audience.
Be awesome, be trustworthy and be real!
