If you’re looking to grow your business in 2022, increasing your social media following can increase brand identity and ROI over time. The following are some tips and methods regarding social media management, strategy and content.
Julia McCoy for Search Engine Journal:
If you’re serious about growing your social media following, you’ve come to the right place.
In 2020, over 3.6 billion people worldwide were using social media, with that number projected to increase to nearly 4.41 billion by 2025.
That’s a lot of potential consumers to reach.
Your following can not only impact the decision of people trying to decide whether or not to follow you, but also social media influencers and other businesses who might be willing to collaborate if you have a strong enough following to make the endeavor worthwhile.
Curating a large following can benefit you and your business even beyond the constraints of any given social media platform. In fact, social sharing sites can help to boost SEO and drive traffic directly to your website.
Seems like a worthwhile investment, right?
These tips are not listed in any particular order. They’re all important, but you may find that certain methods make more sense for your brand and business model.
1. Build A Strong Brand Identity
Whether it’s a certified business or a personal brand, you should still have a cohesive brand identity. This goes far beyond simply slapping a logo into your profile picture and calling it a day.
Your brand’s identity should emanate through every post. Decide on your predominant color scheme, filters, graphic designs, tone, etc. Everything you post and comment on should be a reflection of your brand’s voice. People are drawn to brands that have an identity.
2. Follow Relevant Accounts
Just like any healthy relationship, there has to be give and take – meaning you’ll gain followers if you’re a follower yourself.
That doesn’t mean an instant follow-back for anyone who likes your account. Think of it more like networking.
3. Actively Engage With Your Followers
If you’re on a date and you spend the entire dinner talking about yourself without giving your partner a chance to get a single word into the conversation, chances are you won’t be having a second date.
The same principle applies to social media.
Instead of treating your social media platforms as nonstop advertising campaigns, invite connections and conversations. Reply to comments on your posts and encourage genuine discussions.
4. Post Share-Worthy Content
If people are going to follow you, they expect you to post content that excites and engages. Followers should want to reshare your posts!
5. Create A Calendar To Schedule Strategically
The key is to strike a balance between posting frequently enough to stay relevant but not posting so much that you’re spamming newsfeeds and becoming a nuisance.
6. Cross-Market Across Your Other Social And Marketing Platforms
Are you utilizing every opportunity to connect your audiences? At the very least, your website and newsletter should have links to your social platforms.
You might also consider promoting awareness of one platform on another. For example, a tweet encouraging people to follow and use a special hashtag you created on Instagram for an event.
7. Choose Targeted Hashtags
Hashtags can be a great way for new followers to discover you, but try to focus more on specific hashtags and less on generic ones that are inundated with too much competition.
For example, #love has more than two billion photos connected to it on Instagram. Your post is going to be buried immediately.
8. Seek Out Press Features, Interviews, And Speaking Opportunities
Having a notable presence in the real world can make a big impact on your followers in the digital world.
Every presentation is an opportunity to reach someone who might like what you had to say and then actively seek your social account to hear more.
9. Build Partnership Campaigns With Companies And Brand Advocates
Joint content campaigns between non-competing companies can generate fantastic exposure.
And the best part? You have the potential to tap into a brand-new audience. An ideal partnership will mutually benefit both brands by allowing each to gain new followers and overall exposure from the other.
Influencers and brand advocates are another huge opportunity. User-generated content, especially from partnerships with prominent influencers, can generate high engagement. Contests, drawings, and affiliate flash sales are also popular.
10. Utilize Analytical Data To Tailor Your Strategy
Understanding the performance of your content can help you make better strategic choices.
11. Loop Your Customer Service Team Into The Plan
An active social media account inevitably invites customer complaints.
In 2017, only 12% of customers with complaints reached out via email, live chat, and social media, but that percentage rose to 43% in 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal. And of those unhappy customers, 55% who reached out on social media never received a response.
Because these negative comments are being posted on a public forum, your reply is going to be under close scrutiny. Potential customers will be watching to see how you take care of your existing customers.
It’s a good idea to loop your customer service team into your social media plan, either by coordinating with them to stay informed on company policies and resolutions or by plugging your Customer Experience team into the fold so they can reply directly to unhappy customers.
Gaining followers on any social media outlet is an important part of increasing interest about your business or products and building a brand identity. Social media platforms offer tools to track progress and there are third-party applications (paid and free) that can help in scheduling posts, tracking analytics, and replying to comments. Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Buffer are some popular third-party social media management options.
