We recently shared a 21 point guide to social media marketing on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We were then asked how to actually gain a group of followers on social media. While specific strategies can differ depending on what industry you’re working in, here is a brief 15 step guide to building social media fans and followers:
- Set goals for how many fans or followers you want, and a timeframe to achieve this.
- Find Influencers who can help share your content, to reach new audiences.
- Include social share buttons on every post.
- Post relevant content that your audience will value. Start with what has worked best in the past. If you have not shared any content, start today!
- Promote/Boost posts to reach a wider audience and potential new followers.
- Post regularly but don’t overload. Test the regularity of your posts to find which ones receive the most engagement.
- Re-share other content that is relevant. These people will be more likely to share your content too.
- Encourage engagement through your email campaigns.
- Respond to questions and comments in a timely manner to keep engagement and resolve any issues.
- Hold competitions and giveaways that will encourage people to follow. Small, regular prizes can be more effective than 1 large infrequent prize.
- Actively find and follow others who are relevant to engage with and might be interested to follow you back.
- Create a storyline with your posts, encouraging people to follow to hear the rest of the story.
- Use relevant hashtags to attract new followers who may be interested in your offering.
- Follow a schedule of what you will post and when. Be flexible enough to respond to any urgent market trends.
- Make your social media names are consistent across all platforms and easy for people to find. If this is not possible, clearly display your handles and usernames where people will see them.
Knowing what your audience wants will help you post the most relevant content. You can look at results of past activity and analytics. It will show what received the most engagement. This is a good starting point.
Overall, be consistent. If you have limited time and resources to post content on social media, speak to us. We can help you.