Social media is fast-paced, and sometimes it can feel like you’re falling behind compared to everyone else. “How does this person have 15,000 followers?!” Here are 10 ways to grow your social media marketing following to help you keep up with the competition.
Engage with your Audience
Keeping your current audience is as important as growing your audience. Take a couple of minutes to like and comment on their posts. They are following you because they are interested in your content, but they are also interested in you! Have you heard the phrase, “People connect with people?” Meaning yes, they may love what you have to offer, but they followed you because they connect with you. By engaging with them on social media, you’re deepening this connection.
Use Quality Hashtags
Add hashtags to your post to spark engagement from other people interested in that topic. By doing this, you are increasing your reach to people who may not have found your account otherwise. Make sure to do your research! Use hashtags that your audience would follow. For example, go to the profile of your ideal customer. What hashtags are they following, or what hashtags have they used recently? Researching beforehand is how you successfully use hashtags.
Follow and Engage with Hashtags
You know hashtags are important, but they aren’t only for adding to your post. Follow hashtags relating to your target audience and engage with those posts. Starting a conversation with someone creates a connection. If they vibe with you, they will follow you.
Test Different Strategies
Unfortunately, posting isn’t enough anymore. Try new strategies to see if any speak to your audience. Have you tried Instagram reels? What about going live? Maybe post on your story? It doesn’t hurt to test different ways of speaking with your audience, and who knows? You might find that one works well, and your audience responds well to it!
Host a Giveaway
I’m sure you’ve seen posts like this. “Enter my giveaway by following me and tagging a friend in the comments!” It’s a tried and true method to gain followers. People are suckers for an Instagram giveaway (I’ve been there!). You could also co-sponsor a giveaway with other people to increase your reach even further. The possibilities are endless!
Post Consistently
Consistency is key! The goal is to stay top-of-mind with your target audience. If you don’t post for a month, no one is going to remember you. An average starting place is to post every 2-3 days. However, this will take some testing too. Maybe your audience wants to hear from you every couple of hours or once a week. It depends on your audience and the platform, so be sure to test and track your analytics to find the perfect consistency.
Use Analytics
Most platforms have incredible analytics tools available for free. Use these to understand how you can use the platform to its fullest potential. For example, on Instagram, these are some of the metrics given over a specific timeframe:
- Follows vs. Unfollows
- Most Active Times
- Profile Visits
All of this information is available at your fingertips. Apply what the analytics are telling you. Do your posts perform best at noon? Do you get high engagement during lives? Each platform shows you different metrics, so I recommend creating separate spreadsheets for each platform to track the analytics.
Share User-Generated Content (UGC)
This tip is simple yet easy to overlook. We are all looking for new content, and sometimes it gets exhausting. So, use relevant content other people create! Share other people’s posts to your story or feed. You get the benefits of new content and helping out a fellow entrepreneur without the work! It’s a win-win.
Write a Killer Profile
Your about section is one of the first things people see when they land on your profile. You need to make it stand out! You should include what you do, how to help people and a call to action. Be specific and clear, so people know exactly what they’re getting by following you.
Work with Influencers
Have you ever been exposed to a brand because a celebrity you follow did an ad for them? Working with a marketing influencer is a great way to expand your reach on social media. Now, I know this may not be in the budget for everyone, so an alternative is to collaborate with other brands. Think about how you can work together to maximize the benefit for both parties.
You can do so many other things to grow your following, but hopefully, these first 10 ways to grow your social media following will help you get started. Best of luck in the social media game!
