It can be hard to get followers on your social media. And that’s not so strange. After all, in many places, everybody is competing with everybody else. For that reason, if you use the same strategies as everybody else does you’re not going to get very far.
You need to step up your game. The question is, how do you do that?
Interact with Them to Get Them to Like You
Particularly on social media where you can follow and interact with followers that you don’t know, like Twitter and Instagram, a good strategy is not to wait for people to engage with you but to engage with them first.
It’s quite simple, really. Just find people who might be interested in what you’ve got to offer and then like, share or follow them. Many of them will then reciprocate the action and there you go. You’ve got new followers.
Of course, that is a slow process.
Make Sure You Make People Aware What They Can Expect
A lot of people miss a big opportunity on their bios. They use them to talk about things that aren’t directly important to that social media account. What do I mean with that? Well, a well-constructed bio will specifically tell people what to expect when they follow you. It will tell people what you’re going to write about and how often you’re going to write about it.
In that way, people know what they’re in for and people that are actually interested in what you’ve got to say will follow you and stick around for longer when they do. Does your bio do that?
Engage with Movers and Shakers
Yes, of course, you want to respond to your aunt Lizzy when she sends you a message. And you should. But that certainly shouldn’t be the only thing you do. Also, find people with big networks and top website and then reach out to them with interesting content and observations. Not all influencers will respond, but if you continue to engage with those that do, then the chances they’ll share what you’ve got to say across their networks is much greater.
And that will give you an instant multiplier effect.
Relationships
A lot of people look at their follower metric and think they have the whole picture. They don’t. There are different kinds of followers. Above I mentioned the big ones with the big networks. Those are important.
Another one that’s just as important (possibly more so) is those people who are willing to interact with you. These people do two things for you.
- They will give you feedback so that you know what works and can better hone your message and connect with people.
- They will give the impression of interactivity and communication – which will make other people react and engage more.
So when people engage with you, engage back. Even better, when people have interacted with you in the past, connect with them again later on. In this way, you’ll be able to build a relationship.
Last Words
Personally, I think too many people spend too much time worrying about their follower numbers. They’ve turned it into some kind of scorekeeping mechanism. That’s not the point. Ultimately, though it’s better to have more followers if none of them engage with you or care about what you’re up to, then the number has no real meaning.
Therefore, focus on building actual relationships with the people that engage with your account or your brand. If you can do that and do it well, the numbers will follow. If on the other hand, you only on the number, then you’ll only have a number without any of the value that comes with having a large following.
And what, exactly, would be the point of that?