Building a social media fan base isn't hard, but it takes time, dedication and a few tricks. Keep reading to find out my secrets.
1. Provide Quality Content
The
number one way to gain followers on any social media platform is to provide
content that people want. If your feed contains nothing but advertisements, for
whatever it is you're selling, people will get bored and leave.
Ads
Some
content can be ads, just not all of it.
Curated Content
It
is ok to share content from other sources (giving credit, of course). This can
provide a quick and easy source for purely entertaining and informational
content, as long as they are on topic. For example: If you are selling athletic
wear, sharing articles about sports health and training tips and memes with
sports related jokes is good.
Branded
Content
The
best content you can provide is original, branded content that provides the
follower with value. Let's say you’re selling an online dating platform
subscription, write and publish your own articles about online dating
etiquette, and tips for memorable dates. Maybe you are selling insurance;
share funny memes about crazy things you’ve had to insure. Make sure that any
content you create carries your branding – corporate colors, your logo, a
special font. When people see that content, you want them to instantly know
that it came from you.
Check
out the Competition and Influencers
A
great way to get ideas on the kind of content that might be appropriate is to
follow your competition and industry influencers on their social media
accounts. Never copy a competitor, but it is certainly ok to use them for
inspiration. It is ok to share content from an influencer. Sites like BuzzSumo can be helpful in
identifying the influencers in your target topic.
2. Join in the Community
To get followers, join in the community that you’re
targeting. Follow your competition, and complementary brands and feeds. Join
groups and forums related to your industry and like, comment and share. The
more often you contribute to the community the more they get to know and trust
you as an expert. Make sure your profiles and signatures and filled out
completely so if someone wants to know more about you, they are directed to
your website and ways to contact you.
3. Social Media Management Apps
Subscribe to a social media management app. These apps allow
you to connect to all your social media accounts. From the app, create,
schedule and post content across multiple platforms. This saves time by
allowing you to post the same content in multiple places. The scheduling feature
is a must to managing your time efficiently. With scheduling, you can post
content in bulk but have it appear in your feeds over time. This is also
especially useful for time sensitive announcements such as sales, new releases
and grand openings. Many social media management apps also provide metrics to
help track your interactions and the success of your social media campaigns.
Personally, I use Crowdfire, but there are many other great options too.
4. Hashtags
Some social media platforms use hashtags to help users find
content related to specific topics. A hashtag is the “#” sign followed, without
spaces, by a keyword or phrase. It can be anything, but it shouldn’t be just
anything. What I mean by that is, while you can create a brand new, unique hashtag
that says anything you want it to, if no one is looking for it, it won’t do you
any good.
Unique Hashtags
There is a time and place for using a unique hashtag and a
time and place for using an existing hashtag. Using a truly unique hashtags
that list your brand or catch phrase are beneficial so that later on, when you
have fans, they can follow your unique hashtag and keep up to date with
anything that has to do with your brand, whether it has been posted by you or
by other fans. For example, if you were a new Horror Writer, creating a hashtag
of your name will help your newest fans find you on a variety of social media
platforms later. These brand unique hashtags and also be used by fans to share
reviews, excitement and criticism.
Existing Hashtags
Using existing hashtags that are appropriate to your content
will help new people find and become aware of your brand. For example, as a new
Horror Writer, using hashtags such as #horrorfiction, #darkfantasy,
#horrorwriter will help existing fans of horror genre fiction discover you as a
new author.
Multiple Hashtags
Posts are not limited to a single hashtag, so using a mix of
brand specific and genre generic hashtags is a good idea. It is also important
to do your research to find existing hashtags that have a large number of uses.
For example, the hashtag #homeimprovement on Instagram has 2.8 million posts,
but the hashtag #homeimprovementtips only has 5,000+ posts. If you were only
going to pick on, the first one is more popular, which means, most likely, it
has more followers too.
5. Good use of Text and Images
Posts that contain both text and images, or text and links
perform better than posts with only one or the other. People are drawn to
images, especially images with faces in them. However, search algorithms find
text easier to analyze, categorize and prioritize. Social media algorithms also
prefer unique content, so taking an existing image or link and adding your own text-based
interpretation, impression or questions bring more value to the user and so
will get more exposure.
6. Make Your Accounts Easy to Find and Follow
You may already have a fan, clientele or customer base to
capitalize on. They may visit your website or blog or receive your emailed
newsletter. Be sure to include easy to find links to all of your social media
accounts in all the places your customers already find you.
1.
Put links on your website.
2.
Add links to the bottom of every blog post.
3.
Publish an eBook? Add a page with links to the
back.
4.
Include links at the bottom of all email
correspondence, whether it is a newsletter, advertisement or just your email
signature.
5.
Are you an expert on an industry forum? Most
forums allow you to add social media links to your profile and signature.
7. Analyze Your Stats to Fine Tune your Campaign
Most social media platforms and social media management apps provide statistics. Be sure to analyze these statistics to see what type of content is getting the most engagement. The answer may differ from platform to platform. What works on Twitter may not work on Facebook and Instagram. The time of day you post can also make a difference on your engagement.
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