A big question people ask when starting with social media is “how do I gain a following on social media?”. There isn’t a simple way to achieve this unless you pay for your followers, which is considered bad. But there are techniques that you can follow that will help you gradually build a following that overtime can generate more sales for your business.
It is also important that with these techniques you are generating quality content that engages to your audience and customer persona. Always remember the rule of quality over quantity.
Now let’s get into the techniques.
Engage with the correct audience
When it comes to social media, people will usually start posting on a few platforms without having their ideal person in mind. To make social media more worth your time, when generating any post, always keep in mind who you want to target – do you want to target potential customers? Maybe you want to inform people with a helpful tip.
Having an audience in mind will make it easier to gain the correct following and not just a followers list of random people who will probably never buy your product or service.
It is also important to not just expect people to come to you, reach out to people by either utilising your Facebook or Instagram stories or even direct messaging people. You will most likely get ignored, but out of 10 messages you send, you could get at least one potential customer.
Follow people
Another mistake that people make when it comes to social media is that users will just follow you out of the blue. Yes, this can happen but if your business is new or maybe you haven’t got much of a following through your chosen platforms, then this is going to be difficult, to begin with. Get yourself out there and follow people, engage with their accounts and show a personal interest to what they do.
Maybe they are an artist if so comment that you like their work. Ask people if they would like to follow you back, 9 times out of 10 people will. Social media has its name because it’s a social place, so utilising this will overtime help you gain a following.
A good tip that you can operate through Instagram is utilising the “search by places” option, say you are from Staffordshire if you search “Staffordshire” it will bring up millions of images where people have set “Staffordshire” as their location. From this, you can go through and follow anyone that fits your customer persona and comment to get your name out there.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags are an incredible way to get yourself known through Linkedin and Instagram, as so many people will flick through pages of content with a set hashtag to find inspiration. Lots of people will now use social media as a source on whether they should go for your product or service.
Say you are a mechanic and you are using social media to put yourself out there, maybe you have just done an awesome job on fixing a customer vehicle and you showcase your achievement through Instagram, including a hashtag of “mechanic” will help people find your post, which can achieve potential customers. Check ritetag to find out which hashtags would be best for your industry.
These are just a few examples of ways that over time will help you to increase your following and get your business the recognition you deserve. But social media takes time, so always prioritise creating an organic and quality-driven platform.
Would you like more insight into social media? Then check our new post all about the fundamentals of social media. If you have any questions please get in touch, we would love to help.
Megan.