How to build a quality social media following

So many of us get caught up in the idea that we must have thousands of followers on social media to create a thriving business, but how true is that really?

After a recent conversation, I know there are certain industry sectors where a small following is not given much credibility but remember that says more about your audience than you.

For example, the beauty sector, aimed at young women, is very driven by the numbers but for a more established business which may not have been on social media for long or not dedicated so much time to social media, its audience might be swayed more by word-of-mouth recommendation, with social media complementing that and offering updates in an easy-to-consume format.

The perils of buying followers

If you feel tempted to buy followers (particularly on Instagram) you need to know that the majority of those followers will be bots. Automated, fake accounts with no substance, therefore no engagement, making the algorithm look at your account and see that the proportions liking and commenting on your posts are not in line with an organic following.

I’ve also been made aware of engagement pods (on LinkedIn). Where groups are set up and agree to engage with your content in return for you engaging with their content. The people involved are neither your ideal customer nor are they interested in what you’re posting, so what’s the point? It’s true that their connections may see your posts and could be interested. But if the “engagee” is not relevant to your sector, it’s highly likely their connections won’t be either.

It’s like artificially boosting your numbers with no substance behind it.

And if you don’t know if any of your interactions on social media are authentic, how do you know if your messaging is right? Or reaching the right people? You could be telling yourself that your product or service is fulfilling a need but your positive engagements on social media could be misleading because you’re not in tune with your true customer.

When you’re running a heart-centred business and you’re searching for those true, authentic interactions, how can you find them if your following is inauthentic?

It undermines all that you are working towards.

Steady, organic growth

Yes, growing organically and authentically is much slower but don’t all relationships take time to build? The good lasting ones do. So when you think about posting on social media, don't simply post every day because someone told you you should. If you haven’t got anything helpful, useful or fun to share on a particular day, why not spend the time engaging with others on your platforms of choice?

The accounts you really want to target will have real people behind them, and believe me when I say, they’ll be chuffed to bits to have you comment, like or share their posts.

It’s your opportunity to open the door to a conversation, whether that be another business you could collaborate with or an ideal customer who may just need that little nudge to buy from you.

How many touch points?

For example, how well do you know your existing audience? When you consider most people make 12 to 15 touch points before they buy from you, you start to see how well someone wants to know you before committing. And you can help people get to know you through your social media posts.

So make those touch points really count. Share those value-packed tips, I’m not suggesting giving everything away for free. It has been shown that we often need to hear the same tip from several different sources before we actually take it on board. I can vouch for this with one of my time-saving tips here: you may have heard about it before but are you using it? I’d love to know your thoughts so let me know in the comments below.

So don’t worry that your audience won’t pay for your goods and services if you give free stuff away.

The other point to acknowledge is that you may want to reach out to a whole new audience on social media, so remember to re-introduce yourself every now and then. Or perhaps you’re using these platforms to “keep in touch” with existing contacts with a view to turning them into clients.

These social media engagements or “touch points” may be complementing your other business activity and converting acquaintances you met at an event, for example, into a quality following.

Build on your live events

For years I worked in events, and it’s interesting to see the dynamic at business events when a room full of business people could change into a room full of business “friends “by the end of the event. You have a greater chance of getting to know more about a person when you spend quality time together (effectively equivalent to many touch points), deciding whether they may be a good fit for you to work with. You’ll probably also note that some won’t be a good personality fit for you and that’s okay too. We are not going to be the right fit for everyone but you can use this valuable activity to help you narrow down your ideal customer.

This, in turn, will help you become clear on the messaging you want to use on social media, to really build the right following; those who really engage with you, that ideal target market of quality followers. Watch this space as we have a live event coming soon…..

Don’t underestimate the impact of collaboration

And finally collaboration – if you collaborate with other, complementary businesses which have a quality following of your ideal audience and you feel you are a good fit, why not work together?

You could reach a ready-made audience by going live on Instagram together, for example. Or perhaps do a zoom call to Facebook where you can chat about what you do and introduce each other to that shared audience.

Consider who you’re already connected with and who may have an audience of quality followers that could be a good fit and give it a try. I’d love to know how you get on, so do drop any thoughts or results in the comments below. And if you have tips for organic audience growth you’d like to share with us, join the conversation below. 

We now offer 55minute 1-2-1 social media strategy sessions, so if you’d like to talk through how to tackle your next week or month of posting you can find out more here.