5 Tips for Boosting Your Social Media Following

Establishing a social media presence for your brand is one thing; boosting it, however, is quite another. That’s why large organisations often have dedicated teams with substantial budgets specifically to handle the social media element of their business.

That’s because it’s simply not possible to create a social media page for your brand, post a few updates and expect people to find you; let alone start liking and following you! Furthermore, one of the main points of social media for business is to get your brand’s followers to actively promote your products and services through their own social media network.

But what chance is there of that happening if you can’t boost your social media following in the first place?

The answer is very unlikely, which is why I’ve compiled a list of 5 tips for building an engaged social media audience and loyal following.

Be careful with your content

Social media should not be used to constantly plug your services and attempt to sell your products. An approach like that is a sure-fire way to lose followers and, even worse, brand credibility.

Instead, post content that people find genuinely useful and interesting. This will inevitably engage your audience more strongly and encourage more retweets, shares and likes – the things we all, as social media marketers, definitely want.

Try to follow the 80/20 rule: 80% useful information and 20% promotional content. That way your sales pitches won’t feel quite so incessant.

Identify your influencers

Regardless of your industry, there will be key individuals who act as influencers and have the ability to sway your target market. Identifying who these people are and forging a relationship with them can be the key to your social media success.

After all, these people already carry a lot of clout when it comes to your prospective followers, so getting them on-side is a great strategic move. For example, share their posts that appeal to you, respond to community discussions that they start and try to identify what issues matter to them, so you can engage with them more directly.

Run Competitions

It might sound a bit archaic but running competitions and contests is an effective way to boost your social media following. The bottom line is that people like free stuff and the chance to win something is appealing.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure where to start when it comes to competitions. Websites such as Offerpop allow you to devise and implement your own bespoke promotions. Moreover, there is the ability to stipulate that only your followers can enter your promotions.

Just be sure to make the competition interesting and appealing to your target audience and offer a prize that will make them want to engage.

Experiment with paid ads

Facebook and Twitter both offer paid advertising platforms that are a great way to further your reach and ultimately attract some new followers. Both networks offer very detailed options when it comes to paid ads, so you can be sure that you are targeting exactly the right demographic for your brand.

Why not try paid advertising on both platforms and see what kind of success you realise? You might find that one reaps bigger rewards than the other and choose to concentrate your efforts accordingly.

Promote your social presence

This has to be the simplest way to boost your following, but often there are times many businesses pass up perfect opportunities to promote their social presence. For example, every time you communicate with customers and potential customers you have an opportunity to plug your Facebook page, Twitter account or Google Plus profile.

Add social media links to your website homepage, offline marketing material, email signatures, business cards – basically any touch points that you have with your customers.

It’s also a good idea to give them a reason for them to connect with you on a social media level, so highlight your competitions, useful content and influencer backings wherever possible.

These are just 5 of the many tips that I share with my clients to get the very most out of their social media campaigns.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net