Your following can make or break your brand. Between the 30% of Millennials who engage with brands on social media each month and the seven in 10 Gen Xers who purchase products from brands they follow, it’s no secret that tapping into social media as a means of marketing is beneficial.
Whether you’re a member of a business, school district or nonprofit organization, growing your social media following is a shared goal. However, the actual process of growing a following usually remains a mystery—especially without an in-house marketing team on staff to tackle the task.
Though each social media platform offers its own version of performance analytics, understanding the tools isn’t self-explanatory. By simply clicking on the analytics function, you won’t be able to instantly comprehend how the platform is profiting your group.
For example, there is an entire online academy devoted to fully understanding Google Analytics. Do you really have the time or energy to spend hours learning this type of tool?
We have compiled a few ways to organically grow your social media following that don’t involve complicated tools. But, if you really want to take your group’s following to the next level, contact our team at the Impact Group for a free consultation.
Post and Post Often
Keeping up with your company’s social media accounts alongside the rest of your daily tasks can be tough, but regularly posting is critical to attracting followers.
However, there is such a thing as posting too often. Different platforms call for different levels of engagement. Before you post 10 photos to Instagram on a Monday, make sure to research the best way to optimize your posts across each platform. Users don’t want to be spammed, unless the platform mitigates multiple posts per day or week.
The other thing to consider when posting is how many followers you have. Posting twice a day may work for accounts with thousands of followers from across the globe, but it could turn off the 100 followers a local small business may have.
Posting consistently based on each platform’s level of engagement will keep your brand at the forefront of your potential customers’ minds without overwhelming them.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags are another means to growing your following that can help to expand the reach of your posts. Using hashtags can also attract the attention of leads that may not be from your area.
As with posting, there is such a thing as too many hashtags. No matter how large your following may be, less is more when it comes to hashtags. SocialBakers reported that posts with fewer hashtags actually receive more engagement on Facebook and Twitter.
What’s our rule of thumb for hashtagging? Five hashtags or less per post. Also, make sure you use a mix of generic and niche hashtags. For example, you can hashtag the city where your company is located, but there should be at least one additional hashtag related to something more industry-specific.
When used appropriately, hashtags can increase your reach to other consumers who may not be from your area. If they see that your hashtags have a common thread with their preferences, they’ll be more inclined to follow you or “like” your post.
Curate an Aesthetic That Reflects Your Brand
It’s no secret: people are visual. 65% of people are visual learners and 90% of people judge products based on their color alone. To attract more followers, it’s important to create a page that, put simply, looks good.
But what is good? In terms of your feeds and pages, good can be defined as a feed or page that is uniform in content. Take, for example, Pantone’s Instagram feed:
Each row has the same still life set-up with the same color scheme, and the color scheme matches throughout all of the photos. Think about whether you want your feed to be more minimalist, as in the second row, or more baroque, as in the third row.
When your feed matches in style and color, it will attract the consumer’s eye and can inspire a follow or a “like.”
Post Content That Gives Your Followers Value
Your content shouldn’t always be a promotional piece for your products or services. In fact, Sprout Social reported in a recent study that nearly 60% of social media users get annoyed when brands post too many promotions.
Attracting visitors is about showing them value, so choose content topics that matter. Point them in the direction of helpful articles or give them quick tips to help solve a common problem.
You can also show visitors your value by interacting with them on your social media pages. Being social on social media can make your company appear more personable. This will consequently attract more followers to your social media pages.
When you show followers your value, they are more likely to share what you’ve posted. The insightful article you highlighted may attract a new follower to your page who otherwise wouldn’t have stumbled upon you.
Other Tips to Remember:
- Jack of All Trades, Master of None – Focus on the platforms where you notice the most engagement. It’s better to be the master of one social platform and build your following there than post on multiple platforms and only have mediocre levels of engagement.
- Proofread– Proofreading is always important, whether you’re emailing a coworker or writing a social post. Always type your content in a separate document before posting and have someone else read through it.
- Be Short and Sweet– Today’s consumers have shortened attention span, so make sure your content is an easy, quick read.
The Takeaway
These tips to organically grow your social media following will work, but organic growth takes time. Don’t expect results right away—set up a means for measurement and wait at least six months to gauge your success.
You may find that you need an extra boost to bolster your social media presence. Running ads on Facebook and Instagram, as well as paying to promote your social media, can help solve your problem.
For more help on organically growing your company’s social media following, contact our team at the Impact Group to see how we can help you today.
