Social media is the key to success in business, whether you are selling a product, or selling yourself. There are so many tips floating around the internet with suggestions on how to grow your social media audience, but in all honesty- most of them do not have the desired result. It is no longer as simple as setting up a website and letting it run, consumers want regular content engaging them. You can’t just make social media accounts and expect the followers to come to you, you have to draw them in, but the question is how?
1) Video Advertising
It’s a simple step to take, but it is a vital step. Just look at the daily statistics of the big social media channels. 2 billion google searches every day, 415 million tweets, 700 million users logging on to Facebook, 3 billion videos on Facebook being watched, 59 billion emails opened and 18 billion text messages sent. The online traffic is so large now you would be missing out by not taking advantage of what video advertising can do for you.
2) Keep It Real
What makes social media so special is the personal touch, followers feeling a connection because they’re real people after all. Reach out and make contact with the followers that you do have.
3) The Medium Doesn’t Matter
While you should aim to use social media that is relevant to your audience, capturing the attention of your audience is the most vital aspect of social media.
4) True Confessions
Everybody makes mistakes, but it is how they respond to those mistakes that can make the difference. We hate the faux apologies that companies come out with, because they treat consumers like they’re stupid. So if you make a mistake, address it immediately and be honest about it.
5) You Don’t Have To Be Everywhere
You will spread yourself too thin if you immediately sign up for every social media channel and try to boost your numbers. Start by focusing on one platform, make meaningful connections and then move to the next one. Focus on your content from one platform and deliver it consistently.
6) Analytics Software
Programs like Bitly, Google Analytics, Piwick and Clicky can track the popularity of the posts that you’re making. This will give you a better idea of what you’re doing right and allow you to produce more of the same.
7) Link Everything
Make sure you have links to all of your social media sites on your website and vice versa. If someone finds one of your channels you want them to be able to find everything. This is especially important if you have chosen to focus on boosting one social media account at a time- you want those followers to know about your new Instagram account, or Snapchat.
8) Gain More Followers
Before you have a single follower on Twitter you can follow as many as 5,000 people. Use the Twitter search option to look for keywords to find members of your target audience. Follow them and begin engaging. Once you start to gain followers you can follow more people.
9) Sponsored Posts
Social media channels allow you to pay to promote a specific post, that post will feature on the timelines of people that fall into your target audience. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money, and in this case get your message out.
10) Content Will Always Be King
If you are consistently churning out high quality content then you are going to build a great relationship with your audience base and because of that, they will continue sharing your posts. It all comes down to this.
Now that you possess the top ten tips for growing your social media audience, all that is left to do is go out and put them into practice. Focus your attention to one social media channel and apply of these tips to that one before you move on to the next. There’s only one way to eat an elephant and that is one bite at a time. That ethos easily applies to building your social media audience, too.
