How to Get More Followers on Social Media
So, you want to get more followers? Good for you! Social media platforms are excellent tools to grow your brand and to gain more qualified leads.
How to Get More Followers on Social Media
Add People.
When you make the decision to try to rapidly grow your social media presence, you are going to have to be willing to “put yourself out there.” You want your account to be seen, so you are going to have to do some social media cold calling. That means: It’s time to start following people! The best way to go about this is to find people that your organization would like to interact with (ie. people that have similar interests, etc.). Chances are these people would like to interact you as well.
What you don’t want to do is just start following anyone and everyone. It may be that people originally start following you, but after a while they will likely unfollow you if you don’t have anything in common. This will mess with your analytics, so you won’t have a strong idea of your actual reach. So, it’s best to follow qualified leads instead.
Engage.
The great thing about social media is that it is all based on being social. You can interact normally with people with the added perk that others can see it. Why is that a perk? Interacting with people on social media shows others that your company is relevant and on top of their social game. Because social media marketing can take up so much time, being on top of your social shows people that you are on top of everything else in your company. It also looks really great for the customer service aspect of your organization.
Encourage Tagging.
To really build your reach, you need more eyes on your content. Tagging is a great way to reach more people. Interactions of social media can be a lot of fun, and they should be. Asking followers to tag their friends is a great way to engage and entertain followers, as well as to build your reach.
One of the best ways to get people to tag their friends is to ask them to tag a certain type of friend. This should hopefully bring to mind a specific friend to that person, so that they are more inclined to tag someone. Example: “Good morning, folks! Tag a friend who hates mornings.” *insert funny meme* This post works because people can often think of that friend who hates mornings immediately. If they have to think for a while about who to tag, they likely won’t tag anyone at all. Immediacy is key.
Share. Share. Share.
Do you know what the jackpot of social media is? When someone shares your post. Sharing is the definition of caring in the social media world. Shared posts mean that your content is reaching an entirely new set of eyes — the eyes of the people following the sharer.
With this in mind, encourage your followers to share your posts so that you can grow your exposure. You can also share other organization’s posts to do them a favor and to give you some extra content. Chances are that the company you shared will return the favor. Working together like that is a great way for both of you to benefit. Win-win.
Band Together.
Here are some more ways that you can work together with other companies.
- Give shout-outs.
- Tag another company and congratulate them on an accomplishment.
- Ask another organization for their opinion on something.
- Create a challenge and tag those you want involved.
- Write a blog for them. They write a blog for you.
- Repin content.
- Retweet content.
- Share content.
Be #Smart.
Hashtags can do wonders for your organic reach. If you have the right hashtag, you can find the right people to follow you. And, even if said people don’t end up following you, they may engage with your posts. Doing a little research on hashtags is a great idea when it comes to finding the right ones. Especially when it comes to Instagram. In the Insta world, pictures that use 11-30 hashtags do the best in terms of reach. So, start hashtagging!
Related post: How to Improve Your Instagram Feed
Add Your Location.
For whatever reason, people like to know where the people they follow are from. Maybe so they can compare ways of life. Maybe because they want to know what is all out there in the world. Or, perhaps because they are just curious. No matter the reason, having your location visible on social media can really help you gain a larger following.
Stay Humble. Stay Patient.
Getting a large social media following requires dedication. There is no quick fix that will get you 500+ followers in a day. Keep plugging away, post consistently, and engage with your followers. The rest will fall into place.
Related post: How to Create a Social Media Calendar
Utilize Social Proof.
Social proof is a psychology term that refers to people going along with what is most popular. So, here it is: People with lots of followers generally get more followers because they have followers. Basically, social media users want to know what all the buzz is about! Here’s the break-down: They’ll follow popular people simply because they are popular. To make this work for you, you’ll want to get as many followers as you can. See how that all comes full circle?
Related posts: Sins of Social Media, Creative Social Media Content Ideas
Gaining a social media following is a marathon, but it is well-worth the effort. For more information on what we can do for your social media, contact us.