Tried and True Ways to Garner Followers on Social Media

This was such a great question posted by one of my friends on social media. It’s a question many business owners ask in their quest to increase their online visibility.

At a time when in-person networking is non-existent, there are only a handful of ways to get more eyeballs looking at you. One of the quickest, most effective ways to do this is purchasing advertising. I spent 20 years of my professional career in advertising sales and sales management and can guarantee that it works. But, you need to have a decent budget to invest to be effective.

That leaves the grassroots approaches for many, which include: referrals, online networking, virtual speaking, and increasing your social media followers. These can be very effective and create excellent relationships. Below are five tried and true ways to gain social media followers.

Before we go there, you need to know the answers to these questions:

1) Why do you want followers? Is it because you want more leads so you can promote to them? Or, do you want to inspire and motivate people with your message? Perhaps you are a connector and are looking to make referrals to your network? Whatever the reasons, it’s important to actually have a specific vision in mind.

2) Exactly who do you want to follow you? Many business professionals make the mistake of thinking they just want thousands of people following them. If they do that, they’ll be an “influencer.” The challenge with this thinking is that it does not good to have huge numbers of people following you, if they are the wrong people. I would rather have 10 ideal customers follow me or 10 champion referral partners, than 1000s of people who have nothing in common with me. 

3) What is it that your followers want from you? This may be the most important question because it is the foundation for building your strategic plan that is tried and true. But, it’s another area business owners get it wrong. They want to be all things to all people, so it’s so hard to answer this question. If you answer the previous with accuracy and precision, then it’s easier to know what your followers want from you. You can make some assumptions here, but the best way to answer this question is through your own primary customer research which I recommend my clients do with their customers at least once annually.

With the answers to these three questions, you can focus on the methods that work to earn you followers (notice the word “earn” versus “garner.”)

Here are the Five Tried and True Ways I’ve discovered to earn followers.

1) Educate: give value to your followers and attract more followers with the content you share. Write your own content and find content from valuable resources (I love to share articles from Harvard Business Review) to share. Be the procurement resource for your followers. Don’t just share your content or content related to your business, but think about what your followers want. My best speech came when I was sharing the tech tools that I use to run my business. Those aren’t part of my offerings, but the knowledge was massively valuable for my network.

2) Inspire: everyone needs a healthy dose of inspiration… right now, even daily doses are very welcome. But, don’t just throw up that scheduled meme you created, tell a story… a real one. A story from your heart is authentic and real. It will allow others to connect with you in a meaningful way. Or, interview others to share their stories. What are the challenges your followers are having in life, business, relationships, or their careers? There are tons of people who would love to share their stories. Find them and help support their voices. You’ll gain instant followers that way and make a meaningful difference in the world.

3) Pick a Platform and Own It: yes, another mistake I see business owners make trying to be all things to all people is trying to manage 4 or 5 social media platforms. What’s this week’s bright shiny object? That’s a novel idea, I get it, but unless you have a marketing team, it’s not the best use of your time to have a 40 hour a week job as a social media manager (unless that is the business you’re in). Instead, do your homework. Find out where your ideal followers are hanging out and be there. You don’t need to be everywhere. Instagram, for example, is a platform with big buzz right now. I deleted my Instagram account because I didn’t have time to really be present there. My friend, Charlene, she is killing it on Instagram. She is active and engages. It’s working for her. My main platform is LinkedIn. I’m active there and it’s working for me. Pick one or two, or whatever the number is that you can be active on daily and show up.

4) Be Consistent: I know people know this, but for some reason, they still aren’t consistent. Maybe they don’t know what this means. For most social media platforms it means getting on them and communicating with people daily. That’s why it’s so hard to manage multiple accounts. It takes time and dedication to be consistent. Create your own calendar of what you’re going to say daily or weekly, and make sure you’re not only sharing content, but that you are in conversations with people.

5) Engage: you’re doing great if you’ve created a marketing calendar and scheduled time to write your weekly blog, or record and share your video educating people on your topic. Go you! But, that’s not enough. If you really want to earn followers, engage with them. Write them back when they comment on your articles. Better yet, go to their pages and read what they have to say. Comment on their work. It’s a one way street if you’re just focused on you. Who do you want to follow? Who is that wants you following them? Connect and engage with that person.

If you are serious about growing your followers, then the real question you should be asking yourself is “How can I give value to others?” If you focus on that question, you’ll have a lifetime supply of connections, friends, or followers.

Wishing you massive success!

Jennifer

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level of sales, marketing and leadership, click this link to schedule a discovery session. We’ll look at where you want to go, what’s getting in your way, and how to turn that around. Schedule now.

About the Author:

Jennifer Darling is a revenue-generating machine and in-demand keynote speaker, she led her teams to record-breaking results in sales. During the recession, her team posted a +40% swing in the national average in advertising sales and made more money than ever before (she even helped her boss earn his bonus to buy a new Audi, yay him).

 Jennifer knows what works to turn frigid calls into smokin’ hot prospects. She is loaded with ideas that break through the traditional molds and create innovative solutions to stand out.

 Jennifer is one of the world’s foremost LinkedIn experts, and the ONLY one who has 20+ years of advertising and sales experience. Jennifer has trained thousands of salespeople and business professionals to optimize and maximize their LinkedIn results. She is the author of Increase Your Sales Leads with LinkedIn: 52 Tips for Sales Success.