The question of building and growing a strong online following is asked by both regular social media users and aspiring influencers and entrepreneurs. But how do you start? Where do you start? Don’t fear! Check out these 7 tips for building and keeping a strong online audience.
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1. Be genuine
Being genuine is the number one way to build a strong online following. If you are putting on a façade or trying to be someone you’re not, social media users will be able to see right through you and will let you know. Therefore, it is crucial that you build your online persona based on your real persona! Find your unique voice, and write from a place of honesty. Of course, you don’t have to air all your dirty laundry, but when your followers know that you’re not afraid to be yourself, admit your mistakes, and (occasionally) share your vulnerable side with them, this will increase both their trust and loyalty to your brand. Authenticity is the name of the game, so make sure you have this down before moving onto the more practical advice for growing your audience.
2. Post consistently
Have you heard the saying, “consistency is key”? Well, this is definitely true to grow your online following. An engaged follower base wants to stay updated on your life and prospective followers want to know that you post enough to warrant a follow. If you only post once a month or post four times one day and then wait another two weeks to share your next piece of content, your audience won’t know what to expect. And as much as they may like your tweets or pictures, potential followers may choose to “creep” you once in a while, as opposed to hitting the follow button.
How to stay consistent:
- Create a content calendar – this will allow you to plan your month and see everything laid out at once. Your calendar can start out as a simple Excel sheet with a column for the date, platform, and the social media content copy. On the other hand, you may choose to skip straight to a full-blown spreadsheet template from websites like Loomly and Sprout Social, which both provide extensive strategy and analytics resources and have FREE 15-30 day trials so you can test which one is right for you. However you plan to do this, make sure the calendar works for you and keeps the content pumpin’ through to your audience.
- Share your posting schedule with your followers – communicating a goal or plan with others helps to keep you accountable. So, why not share your posting schedule with your audience? Manage expectations by posting in your bio or description box that you post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and stick to that. Not only will this keep your existing followers happy, but it will also show new followers that you are serious about providing regular, quality content. You’re also able to plan more effectively to meet your deadlines. This mainly goes for YouTube, where video content is a more time-consuming endeavor than Twitter or Instagram content. However, it’s still a good idea to let your Instagram/Twitter/Facebook audience know when you’ll be taking a couple of days off from posting for whatever reason.
3. Interact with similar users
There’s strength in numbers, meaning you don’t need to build your online audience all on your own. Try to build relationships or at least comradery with relevant names in your field of interest. By aligning yourself with similar individuals and asserting yourself into the conversation, you also expose their followers to what you have to offer.
Ways to interact with users
- Comment on other users’ content–without spamming – for example, “What a great makeup tutorial! I’ve posted a similar tutorial on my channel if you’d like to check it out!” Inviting the original poster and their followers to check out your page without being annoying, will help to build interest. It’s also most effective to do this on content relevant to your own. That way, you come across as genuinely wanting to offer value to a similar follower base, as opposed to gaining as many followers as possible.
- Link/tag/shoutout similar creators – If you’ve gained inspiration from another creator for a video or post, shout them out or tag them in your caption to give them credit and also bring attention to your content. This can also lead to that individual shouting you out in return and sharing your work with their potentially larger audience.
- Join a support group – There are a bunch of Facebook and meetup groups that provide support for small business owners, influencers, and bloggers. Seek some out in your area or online, and see if you can meet likeminded individuals to compare experiences, share tips, and to work together to achieve similar goals.
4. Boost your posts to find your audience
Ain’t nothing wrong with a lil’ boost! There’s a difference between buying followers, and boosting or promoting your content so that it can get in front of your target audience. Create a strong post and after setting some parameters and budget, allow the social media platform to define your audience and start expanding your reach. Once your campaign is done, you’ll be able to explore the analytics and better understand who your audience is and what kind of content appeals to them. It’s best to start small and then grow your online promotions and campaigns as you gain a deeper understanding of this audience.
5. Engage with your audience
If you’re already getting engagement on your posts, great! But it’s a two-way street when it comes to interacting with your followers. Be sure to communicate often with your followers. I’ve seen this done most effectively on platforms like Instagram and YouTube, but no matter where your followers are concentrated, it is so important to make them feel like you care about them and are committed to building a community. Simple ways to engage with your audience:
- Reply to comments – This is a quick touchpoint to show you read and appreciate the interactions with your posts.
- Conduct polls and surveys (and post the results!) – Polls and surveys are some of the most interactive features on Insta stories. They are an easy way to test engagement and also show that you care about the thoughts and opinions of your followers. Post the results to keep your audience engaged and provide a conclusion!
- Create Instagram lives – When executed effectively (promoting in advance, choosing an appropriate day and time based on your insights and analytics, limiting the time to around an hour, etc.) Instagram live sessions can be really beneficial, as you speak directly to your audience in real-time and make them feel like you’re having a face to face conversation.
- Hold Q&A sessions – Having Q&A sessions allows your audience to get to know you as a regular person and feel closer to you as they learn more about how you got to where you are today.
- Repost/retweet follower content – this encourages your audience to tag you in their posts, exposing you to their followers as well.
6. Leverage hashtags
Don’t underestimate the power of hashtags. Twitter has, of course, leveraged hashtags to provide all of the tweets on that topic in one place for users. Additionally, as Instagram continues to grow and become somewhat of a search engine, hashtags are extremely important for finding and growing your audience. You can even follow hashtags on Instagram now! When you’re thinking of which hashtags to include in your posts, consider the following:
- Think about SEO strategies – Conduct research on popular keywords in your field and among your potential followers.
- Be selective with your hashtags – Don’t use too many, because it can look kind of spammy to your audience and may come across as if you’re too focused on your follower count.
- Leverage popular hashtags – If you post on a holiday or discuss a popular topic in your caption, add a hashtag. Who knows, there may be people looking for those general hashtags who are also interested in what you have to offer!
7. Provide value
This is another key component of growing your following. You can think you have the coolest content out there, but it doesn’t mean much unless your audience perceives it as valuable to them. There are a lot of different areas from which you can provide value, but it’s best to focus on one main niche that you can own. For example, will people flock to you because of your hilarious or relatable personality that shines through your content? Are you an expert in your field and know you can provide unique insights to aspiring individuals? Can you take gorgeous photos or videos that people can’t help but want more of? Whatever your value proposition is, that’s what you need to focus on, refine and demonstrate to your audience at all times. At this point, you’re probably not going to create anything new in this world, but you can put your own spin on things. Reflect deeply on what your value add to your followers and work your butt off to make sure you’re seen and heard.
Now it is time to start putting more time, effort, creativity and energy into your online platforms and see your online following grow. Remember, if you’re doing it right and authentically, results won’t happen overnight. However, if you keep at it, creating solid content while building genuine relationships with your followers, you won’t regret your hard work and you’re sure to see an increase in both quantity and quality. Good luck!
How have you been able to grow your online following?
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