Social media can be tricky. You’re doing a lot at once – connecting with people, branding yourself, sharing your work or your life. I’ve been an active social media user for most of my life. It’s something I use personally and for work. This is how I’ve grown my social media followers.
I have tried a variety of tactics to increase my followings on different platforms. I’ve done stuff on purpose that’s worked, or on accident that’s worked! Below are some tips on how you can engage your audience and grow your followers.
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- Consistency is key. Posting often is important. You don’t want to over-post, but you want your audience to know they’re following you for a reason. On Instagram, I try to put up a post every day or every other day. I always try to post an IG Story at least once a day too, especially if I didn’t put up a post that day. Find out more about how much I post on what platforms here.
- Interact with your audience. You may not have time to reply to every single comment, but I try to ‘like’ or ‘heart’ comments that are appropriate and kind. I try to reply to as many messages I can reply to as well.
- Follow similar accounts. I’m a journalist, so I follow other journalists or news accounts. It’s a good way to keep up with your business and to see what else is out there. You may also want to engage with followers of those accounts to grow your audience.
- Brand yourself. I use the same photo across my social media accounts and a similar background photo too, depending on the platform. You don’t want people to be confused or second guess if it’s you. Make your image consistent across platforms. Also, make your bios consistent to build on your branding.
- Have a voice. Sound like you! Yes, it can be weird to write, photograph or film something to share with the world. But try to make it sound like you. This will also make it more relatable to others. You’re a person after all, just like everyone else. That said, be careful about what you post (know anyone can see it). But don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s easy to feel judged when sharing a bit of your life publicly. The more relaxed and natural you are the better.
- Go for quality over quantity. In the end, you want to post what you’re proud of. What you share online is a reflection of you. So always choose quality over quantity.
- Know it takes time. A large following does not happen overnight. It has taken me years to build up my social media followers. I devote the most time to platforms I care about the most, but it still has taken me years (for some reason I want to say two years on average, but don’t hold me to that – and that’s to get a reasonably sized following). Just be patient and keep going!
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So there you go, I hope those tips help with your social media followers. Post questions and comments below. I plan to continue to expand on this topic in future posts too!
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