Social media platforms have experienced a 13.2% increase in users year-over-year. In fact, social platforms now gain 1.3 million users every day. About 4.2 billion people (53.6% of the world’s population) already use social media.
Marketing your business online can help you reach new customers. You can engage and inform your audience while keeping them entertained. If you’re struggling to boost your follower count, however, your competitors are likely reaching those customers instead.
Don’t let your social media marketing strategy fall flat!
Instead, give these 14 tips a try. With these brand-building tips, you can expand your reach on social media.
Then, you can generate more followers, engage customers, and start generating more leads and sales.
Set your entire digital marketing strategy up for success. Discover how to gain followers with these tips today.
- Establish Goals
Many businesses rush to use social media marketing as part of their overall digital marketing strategy without a plan. Unfortunately, you might struggle to improve your follower count if you fail to strategize. Before developing your brand-building strategy, take a moment to consider your goals.
Establishing your unique goals will help you build a social media branding strategy designed to accomplish those goals.Utilizing OKR software can streamline the process, enabling you to track progress effectively and make informed adjustments along the way
After all, your business is unique. Your goals should align with your business.
Try to establish SMART goals. As you establish each goal, consider the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll track.
You might want to establish goals that focus on:
- Gaining website traffic
- Increasing sales through shoppable posts
- Generating brand awareness and recognition
- Becoming an industry thought leader or influencer
- Increasing engagement with shares, comments, and likes
- Building brand trust and loyalty
- Establishing your credibility
Maybe your underlying goal is simply to generate more followers.
Set a deadline for each goal you create and a KPI. Then, break each goal into smaller benchmarks. For example, maybe you want to use video content to generate 100 new followers by the end of the month.
You can establish weekly benchmarks and aim to gain 25 new followers each week.
If you’re struggling to reach your benchmarks, you’ll know it’s time to adjust your social media marketing strategy.
- Understand Your Audience
It’s not enough to establish goals, though. If you want to boost your follower count, make sure you know exactly who your customers are. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to create content that appeals to your unique audience.
After all, people are looking for content that appeals to their distinct needs and interests. Not every post you create will appeal to every consumer.
Over 80% of people want to be treated like a person, not a number. Another 74% get frustrated when content doesn’t align with their interests. Meanwhile, 63% of people now expect personalization as a standard of service.
Personalization will help you appeal to younger consumer groups, too.
In fact, 50% of millennials and Gen Zers say they ignore communications from companies that don’t personalize. Another 73% expect companies to communicate in real-time. About 33% of people abandon brand relationships when personalization is lacking.
Before you start creating content for your social media marketing strategy, research your audience.
If you’re trying to reach a broad audience, segment them into smaller buyer personas based on:
- Location
- Age
- Gender
- Education
- Language
- Career
- Household income
- Pain points
- Interests
- Hobbies
Look at the posts your customers already like and share online. Understanding their needs and interests could help you draw in new followers.
Create content with each buyer persona in mind.
- Research Competitors
Once you research your customers, consider your competitors, too. You can learn from their previous successes and failures.
First, look at their profiles. What makes each profile stand out?
Look at who they’re following as well. Do they share posts in their Instagram Stories from other accounts?
You can also look at the post formats they share, such as polls, videos, still images, Stories, and quizzes. Which posts tend to generate the most engagement?
Consider when they post and how often they share content as well.
Otherwise, look at the hashtags they use in each post. Look for hashtags that are relevant to your industry.
What trends are your competitors following? Consider whether or not their posts are effective as well.
Avoid copying what your competitors are using to boost their own social media branding. Instead, learn from what they’ve done in the past. Then, adapt your brand-building strategy based on the information you gather.
- Maintain Brand Consistency
It can take over five impressions in front of a customer before you start building brand awareness. It can take repeat exposure before awareness becomes brand recognition, too. If consumers aren’t aware you exist, they won’t follow you.
In fact, nearly 60% of consumers prefer shopping from family brands. Another 90% expect brands to remain consistent across all platforms and channels.
Before you start posting on social media, make sure you know how to build a brand. Your brand includes your:
- Personality
- Voice
- Tone
- Mission statement
- Vision statement
- Logo
- Color palette
- Font styles
- Imagery styles
Keep these repeat elements consistent across every post. Maintaining brand consistency can help awareness and recognition grow. Consumers will realize they’re seeing your posts more often.
They might like what they see and decide to follow you on social media.
- Use Eye-Catching Imagery
Once you gather the information you need, you can start creating posts for your brand-building strategy. Focus on creating branded, eye-catching images. High-quality photography can help your posts stand out.
Otherwise, your content might fade into the background.
Avoid using stock photography, which can make your posts look ingenuine. Focus on different subjects, too.
For example, you can take photos of different team members throughout your company. You can focus on different products and services. Perhaps you want to reach local customers by focusing on local landmarks.
Consider hiring a professional photographer to ensure you’re using high-quality images.
- Mix It Up
As you begin planning your posts, try experimenting with different formats. Consider going beyond still images. For example, you might also consider:
- Videos (testimonials, how-tos, Q&As, etc.)
- IGTV episodes
- Reels
- Stories
- Quizzes
- Polls
Try to create more interactive content this year. Polls and quizzes are a great way to keep people engaged and interested. Once they start interacting with your brand, you might have an easier time boosting your follower count.
Video content is becoming more popular, too. For example, you might want to experiment with VR and AR this year.
Try creating different posts. Pay attention to which posts generate the most engagement and attention.
- Share UGC
User-generated content (UGC) can help consumers recognize that people already love using your product or service.
First, create a unique, branded hashtag for your business. Encourage your customers to use the hashtag while they post about your brand. As they share their posts, you’ll reach an even broader audience through their account.
UGC is an effective brand-building strategy. You can spread the word about your business and build brand trust.
Once consumers realize people already use and love your business, they might decide to give you a try. Then, you can generate more leads, sales, and followers.
- Consider Your Captions
As you continue improving your social media branding strategy, consider the captions you’re writing.
Make sure your captions are fun and engaging. Don’t forget to consider your brand’s voice and tone, too.
Try adding a call to action (CTA) within your captions. For example, you can encourage people to follow your account. You can also encourage them to explore your products or store.
Try out different caption styles to determine what suits your audience most.
- Respond and Engagement
Once people start responding to your posts, don’t forget to comment back. Take the time to answer any questions they’re asking, too.
Engaging your audience will show them you’re listening. They might want to follow you for helpful advice in the future.
- Partner With Influencers
You don’t have to develop your social media branding strategy alone. Consider partnering with social media influencers this year, too.
Determine who your customers already follow online. Then, ask them to promote your product or service.
- Track the Latest Trends
Keep your digital marketing strategy relevant by keeping up with the latest trends.
Remember, AR and VR posts are becoming more popular. Consider using contests to boost engagement, too.
For example, you can encourage people to tag their friends in your post as a submission. Tell them they have to follow your account to participate, too.
- Update Your Profile
Take the time to update your profile this year. Make sure your profile appeals to your audience.
Switch to a business profile to make sure you have access to analytics as well. If you’re still struggling, you can always buy likes on instagram.
- Consider Your Hashtags
As you begin posting online, make sure to consider the hashtags you’re using.
Avoid broad hashtags like “love” or “follow4follow.” Instead, look for hashtags that will help you reach your target audience.
- Time It Right
Timing is everything! Take a look at your analytics. When are you generating the most followers?
Consider when your posts gain the most engagement, too. Then, adjust your post schedule to boost your follower account.
Brand Building: 14 Effective Ways to Increase Your Social Media Follower Count
Learning how to grow your social media follower count doesn’t have to feel stressful. Instead, give these 14 tips a try. With these brand-building tips, you can set your social media marketing strategy up for success.
Start reaching customers online with these tips today.
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