When we talk about social media, the first thing that most people desire is the ability to go viral. However, while it’s great to get a bunch of attention all at once, wouldn’t it be better to have a genuine base that gives you attention all the time? The answer, of course, is yes, as hosting an organic following is something that will not only help your business steadily gain more of an audience but more sales from engagement as well. That’s why we’re offering a few tips on how you too can develop an organic following. Check them out below:
Start With Your Brand’s Foundation
A significant part of developing an organic following begins with your brand. As the primary reason why other people will follow you, your brand is the core message you’re trying to share with your audience, showcasing a certain set of beliefs or mission that they can gravitate towards. This is crucial both in your overall image but also the type of content you’re producing because as noted by Brand Buddha, 80 percent of consumers say authenticity in content is the most influential factor in their decision to become a follower of a brand. Which, if your branding has been an afterthought or something you haven’t decided on how it should behave with social, then it might be time to conduct a brand audit.
When analyzing your brand, ask yourself how it objectively stands on its own, which includes asking what type of personality this has or how does it resonate with an audience. From there, start deciphering the voice it has, as well as how that should drive your content on a consistent basis. While this might not be perfect at first, through time, you’ll have a better understanding of how to take your brand into being a thing that can live on its own, which is the inevitable goal for any successful company.
Know Your Audience (And How To Build A Foundation Around Them)
Another important factor for developing an organic following is knowing just what type of audience you’re trying to compile. While you probably have a basic idea of the general group you’re after, it’s important to know who’s willing to follow you and why; which is a big part of why utilizing data is such a popular practice for social media management. For example, as noted by Hootsuite, Instagram has a 2.2 percent interaction rate, which is significantly higher than any other social platform. However, before we dive too deep into specifics, we first need to discuss how to gain a foundation others will want to engage with.
If there’s one thing that can get discourage a lot of brands on social media, it’s that there’s this catch-22 with generating a following. We tend not to want to follow accounts that don’t have many followers; on the other hand, we don’t want to follow accounts that have a bunch of fake followers. Both instances end up in the same feeling, as though we’re engaging with a brand that’s not worth it. While there are services marketing an Instagram followers booster, the goal is to have a base that’s genuinely engaging with you, so others do the same. A big part of this will come with getting down to the specifics of your industry, such as utilizing hashtags or geotags so that others can easily find you, bringing on the niche audiences necessary for an organic following.
Be Mindful Of The Medium
As it’s easy to get carried away with the content of your social posts, you also need to be mindful of the medium they’re presented in. Especially as you’re developing more materials over time, you need to consider where people are watching or reading this material, as well as what retention rates are for your general audience. As noted by Impact Bound, the average person spends approximately 69 percent of their media time on their smartphones, showcasing how much mobile has become the primary medium for content. And if you’re looking to develop a consistent audience, a big part of that will be planning your materials for the small screen accordingly.
An important piece to note with your content planning is to not only make it short, but shareable as well. An underrated part of developing an organic audience is referral traffic from your general audience, where you’re practically having others do the sharing for you. Try to brainstorm pieces from the perspective of your brand that are concise and relatable. Although content development is something that you’ll need to improve steadily upon over time, remember to start from mobile and work your way out from there, giving yourself the best materials for others to work with as well.
Keep Your Outreach Consistent
Finally, as you’re getting in the habit of creating content and conducting outreach, it’s imperative to keep consistent with your pace, as well as outreach. Not only will this be how you stay relevant but is also the primary way to keep bringing on an audience, because as noted by CrowdSpring, on average, it takes 5 to 7 impressions for a consumer to recognize a brand’s logo. Although this doesn’t necessarily mean your company should be posting constantly, it does mean you need to be smart about your long-term planning.
Create a calendar for your social posts, including the specific mediums per each campaign. Furthermore, make sure to stay on top of engagement both on your page, as well as on pages your brand is a fan of, leaving genuine comments as well as answering any questions or concerns promptly. As you continue along with your efforts, it might be wise to invest in a social media management tool like Buffer or Hootsuite to compare your results, citing improvements over time. Although learning the ropes on this stuff will take practice, with enough time, you’ll become a social guru with a solid organic following in no time.
What are some strategies you’ve utilized to develop an organic following for your small business? Comment with your insights below!
