Any social media manager is used to hearing from businesses that they “just want more followers”, but is that actually what you need? Social media can put a lot of emphasis on how many followers you have, but this doesn’t actually mean that you’ll be making money from customers. The way I always think of it is that I don’t follow every brand I buy from, nor do I buy from every brand I follow.
Social media is part of a marketing strategy, used to reach people already on social media who need your product or service AND who want to be entertained. There’s no use in posting things that people aren’t interested in seeing, because you want to use social media as a way to make your audience want to support YOUR business specifically.
Followers fall under “vanity metrics”, they’re something that look good, but they’re not much use beyond that. You need to take the time to build a community of people who genuinely care about your business, or else those followers will simply stay a number. It’s far better to have a small number of followers of people who’re likely to buy from you, versus people who never will. The focus should always be on community over numbers.
How do you do this? While there’s not a simple answer to that, one thing’s for certain: you need to be comfortable showing who you are, not just what your business does. You don’t necessarily have to show your face, but you need to try and embody your personality into your business, rather than the other way around. One of the things I love most about social media is that it allows you the freedom to be a bit silly in a way that you can’t otherwise do on other platforms such as your website or in a traditional ad. Especially when you consider platforms such as TikTok, that thrive on casual and spontaneous content, it helps people connect with you more (and makes them more likely to buy or recommend you). My personal approach is to include a mix of entertaining and educational content, so you can both inform and nurture followers.
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Alternative social media manager in Brighton & Hove
'24 criminology graduate with a creative flair
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