If your business is on social media, you know how difficult it can be to get the attention your seeking. With so many people and companies competing for followers who convert, gaining a bigger and relevant social media following for your business can be an uphill battle.

Social media platforms are a free way to promote your business, and though they seem easy to tackle on the outside, you’ve probably discovered these “simple” platforms are not always that straightforward. You can invite your friends to “like” your page and follow your account all you want, but though your following will grow, your followers won’t necessarily be relevant to your business. Check out our tips and tricks to gain a bigger social media following, geared towards followers who will actually be relevant to your business goals.

Use each social media platform to your advantage

Each social media platform functions differently. You need to understand the main purpose of each one and how you can use them to your advantage. For example:

• Facebook is great for link sharing, video sharing, and photo sharing.
• Twitter is great for hashtags and short, punchy quotes.
• Instagram is for high-quality photos and short videos with great captions.

Being able to understand each platform can help you deliver the kind of content that is more likely to get attention on that specific platform. Your digital marketing strategy needs to be flexible and consistent if you want to gain a bigger social media following.

Pay attention to what’s trending

One of the most effective ways to create a bigger social media presence for your business is to ride on popular social media trends. This will get your profile in front of a ton of active users who never knew about your business before and could become new customers.

You can stay on top of trends just by taking a look at what’s going on. Look at trending hashtags on Twitter and Instagram that you can use to get more views. While it helps to use hashtags that relate to your business, they don’t have to be strictly relevant all the time. If your construction company can create a fun post for #NationalPuppyDay, go for it.

Actively engage with your audience

Engaging with your target audience isn’t as simple as you think. You need to consider what posts your followers are interested in and will comment on and share. You need to know your market in order to deliver relevant content. Only post things that are related to your business (unless trend related). For example, people aren’t going to care about what you’re dog ate if your business isn’t related to dogs.

Another thing to take note of is your responsiveness towards your followers. You are likely to gain more followers online if you respond quickly to inquiries, comments, or just any type of engagement. It can also help get your business great reviews and feedback from potential clients.

Run contests

Contests can be a great way to get new people to Like and follow your accounts, while also keeping your current fans engaged with your Page.

It’s worth experimenting with contests on every social network on which you are active. Some examples of social media contests include:

• Comment to win – Participants leave a comment or answer a question
• Caption contest – Either the best caption (you choose) or the one with the most likes wins
• Fill-in-the-blank Contest – Ask participants to answer a trivia question
• Photo contest – Either the best photo (you choose) or the one with the most likes wins
• etc.

Use paid ads for a boost

Levelling up your social media success often involves allocating a budget to run ads. One of the best ways to grow your audience and gain more exposure is to invest a modest amount into paid social advertisements (ex. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc). When done well, paid social ads can promote your content, increase conversions, and help you reach new people.

Apply our tips and tricks to your social media marketing plan and see which ones work for best you. Every industry and business is different, and your success will depend greatly on how you execute your strategy and how committed you are. Give it time and be patient and soon you’ll see your social following grow.

If you need extended help with your social media strategy don’t hesitate to contact our experts at Virtual Image!