When I first set up my social media accounts, my ultimate goal was to ‘get as many followers as possible’ after all followers = customers right? Wrong! Ok, so on the outside having a massive social media following may look impressive but if you are not getting any customers or making sales what’s the point of having all these followers?
There are lots of other metrics that should be more important then getting as many followers as possible…..
Increasing brand awareness
More email sign-ups
Increasing traffic to your website
More downloads of your e-book
To name a few. Ask yourself this question, what would you prefer:
1000’s of followers but no customers or a handful of followers but many loyal customers?
Having followers is just a number, it doesn’t mean anything apart from looking impressive to your competitors! It’s all about influence.
If followers don’t matter what should we be focusing on?
Engagement: social media is all about engagement, you only need to read the recent Facebook update that has upset a few people to know this. Encourage people to comment and share your posts. Try and start discussions between your followers, no only will you build loyalty your posts will get seen more. Show off your personality!
Value: Your followers want to see some value in your posts. What’s in it for them? When they read your post will they learn something? Will your post bring on a certain emotion, how will it make them feel? Will it be good enough that they will want to share with their friends?
To sum it all up
Use social media as an engagement tool and not a ‘selling’ tool. Think about what your customers will want to see. It’s all about building long term relationships.