Building a following for your brand on social media can feel like a roller coaster ride.
Just when you’re relishing in the high of reaching a new follower plateau, whether it’s 100, 1,000 or 10,000, and finally feel like you’ve mastered the art of networking, you check your accounts to find your numbers are down and you’re followers are on the decline. Sure, you’re never going to be able to make every follower happy – but if you’re losing more followers than you’re gaining, it might be time to readjust your approach. If you want your customers to stick, there are a few things you must avoid at all costs.
The Problem: You’re Overwhelming Your Audience
Although there isn’t a rule about how often you should be posting on your social channels, there is such a thing as over-posting. Even the most devoted of followers likely don’t want to see 10 posts from you in a row – especially if that content is too sales-y or promotional. Content that lacks focus can also leave your followers feeling overwhelmed, so make sure your content doesn’t divert too far away from your brand and its values. Oppositely, followers often head for the exit when they are underwhelmed, often by out of date, tired, or repeated content.
The Problem: You’re Not Getting Involved
It’s not called “social” media for nothing! If you’re not using your channels to get social, you’re going to have a difficult time building lasting relationships and loyal followers. You need to be liking, commenting, retweeting, asking and answering questions, and otherwise interacting with audience members – that’s why they followed you in the first place! Follow back users that follow you and do some exploring to find new followers. It’s no different than making friends in real life – if you bring nothing to the relationship, you’re friends aren’t likely to stick around. If you find it difficult to make the time to network on all your social channels, ask yourself if you’re spread too thin. It’s better to only have two channels and commit your efforts 100% than to have many channels that only get 10% of your time.
It’s not called “social” media for nothing! Loyal followers take effort. Click To Tweet
The Problem: You’re Not Being Strategic
You can’t ignore the technical bits! It’s easy to get so caught up with creating interesting content that the actual process of posting isn’t given the attention it deserves. If you aren’t tagging your posts appropriately (people, locations, hashtags), you’re missing out on an opportunity to introduce new people to your brand.
Keeping your followers happy and your community growing takes a little more time and energy, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor if you want to grow your brand. For more tips, tricks, and techniques for social media success, explore our blog or follow us on Twitter!
