Getting hung up on your social media following? Here’s why you shouldn’t

Fewer, higher quality followers are much more valuable than a larger quantity of irrelevant followers.

When it comes to social media, we are socialised to judge our own and certainly others’ success based upon the number of likes, shares and followers one has. It may seem like a logical and quantitative way to measure social media and overall business success; however, this line of thinking will only leave you feeling disappointed and insecure of your achievements. That’s why we’re drawing a line under this type of thinking and emphasising that it’s not the number of followers you have that determines your business success, it’s the quality of those people that helps with your business success.

Here’s an example. Which one of these options is most likely to drive more sales?

1. Having 10K + followers that consist of unrelated and non-likely customers or spam accounts
2. Having a smaller following of industry-relevant, prospective customers that view and engage with your posts

You know where we’re going with this. Whilst it might look good for your brand image to have lots of followers, if they’re not sharing your content or heading to your website, then they’re not adding any value to your business and they won’t be generating any leads. If GDPR has taught us anything, it’s reminded us that successful marketing is about putting the right content in front of the right people to naturally draw interest, instead of attempting to persuade the wrong people.

So, how do I build a relevant following?

Building a social media following is no easy task, but it all boils down to focusing on the type of content your audience will want to see through creative and engaging methods. It’s also important to build relationships with the followers you do have, join in on industry-related conversations and then start ones of your own by creating an inviting place to spark discussions. Once you do this, the numbers will slowly start to climb.

How does all of this help to increase ROI?

Since the chances of your customer seeing your posts at the exact point when they’re making purchase are pretty slim, social media is a useful tool to help put your brand in the forefront of their mind, so that when they come to make that buying decision, you’ll be the first business that comes to mind. Additionally, you might encourage users to try something new or perhaps remind them of something they need through your posts, something which wouldn’t be possible if you didn’t have relevant followers.

Remember, building a healthy social following takes time, determination and a lot of social awareness. So, if you need help with your social media marketing beyond this blog, we offer expert social media management as well as many other marketing services, simply get in touch with us today.