how to grow your Social Media and gain more followers

 

One of the most common questions we’re asked is how to achieve social media growth and gain more followers.  It’s become more challenging than ever to cut through the clutter and gain the attention of your potential customers.

And, since we generate many of our leads from social media channels like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter, we continue to improve our social media strategy each year.  What worked in years past may no longer be generating the same engagement, impressions, or likes. So we’re going to show you how to change up your strategy to continue growing!

 

The quick + Dirty way: Why we don’t buy followers

 

Before we dive in, If you are looking for an easy way to gain followers and engagement, and have some room in your marketing budget, we got you covered.  In our steps below, we share how to more quickly achieve growth by spending on Instagram ads or promotions. 

However, since we often get the question about social media growth as it pertains to Instagram follower counts, we wanted to emphasize why we do not buy followers or use 3rd party apps to help grow on Instagram.

Instagram began cracking down on those that buy followers, create fake accounts, and accounts using 3rd party apps to generate likes and comments.  In addition, Instagram is quick to flag or suspend accounts that violate their terms of service.

So while buying likes and follows could be the fastest way to grow, you put your account at risk of being deactivated.  Don’t take our word for it.  Read more on experiments gone bad from our friends at Hootsuite.

Finally, we also urge you to think about the reason you want to reach 25K or 250K followers on Instagram. 

•  Is it just a vanity metric? 
• Do you believe those bought followers will visit your website? 
• Will they buy your products or services? 
• Share your stories on their social channels? 

Sadly, they will not do any of this.  So, here’s ways that actually work!

 

Best Practices for social media growth

1. Post AND ENGAGE on the social media channels where your audience spends their time

 

First, make sure you are posting + engaging on the social media channels where you have the best chance to connect with those interested in your non-profit, outdoor, or lifestyle brand.  Not sure where that is?

Well, start by defining your audience.  As an example, we tend to attract non-profit leaders, startups, and small outdoor + lifestyle brands without a marketing department.  Therefore, we make most of our connections via LinkedIn, but also on Twitter and Instagram.  

Need a refresher on how to best use social channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter?  Read our last blog!

Keep in mind, this may not be where YOU spend most of your time.  You may have deleted your personal Facebook page in 2016!  Instead, think about where your target demographic spends most of THEIR time.

Not sure where to find this information?  Look at your website’s analytics, or better yet Google Analytics, to see where you acquire your website visitors.  The data may surprise you!  Need more help?  Drop us a line! 

 

2.  Plan Out posts with a content Calendar

 

Now that you’ve outlined what your brand’s personality is, write out your posts for the month using a content calendar.  You can also use your Content Calendar to track the following:

• Email campaigns
• Blogs for each week or month
• PR campaigns
• Product launch dates
• Events + holidays

Yes, we know you have a calendar already, maybe two!  But adding all of these items to a separate Content Calendar makes it easier for everyone on the team to stay on the same page when it comes to what you’re posting and promoting, and when.

Select a weekly theme.  Or have certain days reserved for different types of content- sales, blog shares, or sharing curated content from like-minded brands or leaders in your industry!

Don’t use a Content Calendar yet?  Get started by downloading our Content Calendar Template below!

 

3. Write authentic content that showcases your brand’s personality

 

The best practice for what to post on social media begins with remaining true to your brand’s mission and values.  You can’t ‘stay on brand’ if you’re not quite sure what your brand stands for these days.  

Dial-in the persona that showcases your brand’s personality. 

• Is your outdoor brand or non-profit fun and playful? 
• Super into design or fashion?
• Trail running or camping?
• Do you always have your dog in tow as your co-pilot?  

Remember, this may not necessarily be YOUR personality.  But, that of your brand.

If you will be using these posts across several social media channels, change up the copy slightly for each.  Do not post the same exact content on as you do on Tiktok as you do on Instagram or Twitter.  Links, videos, image size, copy style, and @ mentions will not work across all channels in the same way. 

And that Tiktok logo in the corner of your Instagram video?  Yeah, you can do better.

Pro tip: Videos and posts with multiple images will perform better than a static image almost every time.  Therefore, read our blog on how to take better photos!

4. what to post + how often for better growth on social media

 

Best practices for how many social media posts are needed each week varies widely depending on the social network you are using.  And how much time you or your team have to dedicate to this! 

If you can post everyday, great!  We do not recommend posting more than this, unless you are posting to Instagram Stories or Twitter.

We break up our posts, and our clients’ posts, into the following categories:

• 50% sales (advertising services or products)
• 30% curated content
• 20% just for fun! 

This mix can change depending on what our marketing strategy is that month.  Are you running a sale, or hosting a fundraiser?  If so, that should take up more of your content!

 

 

example: what to post

• 2 posts per week that focus on your brand and drive traffic to your website.  Advertise your products, services, case studies, or blog posts.  Not enough content on your website fill these posts?  Well then read How to Use Your Website to Generate Better Leads!
• 1-2 posts per week that share curated content.  So for Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, this might be a post that links to an article that you loved or found helpful.  Expert advice from an industry leader.  Something that provides value to your followers.  Remember to always give credit to the source you are linking.  This also helps them recognize you as a trusted name or expert in your industry.  
• 1 post per week that’s just for fun.  Fridays and Sundays are great days for this!  Showcase what happens behind-the-scenes, or your latest adventure.  Just be sure to stay true to your brand and personality!

example: how to Curate Content on Instagram

 

As we mentioned earlier, with Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, you can easily share content you curate like articles you think your readers might enjoy.  With Instagram, this becomes more challenging as you can’t share links in posts.

However, you can save Instagram posts that you love, and reshare them, creatively, in your Stories.  Here’s how:

• Click on the flag in the lower right corner under the posts you like and want to reshare in your Instagram Stories.
• Once you’ve selected all of the posts you like throughout the day or week, go to the upper right corner of your Instagram Profile Page and click on the Instagram menu to get a drop-down of options.
• Click on ‘Saved’ or flagged posts and here’s where you will find all of your saved images.
• Here you can also create Collections to further organize the images.
• Then, you can then repost these in your Instagram Stories, creating a theme by topic, product, color, sport, etc.
• You can add a link, yes, regardless of follower count, you can now add a link to bring people right to the website or article to learn more or shop!

Bam!  Beautifully-curated content ready to share each week!

 

5. When to Post

 

Besides what to post, the next question we get asked to improve social media growth is what days and times are best to post on social media. 

Your potential clients and customers might be on social throughout the day.  Here’s steps to take to determine when is best to post for your non-profit or outdoor brand:

• Determine when your followers are most active by looking at your social media analytics.
• Days with typically the best engagement: Sundays and Tuesdays
• Best times to post: 7-9am most days

Keep in mind that some posts, based on the content shared, may do well regardless of the day or time you post!  And the opposite is true.  If something newsworthy trumps your post that day, you may not get as much love.

 

 

6. Schedule Your social Posts

 

The best practice for social media growth by far is to schedule your posts.  This saves you time and therefore, money.  We love using Hootsuite to schedule both our posts for Top Rope Media and posts on behalf of our clients.  Why?  Some days we may have 15 different posts going out on 4 different social channels!

However, even if you are just using LinkedIn or Instagram, scheduling your 3-4 posts per week will help you stay consistent.  Social networks love that.  Read more on how we’ve helped brands getting started with scheduling posts!

 

Next, once your post is scheduled, check that is posted correctly.  For Instagram, add locations, tag brands, partners, collaborators as you cannot do this in Hootsuite.  And lastly, engage on behalf of your brand when your post goes up.  Like, comment, or share the post or similar posts in your Stories!

 

 

 

7. create more engaging content

 

Engagement is worth more on social media than likes or follows.  By engagement we mean your readers are:

• clicking on your links in a post
• visiting your profile page
• Adding a comment
• Sharing your post in their feed or Stories

How do you figure out what posts are getting the most engagement?  First, take a look at your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook Analytics, or Instagram Insights.  Pay attention which posts not only have good reach but good engagement.  Not seeing much?

Take a good look at the content you’ve been posting.  Can you create more engaging posts?  Need more ideas on how we do it?  Ask for help!

 

Now then, when you do get a comment, message, or DM on social media, respond promptly to keep your response rate up as well! 

 

 

8. begin Social Listening + engage

 

A great way to write more engaging content for social media is to listen and engage with your audience.  Social ‘listening’ involves reading what people are saying about your brand, product, service, or industry online.  Are you creating content that addresses their issues or answers their questions?  Learn more about how and why we follow the They Ask, You Answer philosophy.

How do you listen well? 

• Set up a Google Alert
• Follow your brand’s hashtags, and also ones that align with your brand
• Listen to your competition.  Follow them on social.  Sign up for their email newsletters.  Add them to your Facebook Page Watch list!
• Read your industry publications!!

 

And what do we mean by engage?  Like, comment, share relevant content that you love and you think your audience will love too!  Apps like Instagram give you more love, and show more of your content to others when you spend more time on the app!

 

9. run ads + promotions

 

If you want that extra boost, and can afford to pay to play, run ads or promotions on your social networks!  So instead of paying $25/month to some 3rd party sketchy Instagram growth service to boost your followers or likes, pay Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn directly to do it for you!

Using Facebook or Instagram Ads can help you:

• Generate more brand awareness
• Get more donations for your fundraiser
• Increase the amount of followers on your social accounts
• Build more engagement
• Sell more products! 

Get step-by-step instructions on how to run ads on Facebook or Instagram.

 

10. Update your Bio and Profile Links

 

In this ever-changing world, the copy you wrote last year for your Instagram profile or LinkedIn bio may no longer be relevant.  As a best practice, update your bio or social profile every quarter. 

In addition, put promotions and discount codes in your social media bios.  For example, “Save 35% this holiday season by using code MBHOLIDAY35.”  This could easily fit in your Instagram profile.

Update your profile link often.  Especially on Instagram.  Examples: If a client’s content theme for a certain week focuses on summer activities, we may change the link to share a blog post where readers can learn more about how to prep for summer.  If we want to encourage more appointment bookings, we might swap out the main website link for the appointments link.  You get the idea.

Why take these extra steps?  Because you want people to find what they are looking for in the least amount of steps.  If you only have your homepage linked in your profile, and you just launched a new blog, how do your readers get to it quickly?

If you say ‘link in bio’ and it only directs people to your homepage, do you think they will take the time to click the link in bio, then find your blog page, then find the right blog you were speaking of?

Lastly, you can use tools like Linktree with Instagram to share several links under one profile link.

 

11. Use Emojis in your social posts

 

Use emojis to help break up text or to emphasize a point you’re trying to get across.  In this world of constant scrolling, a campfire or a monkey covering his eyes could catch your reader’s eye more than just text!

12. use Hashtags to help with social media growth

 

Everything can’t be #instagood.  Therefore, do some research on which hashtags are trending within your industry.  If you do not already have a hashtag for your brand, create one!  Or, take a look at what your brand ambassadors or competitors are using.  You can also view your post Insights on Instagram to see how many likes you get from your hashtag use!

What platforms do hashtags work best on?  Instagram and Twitter.  You can use up to 30 hashtags on Instagram, and as many as you want on Twitter.  However, as Twitter is limited to 280 characters, so keep your tweets to 2-3 hashtags!

Where should you put your hashtags?  After your copy.  We often separate our copy with line breaks and drop the hashtags so they are out of view, especially on platforms like Instagram.  Get the full scoop on Instagram hashtags from Hootsuite!

 

13.  Sell Through your Social media channels

 

If you use Facebook and Instagram and have a separate store on Shopify or WooCommerce, you can easily connect your store and sell directly through Facebook or Instagram, or people can complete their purchase on your website.

 

14. work with brand ambassadors + content creators

 

Work with content creators and ambassadors to help you create more brand awareness for your products or services!  If you haven’t read our blog on Finding the Right Brand Ambassadors– get on it!

At Top Rope Media, we think of working with content creators, which is the more PC term now as opposed to ‘influencers’, like backpacking.  To get the best results, to see the most beautiful and untouched terrain, you have to plan.  Prepare.  And, be willing to walk – a lot!

It takes time to find and build relationships with the right content creators or brand ambassadors. So be patient, and think long-term.  You’ll find the investment is worth it when your ambassador is connected with your brand for years to come.

 

 

15. Evaluate Your Post Performance

 

If you are not reviewing your social media analytics each week, you could be missing out on some great insights into your customers.  Set an alarm or add a meeting to your calendar each week to review your Google Analytics, along with your social media metrics.

 

Still not seeing steady growth?

• Switch up the days and times you are posting
• Engage on the network- this means spend time on it liking, commenting, and sharing other posts you find compelling!
• Change up the type of content posted (hint: add more videos or multiple images!)
• Upgrade your phone for better photos, use a camera, or buy a GoPro!

 

final thoughts on Social media growth

 

One of the biggest reasons to continue posting on social media for your brand is that shopping habits have changed tremendously!  In addition, there is a growth in online spending not only from Millennials, but Gen X, and Baby Boomers alike.

What are millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers purchasing through social media?

• Apparel + Accessories- Clothes, shoes, anything to save us from having to go to the store!
• Health + Fitness- gadgets, sneakers, yoga pants, swimwear, you name it.
• Jewelry- especially hand-crafted unique pieces
• Beauty + skincare products

 

And which social channels can you reach these Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers?  Well, 67% of millennials are on Instagram, and 75% of baby boomers are active Facebook users.  9 out of 10 Gen Xers are on Facebook.

slow and steady Social Media growth takes practice

We’ve covered a lot of ground, but here are the top takeaways for growing your social media presence:

• Create videos and share multiple images in posts
• Use a Content Calendar and schedule that content using a tool like Hootsuite
• Be an active ‘social listener’ by following hashtags, creating Google Alerts, and pay attention to your competition!
• Engage on the social network you want to grow on by liking, commenting, and sharing relevant content
• Work with brand ambassadors or content creators
• Run ads or promotions in combination with your organic posts for that extra boost!
• Upgrade your phone, work with a professional, or learn how to take better photos

 

Thanks for reading and happy posting!

Meredith McConvill