There are two aspects to this argument — for one, there is the element of social proof, and people are more likely to trust a business that has 1,000 followers than one that has none, making perfect sense.
But on the other hand, followers and likes can be bought, they are readily available and quite inexpensive. Because of this, not usually the viewer count is the best indicator of…
However, involving an advertising agency for better engagement strategies will be a good option to be considered.
Why you need more followers
Nonetheless, the truth of the matter is that for the company to be taken seriously, you need a certain amount of social media followers. If you don’t have someone watching your profile, so persuading people to get in touch and spend money with you will be more complicated.
So you need numbers – the majority of people build a fan base by sending invites to friends and family and getting them on board. And this is definitely helpful, but in the long run, it can hinder the marketing efforts.
How do I do it? Since, for example, Facebook uses an algorithm that shows the information to people based on a range of factors, the most significant being interaction.
That being the case, if you’re posting friends and family-not people actively engaging with your content-from your business page and all the people that follow that page, then your engagement rate will be lower.
A low engagement rate means fewer people see your content, and Facebook’s algorithm can conclude that your posts are not highly relevant and decrease your reach. So while you may have 1,000 followers, if only a few of them participate consistently with each and every one of your posts, your long-term popularity on Facebook will potentially be harmed. And while Facebook is the reference here, the same applies to Instagram, which is still using an algorithm now, and to a lesser extent to Twitter.
Your viewer data was also distorted by non-engaged fans. If 90% of your audience will not buy from you, it will be pointless to research them and their interests in your Facebook Insights or Twitter Analytics, as any data you obtain would definitely not help you to produce more resonant content. And, how do you create a successful following through social media?
Why you don’t need more followers
The answer to this is that you don’t really need more fans, but more dedicated supporters are needed. But that’s hard to work with, of course, because building awareness takes time–and as noted, if you don’t have any fans at first, building an audience is tougher because people won’t take your audience seriously.
The key is to start with friends and family, then exclude from your audience those who don’t interact with your posts over time.
This needs to be handled with sensitivity – no one likes being excluded or cut off – but you need your social media audience to be comprised of people actually interested in purchasing your products and services. The only way to truly maximize your social efforts is to have an engaged, active audience on each platform.
You do need audience numbers to start off with, but you need to also be mindful of who those people are and whether they’re following you because you’re friends or because your business is genuine of interest to them. And if it’s not, eventually you might need to cut them off.
Engagement vs audience
One of the false tricks of social media is that people often mistake audience size for importance. That’s not how it is. Having 10,000 followers is meaningless if none of them are buying from you – whereas on the other side, having just one paying customer may be all you ever need (if that customer is the exact right one).
The main point is to ensure you’re aware of what your audience growth stats mean and how they relate to your overall goals. Eventually, you’ll want to analyze your audience data to get a better understanding of what they’re interested in so you can cater to those needs. If they’re all your friends, that might be extremely hard to do.
You need an audience, no doubt, but you need engagement more. Maintaining awareness of the two is key to maximizing your social efforts.
Ultimately, how you measure the effectiveness of engaging with people on social media depends on your goals.
We believe that social media is for branding – so we engage with people on social media to provide quick and friendly customer support, build affinity with our brand, and grow our reach.
You might have different goals for your social media program, so how you measure your social media engagement should line up with those goals.
For example, your goal might be to develop an email list, or build a network of influencers, or drive downloads of your app.
Many people don’t want to put the proper time and effort into growing social media audience. It is very similar to SEO for a website as it is an investment of time and consistency to build a good following for any Social Media or Company page.