It’s a question often asked in social media strategy meetings (and I’m sure debated down the pub, too), “Does having more social media followers increase sales/business/popularity?” The answer will be discussed in this blog. If you’re a business owner worried about only having a small social media following don’t fret. Quality over quantity is a general rule of thumb, unless you’re a social media influencer.

I Want More Social Media Followers

Well, we always want the things we can’t have! First things first- DO NOT BUY FOLLOWERS! You’ll find out why shortly. Generally everybody would be happy to have thousands of followers on social media but in reality, you don’t need to have loads, just the right people.

Finding Your Target Audience on Social Media

This is the holy grail. The golden ticket. The raison d’etre of digital marketing. If you have a product or service that you want to promote online, make sure to tailor your marketing - and that means everything; website content, blogs, email newsletters, video content, surveys, white papers, printed pamphlets, events, webinars, video conferences, podcasts, infographics, social media posts - to your target audience. They have something that they need. You have the solution. Make sure they know this.

One phrase always sticks in my head from my time at University - Message, Audience, Media. Always consider these things before launching a marketing campaign. (or outsource your digital marketing to someone who can help build a marketing strategy for you)

Do Not Buy Followers!

Forgive the repetition, but it bears repeating. Buying social media followers may make you look established and popular, but none of these people will buy from you. Most of them won’t even be real people. It’s all about finding your target audience.

The Vegan Food Festival Analogy

Okay, I just made this up so don’t expect any ancient wisdom here,. Just a simple explanation of why you should make sure your business is visible to the right people. Imagine you are a burger vendor, selling the juiciest, meatiest burgers in town. There’s a vegan festival in your area with 10,000 guaranteed visitors , and also a meat-eaters society get-together at a local pub. 30 people max but all really hungry. Which event are you going to be at? It makes no sense to look only at the figures.

Engage With Your Good Followers

It’s important to consider a holistic approach to social media marketing. Don’t just post, post, post and expect people to find you online. Organic reach from company pages is decreasing, because the platforms you are using want you to pay them to reach your target market.

Instead, engage with other people’s posts. Like, comment, share. Follow relevant accounts. Then post your own quality content, and add some interesting industry news into the mix as well. If you are seen as informative, educational, and perhaps a tad entertaining, you will stick in the minds of those that matter.

Viral Content

The same rules apply for viral content as they do for follower numbers. Don’t focus on the numbers and create content because you want to go viral. Instead create useful, relevant content. Again, follower numbers don’t matter too much, but engagement does. The more people like, share, and comment on your post, the more people will see the content as it becomes visible to friends of friends of friends.

Losing Followers

It happens. Not everyone will stick around. Concentrate on creating the best social media content for those that are your fans. You know the ones - always watching your stories, liking all your posts.

So I guess we’re veering towards ‘No’ when answering the original question, ‘Is it important to have lots of social media followers?’ Unless you’re a Kardashian, or you just like the mud slinging approach to marketing (don’t do it!) You know the old adage, ‘If you throw enough mud to the wall, enough will stick. These are the marketing people that will target everybody. They send repetitive generic emails in the hope that if 0.5% respond it’s a success. But the other 99.5% will be choosing the brands and businesses with a quality content marketing approach.

If you have any questions regarding digital marketing feel free to contact us. No obligation to sign up for anything, we just like helping people!

Blog