At first, building a social following may seem pretty easy. You make an account, post content, and ask every stranger you meet to follow and like your posts. Well, as easy as that sounds, there are several things to consider:
- Knowing who and where your audience is.
- Knowing the essence of your content.
- Knowing the right words to use.
Once you’ve taken into account all of these variables, you’ll be able to develop a foolproof social media plan.
- Understanding who your primary and secondary target audiences are: When you want to build a following, whether it be for business or personal use, you need to consider who your audience is. If you’re a business that cleans office spaces, for example, your primary target would obviously be other businesses. Naturally, you would create content that speaks directly to those prospects. Additionally, you should also attempt to reach your secondary target audience who, in this case, would be employees of those businesses. The messages differ in that these individuals are not the current decision-makers but typically fall into a younger demographic that may be in a decision-making position themselves in the near future. This direction is really about brand recognition and planting the seed for when they’re able to make big decisions like hiring you. Once you’ve taken these variables into account, the next steps will flow a lot better.
- Consider the essence of your content: Now that you know who your audience is, it’s time to dish out some content! It’s important that the content you produce is tailored to your target audience. If you put out content that doesn’t resonate with your audience, they’ll simply lose interest, and you won’t get those conversions. Speaking directly to your audience in terms they care about will ensure your content will mostly generate positive engagement and keep them coming back for more. Do your research and learn beforehand what your audience cares about most and then cater your content to suit.
- Certain keywords are more effective, depending on your platform: There are two ways to boost your content: organic and paid search. Organic refers to people who search Google for specific terms and are presented with your content because it matches their criteria, while paid search forces your results to the top of the page by paying for that placement. For organic search, by focusing on your message and using specific keywords, you have the capacity to bump yourself up in Google’s rankings for free. So when people type certain words or phrases, they’re more likely to come across your content.
With that being said, certain keywords are used more prominently depending on the platform. For example, LinkedIn is more of a business platform, so you’re more likely to run into professional texts and phrases as opposed to Twitter or Instagram where it’s far more casual and colloquial. To optimize traffic, be sure to keep track of trending topics and hashtags that are more popular for the best results. Using the right words on the right platform will give you a greater advantage over your competitors.
Building a social following takes time, planning, and creative thinking. Once you’ve figured out your target audience, tailored your content, and used the right keywords and phrases, you’ll be in a better position to increase traffic and improve your conversion rate. Good luck!