Social media, it’s all about numbers – the more followers you have, the more success you’ll have…right? Social media and this digital age have come a long way from what it once was. We are now seeing an increased emphasis on engagement and authenticity. Users want to know you and be a part of your life; they want to build a relationship with the people they are following. As a result brands are now looking to partner with Influencers who truly have influence with their audience as raw reach becomes less significant.
In the Beginning…
As platforms such as Instagram and Facebook first began to garner monetary success and a career as an influencer began to appear plausible, buying followers was popular and almost mainstream. Although easy and seemingly harmless, purchasing followers decreases credibility and Instagram has been known to suspend, ban, and delete accounts that have done so.
The truth is you can find hundreds of services that allow you to buy followers and 100 followers will normally cost you $10. However, to find “premium” or “higher quality” followers, prices begin to increase. The reality of buying followers is that often they’re either bots or fake accounts, both of which Instagram and brands don’t approve of…shocking, I know. Although more followers may look good on paper, due to the accessibility of data – many brands and marketers can do a deep dive into the credibility of your account nowadays. While brands care about reach, they also care about the reliability and authenticity of those reached more.
While more followers are admittedly more appealing, there are better (and more honest) ways to build your career as an Influencer. As mentioned, brands (and users) care about engagement. As we continue to move into a digital age, it is important to convey that in your content creation. There will always be someone with more followers, but that should be motivation to continue creating and bettering your craft.
Some of our favourite tips to grow your Social Media:
- Find your Niche:
- Social Media and the internet are more saturated than ever. There is so much noise and so many distractions that the attention of users is hard to capture. Find your thing and run with it people follow you because they like you and are drawn to you – focus on something you love.
- Be Quick to Engage:
- The algorithms are forever changing, but one thing that is here to stay are engagement rates! Encourage your audience to engage by creating content they’ll want to engage with. And on the flip side, engagement rates are heavily based on you engaging with your audience and a part of that is being quick to reciprocate the engagement.
- Be Authentic:
- I cannot stress this enough, users follow you…for you! Be yourself and your love for your craft will show through your hard work. Be real with your audience, show your good days and your bad ones, brands and users will respectthe authenticity.
- Know your Audience:
- While users follow you for you, they’ll also follow you because your content resonates with them. Know your followers, their demographics, what they like, what they don’t like, and curate your content accordingly, without forfeiting your authenticity.