For brands trying to survive and thrive in social media, quality should more important than quantity. The number of followers or page views or fans your brand has doesn’t matter, posting highly useful information and building a strong relationship with your consumers does. Those who love a brand will tell their friends, and *that* is the core of how a brand builds audience in social media. However, it seems as if quantity is what many brands are focused on – more followers, more page views, more fans, more subscribers, more, more, more, and this mono-focus on scale can have a detrimental impact on the brand.
Some of this attention may be the result of unrealistic or misguided expectations. For a user to become a fan of or follow a brand, it needs to be a product or service which the consumer not only uses, but favors enough to publicly share their affinity with others. Ashton Kutcher or CNN may be able to gain 1 million followers on Twitter overnight, but it’s likely that your brand can not. It takes time and energy and effort to gain followers, fans, or page views. Trying to force this process can destroy a brands authenticity, and that authenticity is critical to social media success. Advertising can help with audience acquisition and augment the process, but brands must pave their own social path by forging relationships, not focusing all of their efforts on finding new recruits.
It is essential to your brand’s social media success that you don’t get caught up with numbers and popularity. You must pave your own path that leads to brand development. If you focus on this, followers or subscribers will come.
Here are some suggestions on how to build a productive path in social media for your brand:
- Narrow your topic. Find out what your brand represents in the social media world. Whether it represents photography, golf, law, or any other genre, stick with it. When you stray, you lose credibility and, therefore, lose user interest.
- Start slow. You don’t need to overload users with information. Spread it out. Allow users to soak it in, giving them time to realize that you really do know what you’re talking about and your brand is able to develop expertise in its field.
- Don’t snap. Be aware of your emotions and how you portray them through social media. As we all know, it can be difficult to decipher emotion through text. It’s best to veer away from it completely.
- Ask questions. Reaching out is the best way to gain credibility and worthiness in the social media sphere. Involve people in what you and your brand are doing. Ask what they want to know about your industry or field. Always, always respond to a question asked. Interact with users and they will keep coming back for more. It can be tricky establishing virtual relationships, so make sure you actively interact.
- Be real. As stated before, it can be tricky establishing legitimate relationships with users. It’s crucial to be genuine and real with everyone you interact with. It’s always good to know there’s an actual person behind the social media operation.
- Offer something. Whether you’re giving away products or advice, people love free stuff. There’s no better way to entice users than to give them something useful (or even not useful). This way you are also able to get your brand out there in the physical world, not just the virtual.
- Set a goal. It’s relatively pointless to log on to your brand’s profile or page and twiddle around for a few hours and then be done with it. Goals give your actions direction and puts motivation behind them. Remember, keep them realistic, but nonetheless, strive for something. Pick a (realistic) number of followers you wish to gain for your brand, decide how many blog posts to post each week, whatever you choose, meet it.
No matter what you do to influence the social media sphere, remember, it’s not a competition. Social media is about interaction with people, starting dialogue and developing ongoing, lasting relationships. Don’t get over-competitive. Stay calm. Have fun. Reach your goals.
