Wait. What!? Did a marketing pro just tell you to stop focusing on your number of followers? Yep. I sure did!
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There are so many companies out there that are promising you a huge skyrocket in your number of followers on Instagram and Facebook, but what they do not guarantee you, is engagement. While we would all like to see our Instagram and Facebook accounts grow with 1,000+ followers a month, you want those people to genuinely like the product or service you are offering them. If you paid someone last month to grow your account following and if it was anywhere in the 1,000-5,000 range, you should take a look at your recent followers right now. Chances are, they used fake accounts or bots to increase your following. But this doesn’t help you with your engagement at all. Would you like to have 20,000 followers and only have 9 of them engaging with you? You don’t have to be a mathematician to know that those numbers appear to be off.
Think about this. If you decided to spend $500-$1,000 to attend a state-wide trade show filled with 10,000+ people, did you bring enough materials or business cards to hand out to all of them? The chances are you didn’t. You also wouldn’t have had enough time to genuinely engage in conversation with all the attendees of that trade show. But how many attendees did you interact with? Who stopped by because your signage appealed to them? How many people were genuinely interested in learning more about what you have to offer? The thing you need to understand is you don’t want to attract the masses; you want to attract your ideal clientele. The same goes for your social media following.
You don’t need to attract anyone and everyone. All it takes is one to make the sale. That one person is looking at your online presence to see what you have to offer them, not what you have to offer anyone and everyone. You need to see the people who are interacting with you online. Do you have followers who are liking and commenting on your posts? Are you replying to their comments and befriending them online? If someone came into your store and asked you a question, would you engage in a conversation with them? Or would you give them one-word responses? You need to build relationships and market to your ideal clients.
Questions To Ask Yourself
What is the market you are currently serving? What is your ideal clientele? Are you currently attracting your ideal clients online? If not, you need to figure out why. You may be targeting the wrong clients online. If you were attracting the right clientele and happy with the overall outcome, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog post.
Even if your business is strictly internet-based, let’s pretend for a minute that you have a store-front business. Who do you want to see walking through the front doors? What kind of environment do you want to provide for them? What do you think those customers would want to see in your store? Think about that for a moment or take a piece of paper and write those questions down. While you’re thinking about that, let me give you a real-life example that I recently experienced.
A friend of mine is going on a cruise for their honeymoon next month and saw a post on Instagram for Bella Rose, a local boutique that just opened in Ocean Springs, MS was having a Summer sale. When we walked through the doors, I was utterly in awe. This place was modern, elegant, and the girls who were chosen to work there made you feel like they cared. We even brought her 3 and 4-year-old boys with us to the store, and they had a little play area near the dressing rooms so the moms could shop around. Their social media marketing got us through the door, their ideal clients, and guess what, when I decide to buy some new clothes, you can bet your money I’m going back there.
Final Thoughts
The point of this story is their online presence was a direct reflection of their store-front, and they’re attracting their ideal customer base. Now I’m not saying this women’s boutique that is targeting young women between 18-40 won’t attract people who won’t buy their items from time to time, but their marketing efforts are in the right place.
If you’re not bringing in your ideal clients to your business, it’s time you have a talk with your marketing team. If you don’t have a marketing team, let’s start a conversation and point you in the right direction. Your ideal clients are waiting for you. Don’t keep focusing on the number of followers you have on your Social Media accounts, or you might miss them.
Business Social Media Followers FAQ
Why should businesses stop focusing on the number of followers they have on social media?
Focusing solely on the number of followers can lead to neglecting other important metrics, such as engagement rate and conversions. Additionally, having a large number of followers does not necessarily equate to real, active and engaged customers, and the quality of followers is often more important than the quantity.
What metrics should businesses focus on instead of the number of followers?
Businesses should focus on metrics that align with their specific business goals and objectives, such as engagement rate, conversion rate, website traffic from social media, and lead generation. These metrics provide a clearer picture of the impact and effectiveness of social media efforts and can help businesses optimize their strategies and campaigns.
How can businesses improve the quality of their social media followers?
Businesses can improve the quality of their social media followers by consistently creating and publishing high-quality content that resonates with their target audience, actively engaging with followers through comments and messages, leveraging influencer marketing and collaborations, and utilizing targeted advertising and promotions to reach new and relevant followers. Additionally, businesses can consider using social media management tools and analytics to monitor and analyze follower behavior and engagement, and make data-driven decisions to optimize their social media strategies.
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