More than 2 million companies advertise on Instagram every month, and this social media giant isn’t even the biggest player in the industry. Countless businesses spend billions of dollars running intricate social media campaigns. Some of them are designed to create brand awareness while others are meant to create new leads and bring in new customers.
The truth is that social media has the potential to become one of your most powerful business tools. But, simply racking up millions of followers is not a recipe for success. Below, we’ll discuss the reason why so many companies obsess over their social following. We’ll also provide a few reasons why collecting large numbers of followers is not always the most important thing and provide tips on launching a successful social campaign.
The Obsession Behind Social Media Followers
By the end of 2019, there will be more than 2.75 billion active social media users. With almost 1 in every 3 people using some form of social platform, it’s easy to see why so many companies invest a lot of their budget into these campaigns. Not to mention the fact that social campaigns can be interactive, designed around your budget, and optimised for improved performance.
Although social media offers a great opportunity to engage with your audience, there are still many reasons why racking up a huge number of followers should not be your only goal.
Why Chasing Large Numbers of Social Followers Might Be Totally Useless
Some of the reasons why you shouldn’t only focus on chasing a large number of social followers include:
Consumers Know About Fake Traffic
Consumers are aware that some companies buy social media followers, so having a large number of followers isn’t as impressive as it was a few years ago. Besides the number of followers, your audience will look at a huge number of elements before determining if you are trustworthy or not.
Targeting the Wrong Audience
Some companies focus on racking up followers organically, but they tend to target anyone who is willing to engage with their content. If you’re targeting the wrong audience, all the interactions and followers you have will be worthless because they will have no real interest or intention of purchasing your products.
Engagement is Everything
Engagement is the key metric that will define whether your social following is relevant or not. If your content is ignored, it won’t matter whether you have the right audience or if you generate quality content. Remember, it’s always better to have a small following that you engage with regularly, than a large base of followers that shun your content. Engagement is what drives the algorithms.
How to Attract the Right Type of Social Followers
Launching a social media campaign takes a lot of time and effort. Here are some tips to help you focus on the right elements.
Invest the Time to Identify the Right Audience
You should always focus on identifying the right audience and being as granular as possible. To do this, you need a strategy. Strategy helps you understand your purpose on social media and the reason that someone will follow you. Some businesses even create a potential customer profiles in order to get the best results. These profiles are called Personas.
Focus on Engagement
The best way to boost engagement is to create quality content and deliver it to the audience it’s intended for. If you’re having difficulties with engagement, you should really review your content. You may want to bring in marketing expertise to help create the right content that generates engagement.
Avoid Buying Traffic at All Costs
Buying traffic is unsustainable and it can create the wrong impression with your real audience. Not to mention the fact that all of the analytic data you collect will be meaningless! Large numbers are just vanity metrics. They make you feel good, but there’s nothing there except ego. If you need a large number of 50+ men from Bangladesh, then crack on buying followers.
Work With Us
Social media platforms provide a unique opportunity to interact with your audience. That said, you need to take your time and focus on the right elements instead of chasing a large number of followers. If you need help building a successful social campaign, get in touch with us and our team will be happy to help.
