To get, get, get more social media followers, you first must give, Give, GIVE. It’s not that many consumers are looking for what they can get for free. What matters more is that your business provides meaningful information and incentives to the people you serve.
In any respect, a business will be more prosperous when it shifts its focus from taking and receiving to giving good information, providing stellar customer service and offering sweet incentives. Implement these 3Gs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and wherever else you interact with your prospective clients. These are surefire ways to increase your social media followers.
1. Give good information
Post things on social media that users would find practical. Give them advice they can implement in their everyday lives. For example, if you represent a credit card company, give your followers tips on how to keep their credit scores strong, where they can get free credit reports, or what steps they should take after paying a bill late. Make sure to include contact information, hours and a link to your website in the About feature on Facebook, for example. Wherever they run into your brand, consumers need to know you’ve got their backs and that you will be there for them when they need you.
2. Give good customer service
It can be challenging to get in the habit of answering people’s inquiries via social media. But it is a habit worth picking up. It is easy for your followers to send you Facebook messages and write on your wall. Did someone just mention you on Twitter? Designate someone to respond to all of these messages. When a follower has a question, compliment or complaint, respond quickly and tactfully. Social media is always on, and others are always watching how you resolve or don’t resolve customers’ issues. Remember, social media gives people the power to share their opinion about you, for better or for worse.
3. Give good incentives for “liking” and following you
The use of promotions and contests can work extremely well when you are looking to, say, garner more “likes” on Facebook. Recently Facebook has made it even easier for businesses to do contests, as winners can now be chosen directly from your business’ Facebook page.
You should implement a Facebook contest only with advance planning. First decide what your followers would want to win. For example, in light of the upcoming holiday season, you could plan a contest around Black Friday and give away a popular item hitting stores that weekend. Finding a way to tie the prize back to your business is always a plus. Then make sure to promote the giveaway far enough in advance via every channel open to you. Post notices on your website and in printed materials and advertisements. Send emails and schedule multiple posts using all of your social media channels. Facebook also offers paid promotion tools that will guarantee your posts reach a targeted set of consumers. Next, how will you pick the winners? Via page likes, comments or shares? One online tool, Woobox.com, will do the work for you by picking winners from your page’s Facebook “likes,” comments, posts, etc.
A few housekeeping items: you must draft clear contest rules and post them somewhere visible. And make sure you track your followers before, during and after the contest or promotion to see what posts were popular, from where your new followers came, and how many followers you gained during the promotion period.
The moral here? Life is about cycles. When you give socially, you’ll receive more social media followers.
INSPIRATION CORNER: Want more proof that businesses fare better when they give more? Check out the Wall Street Journal bestseller “Give and Take” by Adam Grant.
If you enjoyed this post, you may also want to check out these others:
Greeting Cards: Are They a Thing of The Past?
4 Ways To Grow Your Business Using LinkedIn
How To Amp Up Your Visibility With Facebook
Everything You Need to Know About Mobile Advertising
10 Surprising Social Media Statistics [Infographic]
15 Statistics That Prove You Need Mobile Email Optimization
This article is published by Will Sherwood | The Sherwood Group |Website Design | Graphic Design | Marketing Communications: The Sherwood Group has over 30 years of experience working with all sorts of companies, small and large. Our clients range from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 firms, in nearly every business sector, from across the street to around the world (and yes, even Europe, China, and South America). Our goal is to create advertising, graphic design, website design, and marketing communication that still looks fresh and relevant 10-15 years later. Our mission is to stir your imagination and leave your competition shaken and wondering, Now what do we do?” We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
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14 Comments:
By Mark Farley 11 Sep 2014
I agree with this 1,000%! When I had my tour company, I posted dozens of incredible photos (from the tours) every single day. The results were amazing. It was work but well worth it. The exposure was so successful, we started getting travelers from places like Columbia and Malta. (They wanted to see the San Andreas Fault up close.) You never know where your reach will take you. Thanks for posting this IMPORTANT information Will!
By Keziah Appiah 12 Sep 2014
This is truth of life. In order to receive, you definitely have to give. Its unfortunate how everybody concentrates on the receiving and not the giving.
By Doug DeSloover 12 Sep 2014
Awesome! We need everyone, especially in sales, to GIVE<GIVE<GIVE, Then see the results.
By Neeraj 13 Sep 2014
Great post Will. I really liked the part about rewarding the people who like and follow your page.
By Jorge Franco 14 Sep 2014
If you decide to have a presence on Social Media… you must be social. And, what’s that? Being social is about sharing, truthfully. To achieve this, you must be sure what’s really important (relevant, we say?) for those you are aiming to get, to share with, to provide (information). Then, they will follow you. Because you care.
By Alex Salvador 14 Sep 2014
I think so few give because it takes a lot of time and effort to do it well. Also, if giving isn’t a company practice and scheduled, it won’t get done on a regular basis.
By Mary Whitaker 15 Sep 2014
Excellent pointers that follow common sense of customer service. Thanks for sharing.
By Jennifer Greene 15 Sep 2014
Funny that as much as people recommend the “give to receive” tactic (which really does work wonders!), so few people implement it well. Good article, thanks for sharing!
http://www.tyrannosaurusmarketing.com
By Steve Nichols 17 Sep 2014
I agree completely, Will. The key to any effective marketing campaign really is adding value at every point in which your customers interact with your brand.
By Andrew Murphy 18 Sep 2014
Sharing valuable, useful information is key as long as you’re hitting your target market and not marketing to the masses. Great article.
By lydie 19 Sep 2014
Thanks for sharing this post was vert helpful to me.
By marine 25 Sep 2014
When you give you receive, so simple 😉
By Mohamed Zakariah Mustapha 20 Oct 2014
Good points highlighted in this article.
By Christopher Awuku 24 Oct 2014
Hello,
Mr. Will Sherwood asked me to post the piece below on this blog, as I had posted in on the Digital Marketing Linkedin group:
Continuously find out what they want, how they want, and think of things that enable them to get what they want. If this is, say, a beer company, give them promotional material, brewery tour information, product/company history, receive and respond to complaints, suggestions, etc.
I’m a newbie digital marketer, however I’m gratified Mr. Sherwood likes this, as it simply makes sense to me based on what marketing is all about. I hope it can help all of you in your endeavours. 🙂 And you’re welcome to contact me on Linkedin if you’d like. 🙂
Take care