So at this point in this article we have learned an awful lot. You now know how to write great content, how to keep people coming back to your site and how to engage your audience so that they feel like part of an exciting VIP community. This is all going to put you on track to a fantastic and highly successful social media account that is only likely to grow with time!
But that is the operative word here: time.
In order for your account to be successful, you need to keep doing the right thing over and over again. What’s more, is that once you’ve established a pattern, you need to stick with it. For starters, posting regularly and engaging regularly etc. is the only way to slowly grow your followers. This can be tiring and disheartening at first as it will always start with a very slow trickle of new fans.
Over time though, you will find you’re able to build momentum and eventually it will start to see exponential growth.
The key is to stick with it until then, and while you do, to make sure that you’re following the same blueprint. One important reason for this is that any big pause in content, or any sudden change in what you post, can very quickly lead to a loss of fans.
This is a danger when it comes to creating a personal brand. If you build yourself a personal brand that is tied to your business, then it can end up creating a scenario where half of your posts are about your business or your chosen niche and half of them are about your cereal, or getting stuck in traffic.
Maybe something you’re enjoying on TV. And if someone followed you because they wanted to learn more about their favorite subject and they keep getting updated with inane posts about your day, then eventually they might end up becoming bored with your random content and thus stop following you.
This is of course the situation you want to avoid, which is why it’s so important that you set a very clear tone and subject matter for your content before you begin. If you’re going to be posting on your lifestyle and tying that to your niche, then keep it loosely related to selling the dream and make sure that your audience knows what to expect. That way, they will get what they came for and that will ensure that they feel as though they’re getting the value they were promised!
For More Difficult Niches
We’ve talked a lot about how to create value and offer something useful when you are selling a fitness program or make money online program. But in reality, this is a relatively easy ‘sell’ compared to many of the other things you can find yourself doing as a digital marketer or a business trying to use social media.
Because if you run a business that’s about car breakdowns, about accounting, or about life insurance… then how can you create a consistent topic that people would actually want to subscribe to? This is the difference between a product that people want versus one that people need. How can you ‘sell the dream’ of life insurance or PPI?
The answer is to go a little off topic. Remember what we said earlier about your social media really being a standalone product or service in its own right? Remember that we mentioned you needed to make something that people would be sad to see gone?
You simply have to take this idea one step further when you’re selling a product that people will struggle to get excited about. Find a topic or a service that is tangential but indirectly relevant to what you’re selling and then find a way to make that desirable and interesting.
So for example, if you are selling life insurance, then you might create a social media channel that promotes family life. This is directly on the subject of life insurance but now it’s something that someone might actually watch. It’s something that provides value, inspiration and entertainment. And it has the same ‘Why’.
See how it all ties together? You see why you need to think about your brand before you head out with your campaign? Life Insurance is all about protecting your family and keeping them happy when you’re gone. A channel about fun things to do with your family is likewise going to be all about making the most of time with your family and keeping them happy.
Furthermore, a social media account that promotes family life will appeal to the exact same demographic. People looking for family activities are the same people who need life insurance so that their family members will be protected when they’re gone.This is the perfect opportunity to create something on Pinterest for example, or on Instagram. Or you could create a Facebook page and post ideas and tips from around the web.
If your business is in auto insurance, then you could post photos of nice looking cars. If your business is in suits, then you could create a channel all about looking professional and progressing at work. I can’t run through every example here but hopefully you have the gist. Get creative, think outside the box and see what you can come up with!
