When it comes to your social media followers: does quality or quantity matter more?

Let’s clear this up right away: your social media followers are so much more than just numbers.  As a savvy business owner, you know the value of optimizing your business online with strategically managed social accounts; however, it’s easy to get distracted by vanity metrics that only tell part of the story.

So before you think about buying follows or doing some other shady shenanigans, remember this: the quality of your social media followers matters much more than the overall quantity!

When we have followers who aren’t loving and regularly engaging with our content, it leads to lower reach and less favoritism in terms of the algorithm.  It’s so much better to have a smaller quality following than a bunch of spammy accounts inflating our numbers.

Social media optimization is a marathon, not a sprint.

When we start our business, we reach out to our initial warm-ish audience {friends, family, acquaintances} and request followers. We all do this, and it’s okay {in the beginning}, but I want you to remember something… Social media is a marathon, not a sprint. Your goal today and every day is to get in front of new people and obtain a quality reach.

“The goal is to get in front of as many new people as possible.
Your reach and engagement ratio is the most important thing.”

PRO TIP: Social media is constantly evolving and changing… so your online marketing strategy must do the same.  We’re seeing new features, algorithm tweaks, and changes all the time.  If your follower count has flatlined, it’s important to stay on top of the trends and learn what’s working now.  Long gone are the days when you could make a post and wait for your fans to find you.  Oh no, babe.  You’ve now got to be intentional about reaching out and connecting with them.

Your social media followers directly impact how many new people see your content!

In the simplest of terms: what your current followers do {or don’t do} with your posts determines how well you perform within the algorithm. Each algorithm is a series of “if-then” actions that make up your social media success {or demise}. Learn more about managing the algorithm, here.

What the algorithm loves:

• • Engagement that happens within minutes of your post going live
  • Followers tagging themselves in your pics {grab my exact script & teach them to tag themselves}
  • Comments, likes, shares, clicks, screenshots, and other engagement
  • Followers who are “assets” to the online ecosystem {posting regularly, engaged friends, sharing content within the platform, etc}

What the algorithm hates:

• • Little to no engagement on your posts
  • Promotions and spammy words {buy now, click here, share this, sign-up, etc.}
  • Sharing links that take people off-platform
  • Activity from known spam accounts

So while it may feel harsh, cutting out the not-your-dream-client-will-never-hire-you followers {even if that means you have a smaller following} is totally okay!

Is buying followers okay?  Won’t it help?!

Oh, heck no!!!  Buying followers or engagement is NEVER a good idea.  Not only is it against Facebook and Instagram’s terms of use – but it’s an unwise business practice.  Let me explain…

When it comes to the algorithm, you want to develop a digital relationship {we’re going to call it an affinity} with your dream clients.  Your goal is to speak to their hearts and create content that they love!

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You want to teach the computers that “this type of person LOVES my posts – so you should show it to more people like them!”  Over time, you’ll train the algorithm.  And, in doing so, your posts will be shown to more and more of your dream client; attracting those who are most likely to work with you!

On the flip side?  If you have spammy clicks and followers, Facebook and Instagram are going to assume “oh, only people with spammy and promotional accounts like this page.  So we’re only going to show it to those people.”  Then, guess what?  Over time, Facebook and Instagram start to slash your reach because they do NOT want that type of activity happening on their platforms!

If you have a bunch of followers, but they never engage with your page, Facebook assumes that you’re not posting valuable content and shows your posts to fewer and fewer people.  Again, one of the million reasons you should NEVER buy followers!  If your loving granny who lives 500 miles away clicks, comments, and shares every breath you take online that may seem like a good thing, right? Sorry, Charlie. Your content will begin to be shown more often than not, to granny and her friends. While this is all well and good for your self-esteem, it doesn’t do much for your revenue because the clients you want to be working with aren’t going to see your content.

Sooo… your page is struggling a bit?  Here’s how to fix it!

Here’s how to fix the glitch and get what you want out of your social media followers:

• Block the “click farms” by banning certain countries {I’m not going to tell you which ones, do your homework} from your page.  Unless they are your ideal client or are interested in your business, there’s no reason for them to be “following” your page.  People in these fraudulent operations are usually very poorly paid {if at all} and often work in horrible conditions… and you probably don’t want to support that kind of business anyways.
• Don’t market to everyone – market directly to someone. You know who your target audience is – seek them out, love them hard, and engage with them online!
• Study your audience – what kind of person normally buys from your business?  What kind of person is your dream client?

I don’t necessarily suggest spending time “cleaning out” your followers unless you can quickly and easily do it in less than an hour.  Instead, I’d much rather you focus on attracting high-quality social media followers in the future!

If your goal is to find more followers, generate leads, and make sales – I can help you!