The term ‘audience’ is very broad. There are two types. A real or online audience. Blog posts not hitting enough numbers? Complaining about the terrible new Instagram algorithm? In some instances, it is important to network in person, in other cases social media is a godsend which is why we have put together four ways you can accomplish a strong, loyal audience online.
Games
One of the most important tactics few know about is the importance of games for social media growth. You need to engage your audience in order to expand it. One of the best ways to do so is to get them to participate. When I say games, I am referring to something as simple as creating polls or playful quizzes. If you have access to more advanced ways of creating games, it can be pivotal to intergrade this into your social digital strategy. The more you can get your followers to engage with you, the more you will get them to return to your page. If you do not release results of a poll right away, it can influence people to come back and see the results. An audience that returns to your page is a lot more powerful than an audience which only visits your content once.
Pick and choose
You need to know your audience or the one you are hoping to target. To grow you need to figure out what social platform they are using. Not all content is perfect for every type of social media. For example, if you are a video creator, you may focus on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram over other platforms. You would want to use YouTube because it is an outlet that specifically caters to videography. An audience going to YouTube expects video content. If your content is art focused you may want to post to social media platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr where you can post pictures of your art. Learn about these social media platforms, the ins and outs, their audiences and how the platforms themselves work. Every platform has a different social media algorithm, so it is crucial you learn to utilise each social media platform accordingly.
Keep up with the schedule
The most successful on social media are the people who engage their audience constantly. The more you post, the more chances you have to connect with different people. It is very important to have a schedule for your content posting. If you can post everyday that is great, but sometimes that can be unrealistic. Do not be hard on yourself if you cannot post every day. Instead, try to pick a day or a few days of a week that you will consistently always post on. If you can narrow down a specific time to post, that can even improve your audience reach. Your audience will know the times and days to expect content from you. You can use apps such as Hootsuite and the Facebook Page tool to schedule social media posts too. It is more important to have an audience member that continuously re-engages with you and your content than an audience member that sees your post one time.
Sweepstakes, Giveaways, and Contests
When people want to engage new followers and different audiences, a good step is to create a giveaway. It is very important that you create rules for your giveaway though. Share the post, use a specific hashtag, tag friends in comments etc. Giveaways are also great because it gives you an ability to share your personal creations or work, for example if you are an artist you can host a giveaway for a commission. To get your audience to engage more with you, you can also put up a prize for a contest. Many makeup artists will create contests with the prize being their favourite products. Often, they will ask their audience to create their own makeup looks or recreate looks the makeup artist has posted.
Let me know in the comments if you found these non-cliché tips helpful for growing your audience.
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