How to Pump Up Your Social Media Presence

Everyone and their mother is using some form of social media in this day and age. Social media used to be reserved to younger folk, the “thing” that young people are up to. But as these younger people get older, so does the reach of social media. From a teen pastime, it has now grown to include parents, grandparents, brands, and even corporations. Enterprising people looking to build their audience have turned to social media to get the exposure they want and need. If you’re one of those people who have been using social media to build an audience and increase brand visibility (be it for your work, your art, or your company), but haven’t been getting the leverage you want, what can you do to pump up your social media presence? Here are several things you can do to attract that audience:

1. Show up everyday (or at least on schedule).

People dig consistency, and people sure followed you for a reason. And people like it if they see something from you, so make it a point to post something at a consistent schedule. Ideally, you should post something daily, but it’s just not realistic for some. Just make sure that you follow a schedule and you really do post something at that specific time each time. For example, you publish a blog post every Friday. Pretty soon, people will know that on Fridays your blog has something new to offer, so they subconsciously head to your blog to see what’s new. Miss this schedule a few times and people will feel that you just don’t care anymore.

2. Be human.

Sometimes people make the mistake of writing too formally, or being too strict with how they conduct themselves online, especially if they are in change of brands or stores. While keeping posts to a certain theme works in the name of consistency, sometimes they tend to start sounding robotic or automated, instead of reflecting the thoughts and words of a flesh-and-blood human who’s actually doing the writing and posting. While it’s great to be a stickler for detail and aiming for perfection, but never forget that your audience is composed of people who probably got attracted to your brand because they saw a bit of themselves in you. They related to it. Try not to lose that softness when writing your post or answering to queries. Make sure your caption and blog posts have that warm, friendly tone. Social media is meant to be social, friendly. Otherwise, it’s just technical writing.

3. Stick to a theme.

By this, we mean make sure the content you post is consistent to your brand’s ideals. Some people make the mistake of posting personal photos on pages meant to be for their blog or art, or have too many things going on in their social media. It’s best to stick to a theme. If you’re writing about your family life, always make sure to relate that in your posts even if you’re, say, posting about the newest laptop on the market. Don’t clutter your page with randomness. Again, remember that people followed you for a reason.

4. Provide value.

What could people get from your posts? Why should they read something you wrote? Why should they keep visiting your blog? It may not always be monetary value, but if you intend on attracting and building an audience big enough that you become an actual presence in social media, you need to be more conscientious and conscious about the things you post about. When people read a post of yours, they are giving you your time. This time is very valuable; it is time out of their day that could have been spent doing something else, yet they chose to look into what you can provide them. Make sure people get something out of it each and every time – whether it be inspiration, business tips, or perhaps just comfort. Aim to provide something valuable. Value is also what makes people share a post to their friends, therefore increasing your presence online.

5. Engage your audience.

Most newbie social media people find that commenters are few and far between. Truth is, a lot of commenters are shy to comment on being the first to comment on something, particularly if the comment section has zero to few comments, and most especially if they only see one comment there without as much as a “Thanks.” If somebody comments on your post, talk to them, engage them, encourage discussion. It will make would-be commenters comfortable enough to actually post their comments on your page.

These things are simple enough to do, but are definitely things that people seem to forget about when dealing with people on social media. However, with a bit of diligence in making sure these things are done, you can start seeing your social media presence grow in no time.