Sometimes in the world of social media, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that a greater following equals greater success for your business. So many people focus on “getting the numbers up” – increasing Twitter follower numbers, Facebook fans, YouTube channel subscribers, and so forth. However, there may be a sobering wake-up call if you manage to get your following to snowball somewhat, but aren’t managing to convert those followers into customers. As so many social media marketers can tell you, just getting the following isn’t enough – those numbers don’t mean anything unless you can also engage with your audience in an effective way.
If you have reached this realization after having already built up your follower numbers, there may be some backtracking involved if your method of growing a following has been somewhat indiscriminate. These days, getting people to become fans on Facebook or Twitter isn’t that hard, if the numbers are all you’re concerned about. But will those people necessarily be interested in what you have to offer? Will they tell their friends, or more importantly, their own social media followers?
When you seek people out on social networks, put some effort into ascertaining whether you are looking in the right places. Not all followers are equal – it’s better to have ten followers who really get your message and want to share it and engage with you, than a thousand followers who couldn’t care less about your company or what you have to say. There is a common misconception that having a high follower or fan count on a social network will in itself drive more business to you, because people will see the fan count and be impressed by it. But these days, so many people have a high fan count, it’s impossible to judge quality on that criterion alone, and your potential customers are smart enough to realize that.
Also, even if you were able to impress anyone simply by having a high follower count, getting them to come see your social networking profiles in the first place requires a driving force. This is where that follower count comes in handy, if you’ve played your cards right. A small army of people who believe in you and are willing to speak and retweet on your behalf is worth so much more than a large army of people who don’t even notice you’re there. Engage with your following, no matter how large or small. Otherwise, there’s no real point in having them.
