I had came across this article on sprout social about best practices on social media this morning and it made me think of the question in a different light. Often times when people think of growing their social media they think of 100k or more followers. In some cases that might be the best for the business but other times it can end up hurting them instead. Let me explain.

Having a goal

Suppose I plant a tree in my garden. I would like it to grow into a big tree give me apples and much needed shade. Years go by and the first year comes its a small tree bearing oranges. However, I wanted apples. What did I do wrong? Well first I expect the wrong thing from the wrong tree. I planted seeds from an orange tree expecting it to be an apple. That’s often times what happens with brands on social media. They plant this idea that look at all these businesses going viral and they must be getting so much business. So they automatically think now I have to go viral when in reality that’s often not the case.

Often times they miss the point of social media. What does that mean? Would you rather have 1,000,000 people who follow you and 10 pay you, or 500 followers and 400 of them are paying customers. I certainly prefer the 400 paying customers. This is why having a goal of attracting the people you think that will become clients of your brand is important.

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Make Genuine & Authentic Connections

There’s a phenomenon where people are having social media fatigue. It’s a very interesting study you can check it out at the national institutes of health medical library. The article is called “Why Are You Running Away From Social Media” Even though the article is based on Chinese Youths it really applies to the US as a whole as well. Hear me out, a lot of the influence that major celebrities had has been dwindling over the past few year. More and More people are following less people on social media. And out of everything else people are more likely to listen to a friend or someone they view as a friend than someone who is placed on a pedestal far away from them. So if you want to grow in 2023 you got to make those connections and make your prospective clients feel like they are part of the brand and they can identify with it. Which leads us to the next point.

Create Content For Your Audience & Not For You

I think this honestly speaks for itself. A lot of times people think about what they like and neglect what their audience cares about. Stop thinking about what you want to show them and start thinking about what they want to see! Honestly, sometimes your brand might be a lot more marketable offline using traditional marketing rather than social media.

Be Patient With Yourself & Your Brand

This is a hard one for all of us. Me included! I’m writing this article to you guys as I’m building a brand so I totally understand. However, as someone who has worked with other people to establish their brands and know that some it took months some it takes years. Often times, it’s because you are figuring out your brands voice as you go. Believe me I get it we want to have it now. But if you don’t remember anything else from this article remember this! What you gain overnight can be lost overnight as well. Think about how many people who got their 15 minutes of fame. If that’s what you want then fine but if you want to be establish and gain regular revenue from your social media then BE PAITENT! 🙂

You’ve probably seen this type of graph before.

It’s called a growth curve. Why because generally speaking most business, entrepreneurs, ventures, etc. start out! They start out with slow and sometimes near stagnant growth. Then it may go up little by little. and something happens and they experience huge growth. So don’t be discourage it takes time!

All-in-all, social media is constantly changing and being changed. Though there is no clear and cut path to growing it can still be done. You need to look at it as opportunity not comfortability! Be ready to try new things but also make your audience feel like they are apart or can relate to your brand. Then you too can grow your social media in 2023!