While many people claim that they don’t care about how many followers that they have, you can’t deny they’re certainly helpful if you’re a small business! Small businesses need to build an audience on social media to be able to compete in a digital economy.

This is also the case when it comes to any small business, as social media is the key to spread the word about your business and develop a relationship with your followers. In the long run, a solid social media game helps gain more customers, thereby generating more sales and making more money in the long run. However, for a small business that may be getting off the ground. It may be difficult to know just how to get more social media followers to help get the ball rolling.

Here are five useful ways to help get more social media followers for your small business.

Be Active

First and foremost, no matter which platforms you choose to use, always be active with your social media accounts. This means that rather than just posting simple links, you should also take the time to share posts, comment on the posts of others, and create original content related to your business. Not only do you want to not come across as a bot or spam account, you have to prove that you are worth following. It would be hard to build an audience on social media if it’s not an account worth following! Consider taking the time to add a comment about why you’re choosing to share it, tagging the user who originally posted it, and responding to comments left on it.

…But Don’t Overdo It

While this may be one of the most obvious tips, you don’t want to post so often that you start to annoy the people following you. Maintaining a regular presence for your small business on social media is extremely important in order to gain more followers, but posting 3 or 5 times a day may be a bit too much for everyday goings-on. Daily posts can be a better balance, but make sure you’re posting several times a week no matter what! You have to experiment with what your audience reacts well to and the sweet spot of audience engagement. If you stop posting and are no longer engaging with people altogether, you may be forgotten online.

Get Smart With Hashtags

Whenever possible, take advantage of using hashtags. Prior to using them in any of your posts, take the time to conduct a general search. After all, you wouldn’t want to end up using one that would cause your small business to be associated with something that you would only end up regretting later on down the road. Also check what hashtags your competitors are using for inspiration!

Email Subscriptions and Upcoming Events

If your small business is one that regularly sends an email newsletter to customers, take the time to include links to your social media accounts. Additionally, be sure to include a blurb that encourages your customers to follow your business on those specific platforms so that they will be able to remain even more up-to-date on information regarding the business, such as upcoming sales.

Follow Influencers in Your Field

Take the time to follow other influencers who are in the same field as your small business and share the content that they post. By doing this, you will be increasing the chances that these same influencers will end up following you back and not only sharing your content, but also encouraging their followers to follow you as well. Consider reaching out for real-life collaborations as well (and documenting the on social, of course!).

Thank you for visiting Eye See You Now’s blog, an Austin SEO company. If you need help getting your business viewed online, contact us for a free consultation for your website, social media, and online advertising needs.