Consistently increasing your social media following is important for a few reasons: More followers means more potential leads and sales, plus brand recognition and awareness increases, and the more engaged followers you have the more likely your page is to show up on people’s news feeds.

There are two types of followers: organic and paid. Each have pros and cons, and growing your following organically can be more difficult, it can also benefit you more in the long run.

Here, I’ll share with you a few tips for growing your social media following organically. Not only will it save you money, it will help your page and your business more over time.

organic vs. paid followers

Organic followers are those that like, follow or engage with your page naturally. They may have found you by searching for your company, product or service. Or, they may have been referred by a friend or family member. Perhaps they are existing customers, or your friends, family or employees.

organic followers pros and cons

• Pros:
  • Organic followers are much more likely to engage with your posts and page (like, share, comment on, direct message), which in turn means the social algorithms will show your posts more often to your followers.
  • Real interaction between followers and customers can help influence potential clients and lead to increased leads and sales.
  • You gain credibility to existing followers and potential followers.
  • Engagement rate gives real insight into how well you’re connecting with your target audience.
  • In most cases, it’s free.
• Cons
  • It can be challenging to grow your organic following, and even more challenging to get them to regularly engage with your content.

paid followers pros and cons

• Pros:
  • You’re guaranteed to gain followers and page likes.
  • A high follower count could increase your organic following as well. If consumers see you have a higher follower count than a competitor, they may follow you instead.
  • It requires less effort than growing organically.
• Cons
  • It costs money.
  • Your followers may not be your target audience, so you’ve wasted budget on getting them to follow your page.
  • Typically, paid followers are much less engaged with your content, which means the algorithms will show your posts less.
  • Some followers you get through paid initiatives are bots or fake, and your existing followers and prospective customers will notice. This can lead to a loss in trust and credibility.
  • Buying followers violates some social platforms’ community guidelines, and if the followers are fake, your account could be shut down and banned.

ways to increase your organic social following

In many cases, paying for followers or page likes may not be worth the risk. You show lower engagement rates, you’ll have lower post reach, and you can lose credibility with existing and potential customers. Your account may even be shut down. Plus, it costs money, which many small businesses need to put toward other marketing and advertising tactics.

Growing your social presence organically is a great way to ensure brand trust and credibility, increase engagement rate, and even increase leads and sales. However, it can be tricky, and take time and effort to do so.

Here are a few tips for increasing your social media following organically.

optimize your profile.

Believe it or not, it’s not only up to your followers to help increase your following further. There are a few things you can do to better your profile’s visibility and optimization, which can help algorithms show it more often in newsfeeds.

First, make sure your username is easy to remember, short and sweet, and highlights something related to your brand. Next, your profile picture should be a recognizable photo/brand logo that represents your business. Third, when you write your page’s description, use important keywords (like writing an article for SEO) that will help followers find you when they search. Also include a link back to your website.

Each time you post, be sure to include images, keywords, and calls to action that are also searchable and relevant to your brand or industry.

be engaging.

Social media platforms only want to show users content that is most engaging, and “hide” everything else. When you post, it gets put into a tiny “pool” of followers. If those followers engage with the post by liking, commenting on or sharing, your post will be shown to a larger “pool.” Slowly, more and more people see it, and more people can engage.

However, if your post doesn’t get the likes or comments, the algorithm will hide the post and it won’t be shown to more followers. That’s why it’s so important to post content that is educational, informative, entertaining, relevant, and creative for your audiences.

Play with a variety of content, like copy, links, video, images, gifs, infographics, etc. Test what works with your followers and what doesn’t. Post content that is evergreen, meaning it has a long lifespan and can be relevant in the future.

Additionally, be sure to find the right balance between promotional content and other content. While social channels are definitely a great way to organically engage with customers and prospects and sell your products/services, selling all of the time will turn customers off, decreasing engagement and reach.

Share valuable content, such as how-to guides, articles, behind the scenes, etc. to help grow trust and credibility. Position yourself as authority in the industry. Experts recommend 80% of your content should be useful, helpful or entertaining, and 20% can be promotions.

quality, not quantity.

You don’t have to post three times per day to increase your reach or post engagement. In fact, that might hurt you more than help you. Facebook reported that the average user is subjected to more than 1,500 stories per day, but algorithms only display about 300 of those that are most relevant to the user.

By posting less, with higher quality content, you’re more likely to be seen in feeds. Spamming your page will in turn spam your followers, and social platforms won’t let that happen.

Experiment with different frequencies. Try posting a few times per week, once per day, or twice per day (depending on the platform). Play to the platform: Facebook recommends no more than once a day, while you may try five times per day with Twitter. When you start seeing a decrease in reach and engagement, adjust your frequency.

try targeting.

Even when you post organically, you can target your posts to specific audiences. This can help boost your organic reach and engagement.

For example, on Facebook and LinkedIn you can target your post based on location, relationship status, age range, education level, language, gender, and interests. On Twitter and Instagram, you can categorize your posts with hashtags.

By better targeting your audiences, you can help ensure the right people see your posts. By hitting the right people, your content is more likely to be engaging and relevant to them, and they are more likely to follow your page.

promote your page.

One of the best ways to improve your following is to promote your profile everywhere you can. This includes on your website, business cards and other marketing collateral, business cards, emails and email signatures, etc. No matter how a customer or prospect interacts with you, they should be able to easily find your social profiles to follow.

You may even try putting follow buttons on your website or blog, making it even easier for users to like or follow your page.

Additionally, try cross-promoting on other platforms. Encourage your Facebook followers to also follow you on Twitter, and vice versa. Ask your Instagram followers to check out your other channels.

Ideally, try offering exclusive content on each platform (not the same content on all platforms) so users have a reason to follow you everywhere. If you post the same content on each channel, users are less likely to engage and follow you on other platforms.

two-way communication.

One of the great benefits of interacting with brands on social media is the interaction can be a two-way street. When followers or consumers engage with you, engage back. Like their comments, comment back, answer questions – this helps build a solid brand reputation that people will trust and come back for.

Additionally, when prospects see that you regularly engage with current followers, they will be more encouraged to follow you and be interested in what you’re doing and have to say. This helps boost your word-of-mouth marketing and organic reach with your posts.

bottom line

Organic reach has dropped to 1% or less on most social channels. It’s getting harder and harder to show your content to followers, improve engagement, and grow your followers organically.

However, there are a number of things you can do to help improve your reach and engagement; therefore, growing your followers.

When posting and optimizing your page, the key is to keep the consumer in mind. Focus on the user experience, and posting high-quality, engaging and informative content. This will keep users coming back for more, boost your engagement rates, increase reach, and encourage organic following.