Are you spending a portion of your week creating content to post on social media like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Instagram, blogs etc.? 

Do you get discouraged when very few people see or comment on your posts?

Have you struggled with growing your social media followers?

You’re not alone.  Even the writers at SEO Ann Arbor have struggled with this.  It’s truly one of the biggest challenge in terms of internet marketing and SEO for most, if not all our clients.  We research, test, and adapt our strategy continuously, continually, and thoroughly. 

We can’t guarantee that this is the last word on how to grow your followers, however, we recommend you try at least a few and report back how well they worked…or if the techniques we list below crash and burn for you. 

1.  Photographs

We’re talking about photos of real people and places, not stock photos of perfect, smiling models having the time of their lives!  One of our clients, Strategic Practice Solutions, a dental consulting and training firm, held a CPR training session for a handful of SEO Ann Arbor staff, their friends, and other business owners.  Photos of the training session were posted on each businesses’ Facebook page.  By that afternoon, SPS’s Facebook Likes increased by eight.  Now that may seem like a small number, but over time, this kind of activity can really add up!  

Our friends at HubSpot recommend adding an image to every 3 to 4 tweets to increase click-throughs and retweets. 

2.  Icons

Get your social media icons out there.  You won’t get fans if they don’t know your accounts exist!  The icons should be on your website, email signature line, business cards, shopping bags, flyers, mail labels, signs in your store, and anywhere you advertise. 

3.  Do Unto Others

Everyone enjoys being followed and “Liked.”  Make sure you follow your customers, especially if you do B2B marketing.  Try to build in at least fifteen minutes per day to look at social media to comment, “Like”, re-Tweet, etc. for other businesses and your followers.  Chances are, if you take the time to “Like” or comment on their post, they’ll reciprocate more often.  Use hashtags # or list someone @ so they’ll know you’ve mentioned their name or business. 

4.  Strong Arm Your Staff

You can’t necessarily force your staff to follow your business on Facebook or Twitter.  After all, many people like to keep their Facebook and other social media accounts separate from work. Convincing your staff to follow and share your business social media accounts can be extremely helpful, however! 

5.  Images

O.K. if you don’t have “real” photographs handy [See # 1,] try to post interesting images or videos to grab attention.  Images capture attention, but quality written content hooks your visitors. 

6.  Ask compelling questions or post polls.

We live in a world where everyone enjoys sharing their thoughts and their stories.  Even asking a simple question like “What are your plans for this weekend?” can make people want to respond.  Questions or polls that revolve around a current event or a hot button topic can also increase reader engagement. Everyone loves controversy and drama! You’ll score extra points if you respond back to your reader’s comments on posts. 

7.  Be a Tease!

If your post is meant to direct them to your website, blog or another location, just share a small portion that piques the reader’s interest.  For example, you might say, “You won’t believe what happened next!”

8.  Contests

You could post a trivia question and whoever responds first with the correct answer would win a gift certificate or a percentage off your service.  Of course, then you’ll need to send out another post congratulating the winner and letting everyone know to keep an eye out for more contests. 

9.  Make it Personal!

Sue B. Zimmerman, also known as “Instagram Gal” does an excellent job making it personal.  Sue often posts Instagram selfies with her happy customers.  You also want to keep in mind that you’re writing your message to one person, i.e., your reader.  So instead of posting “Have any of you heard about this?”  Instead, “Have you heard about this?” 

10.  K.I.S.S. Creatively

Remember the K.I.S.S. rules?  Keep it simple sweetie!  No one wants to read too lengthy a post. 

11.  Call to Action

Add a call to action to your website and share posts that encourage readers to Like, Re-Tweet, Share, etc.  The easier you make it, the more prone people will be to act

For example, try the phrase “If you enjoyed reading this article consider SHARING it with your friends.”  Or “Like this topic?  Share this post with your friends to show your support.”   Make sure you have links or the icons available and linked to Facebook, Twitter, Google +, your blog etc. 

12.  Repeat

Make note of posts that are your most successful.  Try to determine if it was the style of post, i.e. an image, poll, or question, or if it was the topic or even the day and time of the post.  Once you identify which posts increase engagement, you’ll want to re-create them. 

We hope you’ll put at least one of our tips into your social media routine.  We’d love to hear your feedback or any success stories that you’d like to share.  Always remember that it’s not enough to merely have a website, it’s about having a healthy on-line presence.  Though very little of this is rocket science, it does take time and some hard work!

Please feel free to contact us if you have further questions or would like help with your SEO plan.