Fostering Community With Your Personal Followers on Social Media

As a millennial, I’m on social media more often than I’d like to admit. While social media has its problems, it is also a great resource for building and fostering connections—especially brands. After all, it’s called social media for a reason. Whether you’re on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, these three helpful tips will help you keep your social channels social, and foster a sense of community with your followers.

Know your audience.

You can’t foster a community if you don’t even know who your community is. In every situation where you are putting yourself out there, it’s crucial to know your audience so you know which side of yourself to represent. Are you posting to a professional audience? Or are you posting to mostly friends and family? If you’re posting to the former, it may not be appropriate to post a funny meme - or maybe it is, depending on who your professional audience is. Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be yourself on social media, but it is important to keep your followers in mind so that you aren’t showing a bad side of yourself. 

It’s also important to know the demographics of your audience so you know what’s most relevant and engaging to them. For example, my Instagram audience is mostly around my age, while my Facebook audience includes an older group of parents and even grandparents. Because of this audience difference, I have to adjust what I post to each site. My rule of thumb is to leave the selfies to Instagram and the family holiday photos to Facebook. 

How do you know what your demographics are? There are several resources you can use, including social media marketing platforms and Google Analytics. (You are using Google Analytics, right?

Engage.

A huge part of building a community on your personal social accounts is actually being a part of the community yourself. Contributing your own content is essential to fostering community, but it isn’t enough. There are far too many social media users that make the mistake of posting and ghosting (A.K.A. posting a picture and exiting out of the app). Don’t be a ghost. Be intentional with your posts and your time.

If you’re planning when to post content, make sure you are posting at a time where you can dedicate a few minutes to engage with your followers. You will likely get some comments on your post, so be sure to actively participate by commenting back. 

Also, remember that you build your community by engaging others’ content too. Don’t be afraid to make the first move. If you see someone else’s post or story that resonates with you, leave a comment! Getting the conversation flowing and putting yourself out there is a great way to show that you are engaged in social media and is a great step in fostering a sense of community with your followers.

Be consistent.

It’s important to make consistent touchpoints with your followers. After all, what type of community are you building if you’re rarely there? Show your dedication to your followers by sticking to a regular posting schedule. By doing this, you are building expectations from your followers. They’ll be eager for your next post! 

One tool we use here at Elevate My Brand is Planoly. Planoly allows you to plan and auto-post your Instagram content, and it even shares it to Facebook. Tools like Planoly are also great in that they tell you what times your followers are most active so that you can get the most engagement on your posts. 

Want to know more about social media marketing and online community management? Call us! We can even set up a creative brainstorm to walk you through how social media management is critical to building your personal and professional brand.

Carly Steinberg, Social Media Intern
Elevate My Brand

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