We recently took the somewhat controversial stance that 'follower count matters.' Conventional wisdom these days places less importance on the size of your social community, and more on the quality of engagement that occurs within the community.
We agree! And yet — follower count is still important because a growing community is the sign of a healthy, growing business.
Viewing growth as an end to itself can lead to some obnoxious and questionable tactics to grow a following. To highlight the proper approach, we talked with Katherine Tattersfield, Online Marketing Director at PrintFirm.com.
Tell us a bit about your social media background.
I got involved in social media nearly 4 years ago while working as head writer for an affiliate marketing agency. I completely shunned social media up until then, even during college, so I feel pangs of irony with every tweet. I didn't like the concept at first, but I got hooked when I ran my first online contest. Since then, social's been a huge part of my career. Most of my experience comes from managing communities for ecommerce businesses.
You seemed a little hesitant to endorse our premise that follower count matters, though you agree with it. Why is that?
"Followers are great, but they have to be the right kind of people, otherwise you're just wasting your time and theirs."
Follower counts matter in the sense that you want to appear impressive to prospects as well as your competitors. And the rumors are true that once you reach a certain follower/fan count, attracting new people becomes way easier.
My hesitation stems from working with misguided small business owners. Many are under the impression that social media is nothing more than a numbers game. I believe that's part of the reason why social gets a bad rap in small biz circles. Followers are great, but they have to be the right kind of people, otherwise you're just wasting your time and theirs. The truth is that there are much better metrics to pay attention to than follower counts. If you focus on actual interaction, your community will grow organically. I promise.
Agreed! The right engagement will naturally grow a social community. So spell it out for us: what kind of interactions should businesses encourage with their social presence?
Businesses should want to start conversations, improve customer experience, identify influencers, and ideally attract media attention. Social is a tool to accomplish these goals.
"A single influential coffee lover may be able to introduce your brand to thousands of other java addicts."
I believe that we do exhibit tribal behavior online and social opens up opportunities to join your tribe members. I said join because these people already love whatever it is you're promoting. They'll accept you on the basis of your sincerity, and reject you if you appear too sales-y. And tribes grow naturally because the members are united by a common bond.
No, your long distance tribe members won't stop by for a cup of coffee before work…unless they happen to be traveling in the area. Yet a single influential coffee lover may be able to introduce your brand to thousands of other java addicts. You want to get as many people as possible to talk about your brand online because that's contemporary word of mouth advertising. Community growth = buzz.
So my local coffee shop or brewery should look beyond their immediate market in order to grow their following and, ultimately, their business. A business-oriented ‘think globally, act locally’ kind of thing – is that it?
Yes, your local brewery should be using social to find beer lovers in the immediate area as well as keep in touch with the current client base. At the same time, relying on a hyper-local strategy limits the brand's potential to achieve greater notoriety.
"Social media removes geographic barriers, and businesses need to remember that every connection they make online creates a domino effect."
Let me explain what I mean through an example. I managed the online presence of a small local business for 3 years. I concentrated on super local SEO for the website and engaged with actual customers on Facebook for the most part. I did engage with other related fan pages, which increased the visibility of the content. On other networks, I shared the offers for customers along with content that appealed to the community in a broader sense.
As a result, the business gained valuable industry contacts, and formed relationships with influencers across the country. One of the guys who became our most loyal brand advocate lives 3,000 miles away in Florida!
Point being, I got links, RTs, likes, etc. from all over, and you can bet that increased our local standing in the process.
Social media removes geographic barriers, and businesses need to remember that every connection they make online creates a domino effect. The guy in Florida has followers in Los Angeles, too, who share a common interest. Interacting with him indirectly helped us reach our immediate target market. So I think it's unwise to adopt a mentality that automatically boxes in your brand.
Let’s talk tactics. What are some of the proper ways that a business can grow their social communities?
Every business is different, and there's no standard formula for success. That said, here are a few key ingredients to the recipe.
- You need to share other people's content more than your own. I like the 80/20 rule as in 80% of your content should come from other people and only 20% should involve your business directly. That rule pertains to anything from your business whether you're sharing an offer or a new blog post. Simply put, it's not all about you, and users aren't interested in one way conversations. Share other people's work, and most of the time they'll respond, so be sure to give credit to the source with an @ mention, tag, etc.
- Create an editorial calendar. A big part of social involves spontaneity; you need to be open to thinking on the fly and jumping on an opportunity immediately. By that I mean, when you see something cool, share it. When a customer writes a good review on Facebook, tweet it asap. But spur of the moment content is not a sustainable business model. Plan things at least a week in advance, and you'll be able to adjust for the unexpected stuff easily. Plus, calendars mean you're never stuck panicking over OMG what am I going to pin today???
- Recognize community members. Communities usually have a handful of very active participants as well as less involved members and lurkers. You'll never know how many lurkers you've got hanging around. Either way, it's important to recognize the people who engage with you frequently and encourage those who rarely interact when they do. I'm not talking about thanking people for RTs or replying to comments. Those things should be a given in my book. I mean tweeting a photo of flowers to a loyal customer after she stops in your store. Or tagging someone on G+ when you find an article you know they'll love. This lets the members know you care about them on a personal level, and makes them more likely to participate in the future.
See Katherine's social media skills at work on Twitter @Printfirm, and follow her at @CaliCre8ive.
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