Slow Growth Stays
A flood of likes and heart reactions to your latest post feels ever-so-sweet, like being a small kid biting into a fluffy twirl of cotton candy. Much like the sugary treat of your youth, however, likes and reactions melt away fast. Along with followers count, they tend to fall under the umbrella category of ‘vanity metrics’; these are social media indicators that make you feel good, but don’t necessarily indicate actual achievements toward your business goals.
My number one mantra in marketing is “Slow Growth Stays”. Instead of chasing quick targets that look good, it’s almost always a better idea to track your marketing goals through other, more specific indications of progress. These other metrics typically take longer to track as their impact is less immediate and their growth pattern is slower, but will help you better understand both whether you are reaching the right market and if you are having the desired impact on potential clients!
I will never recommend chasing virility as a sustainable business model because likes and follower counts feel great, but don’t pay the bills; ensure you are investing in lucrative content strategies by instead aiming for and tracking reach, engagement, and conversions.
Double-Jump Your Reach
You know how in video games you can sometimes jump and then tap the button again while in midair to achieve a double-jump that lets you reach twice the height? Re-posting and sharing are to content creation as double-jumping is to video games. In other words, creating content that is designed to be shared is an easy way to hone in on the reach metric by expanding beyond your follower count!
Like all content, sharable content should be first crafted to appeal to your specific target market (more about that here!), but beyond that be a conversation starter. Humor is great for this strategy; who among us has not tried to become queen of the group chat by sharing a choice meme?
Fake Followers = Low Engagement
It may be common practice in some internet circles, but y’all buying follows is never gonna be a sustainable method for actual growth. A high follower count only helps if those followers are actually engaging with your content, proving them to be actively interested in what you are selling. Instead of looking at follower count as a measure of success, social media experts track the rate your followers are engaging with your content. Therefore buying followers actually hurts you in the long run as it brings that engagement rate way down!
Determine your engagement rate on various platforms by dividing the number of people engaging with by the total number of people seeing your content and multiply by 100. For an Instagram post this could mean adding together the number of likes, shares and comments then diving by reach; for a different perspective, you can also divide engagements by follower count! Don’t be frightened if the number seems low: a good engagement rate typically falls between 1% - 5%.
Always Be Converting
So let’s say you are already nailing reach and engagment, with your content being shared to your target market and your audience responding - now you need to seal the deal with strong calls to action. Direct your followers to take concrete action in order to entice them into taking that final step of becoming a client!
Of course for many the ideal conversion is an actual sale, but the funnel you use to guide your target market from prospective followers to loyal client can be wide! Depending on your product, an additional stepping stone may be necessary to build further trust and to deepen the relationship they have with you. Beyond just sales, conversions can also be sign ups for a free pdf information sheet, enrolling in your newsletter, or even participating in a giveaway.
Slow Growth Stays
I’m gonna repeat it again for those in the back: Slow Growth Stays. The first month you begin to direct you content with an actual online marketing strategy can be thrilling with some immediate results, but likely that momentum will slow down pretty quick. Despite it’s less of flashy appeal, it’s the next step that I really enjoy: the months of nourishing a community and attracting the people who will form your actual base of loyal followers and engaged clients! That’s the growth I love to celebrate with my clients: the slow ascent of a brand as they develop a pristine online presence that establishes them as both a trustworthy source for their product/service in the local market and a desirable brand to be associated with, the type of business clients love tagging and bragging about!
Connect with me to start your own ascent today; I’ll tailor a package of services just for you, designed to meet your business goals, approach your unique challenges, and address any budgetary needs - and with a significant discount for longer term contracts so I get to be a part of that good stuff!
