Ep. 65: 7 Ways to Reach New Followers

Authentic Online Marketing with Ruthie Gray

Today’s masterclass is on how to grow followers and make sure they stick around! I’m sharing 7 ways to reach new followers who want and need your content. (You know – the authentic ones!) Now, here is an important truth. In order to reach new followers you have to get out of your comfort zone.

Resources

Download your free Instagram™ growth kit here.

Ep. 67: Top 5 Instagram Features For Marketers In 2023

Ep. 76: Convert Instagram Followers into Email Subscribers: How It Works

Ep. 48: 7 Ways to get followers on your email list

7 Ways to Reach New Followers

1. Hashtags

Interestingly these are not necessarily hashtags about your industry. For example, I can hashtag content marketing and email marketing all day long, but that is not where my people are. My people are actually caregivers, they’re empty nesters. I use that kind of hashtags, and I also add hashtags to my stories, people get to know you well through your stories, that said, hashtags need to be targeted toward your ideal customer avatar and your industry. Niching down with your hashtags does not exclude other people, they will still come. Just because you’re focused on that one niche doesn’t mean only the empty nesters are going to be attracted. I have plenty of younger women who come to me, They hate social media and they just, want someone authentic that will show them what to do and help them strategize.

Know who your target audience is and use their hashtags. What hashtags are they using? Are you trying to teach people how to grow plants? Then those are the kind of hashtags that you need to be using, things about nature. If you are trying to teach young women who are rearing toddlers how to have time in the Word, then you really need to be hashtagging toddler moms. and toddler mom struggles, not just time in the word, not just prayer time, because chances are the toddler mom and the mom with the struggles. She is not hashtagging your hashtags. Make sure to search hashtags in explorer. You can Tab too to find new ones. Just make if you have a smaller account, just keep them under 10,000. Five to 10,000 is probably best for you.

2. Friends of Friends

Find new audience members by looking at your friends on Instagram, friends (Her audience members). If you have a good friend that you follow and, you really like her on Instagram, then go check out her followers. The next step is to regularly comment on her posts. Go check them out. If they seem like your target audience or someone that you feel would be a good colleague or someone that you wanna get to know better, follow them, and leave some valuable comments on their posts.

3. Facebook Groups

Facebook groups are another place to find new people. There are tons of social media Facebook groups, there are even Facebook groups for Christian bloggers. Facebook groups, often have share threads once a week. That’s a good opportunity to make those new connections. This is about finding new people. Just pick one group so if you’re doing the share threads you have time to do these other suggestions that I talked about.

4. Search Bar

Search bar topics that are pain points of your customer avatar. Find those topics and look for people who are posting about those things. They are not the answer people. They’re the question people. Go check them out to see if they’d be your ideal avatar. You absolutely must engage and you must be social in order to gain Followers.

5. Read Comments

And here’s a pro tip on your friend’s post or an Instagram follower’s post, read down through the comments. Every once in a while I’ll do this and see if there’s somebody there that you seem like would be a good potential follower or colleague. I start a conversation with her and say: “Say, me too. I can’t stand my dog barking all night”, or whatever the conversation is about. I’ve made some new friends and followers through doing that. Be authentic. You’re not trying to monopolize that person in the comment thread. You’re not trying to take away from the original post. If you do this, please like and comment on the original post before you go talking to other people.

6. Collabs

Collaborations are all the rage! Reels and collaborations are ways you can collaborate with one another. Friend on Instagram and the reel will go in her feed and it will also go in your feed and you’re both. Your names will be at the bottom. Fantastic, right? Live collabs, same thing. You will be able to see collab on her account and your account. A joint Instagram live session is another idea. You can also collab on a static post or a carousel. Here’s another simple thing. Share others’ posts, that compliment your brand or that really resonate with you. The way you do that is to hit the arrow right down there at the bottom of the reel or post and share your stories. The more you give, the more you get.

7. Comments

Answer all your comments on a post or reel. Oh my goodness, don’t just like the comment. People want to be seen. They need to feel like their comment Is important. If they took the time to make a comment on your Instagram, please comment back. and validate that person. Any comments count, no matter the number of characters. It used to be you needed to write more than seven characters. Now they all count including emojis. This can make your engagement time go faster.

However, you still want to present yourself as authentic. Maybe you’re not into small talk. I’m not usually, if it’s someone that I engage with regularly, I might make the comments shorter, but not always. Take time for at least two value comments when you are engaging, even if you’re engaging for 15 or 20 minutes that day.

Multiply New Authentic Followers

If you want to reach new “real”, authentic followers who want your content and are going to stick around this is how you do it, my friend. This is the long game. The one that builds, one friend at a time. There are other ways to build followers quickly, but they also oftentimes don’t bring the right followers, the dedicated ones you need. You can use a combination of quick followers and long-game followers, I’m not saying don’t try that route. But do treat your followers and potential followers as people and not just a number.

Bonus Tip of the Week

Join our Facebook Community because that’s the very first way you’re going to start building real followers that stick around in 2023. If you’re already part of the group, please share it with a friend and tag me @authenticonlinemarketingpod on Instagram so we can get more quality community members which will turn into more quality followers for you!

Until next week, remember to share your message your unique way in your own authentic voice!

The post Ep. 65: 7 Ways to Reach New Followers appeared first on Authentic Online Marketing.