So I've been getting a lot of emails lately that are just about driving me crazy. They could be random coincidences or it could be a "trend" right now. It's nothing new. We've all seen it a million times. But for some reason I feel like it's more prominent in my world right now.
And I promise you this, if this one thing is all you care about, you'll never see social media success. And you won't reach this stupid goal you so desperately want.
"I want you to help me create a bio that will get me thousands of followers."
"I need to be famous. Can you help me?"
"What can I do to get thousands of followers really fast?"
[Begin Rant!]
You know where I'm gonna go with this. But I have to say it anyways.
If the only thing you're worried about is the number of followers you have, you suck.
Yup. You suck at social media. You suck at marketing. You suck at building relationships. You suck at providing value. You suck at connecting with people. You suck!
20,000 followers does not make you famous. 100,000 followers does not make you popular. 200,000 followers does not make you successful.
In response to the questions I've been getting... no, you cannot create a bio that will get you thousands of followers. YOU have to get followers. The good old fashioned way. Giving them a reason to follow you! No, I cannot help you become famous. You wanna be famous, go have dinner with Kim Kardashian. There. Done. But don't ask me. Cuz I'll tell you to come read this blog post. And if you want to get thousands of followers really "fast" then you better have a business with hundreds of thousands of happy customers. Otherwise, you're gonna have to wait patiently for the audience to build organically and realistically. Or, well, you could always go buy a bunch of followers. But have fun with that and see how well that serves your business in the long run!
Social media is about a million more things than the number of followers you have!
If you actually want to see social media success, you need to stop thinking about you and start thinking about your customers. What do they want? What do they need? How can you help them? What is their benefit in following you? These are the questions you need to be asking!
If you email me wanting my help, you better be prepared to work for your social media success. I will give you a detailed strategy. I will give you the best tips and suggestions for your individual business. But you're gonna have to put in some serious time and effort. And you're gonna have to build that audience based on the value you can provide to them.
Sure, my clients may not get tens of thousands of followers in the first year. But you know what they do get? They get real, genuine, valuable engagement from their audience. And this means more sales, more referrals, more leads, and more success!
I have one client who has about 600 followers on Instagram. But she's averaging almost 200 likes a post. That's a 30% engagement rate! Shut the front door!
I have another client who has 1500 fans on Facebook. And they're averaging a post reach of 500 and have engagement (including plenty of comments) in the 12% range. What's your Facebook reach and engagement looking like?
If you have 5000 fans or followers and are only reaching 1% of them and generating no interest or engagement what the heck is the point of having all those fans? They're useless and you're just wasting your time.
So, for the love of all things decent, stop freaking worrying about your dang follower count! If this is the only thing you care about, you will never see social media success.
Start focusing on what you have to offer. What your customers need from you. And what you can give them that will make them actually want to follow you on social media. Yeah, you have to work for it. And you have to work to keep them. No one said this shiz was gonna be easy (and if they did, well, they lied to you).
[Rant over]
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic as it's been a burning topic on my mind for a while!
Amen! I’ve written about this tons of times too — it drives me crazy when people prioritize reach over engagement! Not that engagement should be the defining metric for success, but I believe it’s a slightly better indicator that you’re actually providing value to your followers. Thank you for saying it — you’ll see me share this on my social soon 🙂
Thanks Valerie! There are a lot of indicators to focus on but they all need to be taken in the right context! I’m glad you liked the post and really appreciate you sharing it 🙂
Hi, Jenn
This post is epic. I think you just expressed what goes in almost every marketer heads when they hear such questions. I am definitely saving this article as a must read to everyone for the future and sharing with people in my environment 🙂
Mindaugas
Thanks so much Mindaugas! I’ll take the compliment of “epic” gladly! And I definitely appreciate you sharing this in the future 🙂
Loved it! I would like to say all of this to a lot of clients! It is not so easy and cheap, just what they think when it is about marketing over the internet!
I hear ya, Frederico! I have wanted to say this so many times that I just had to write it just to put out there! Just because it’s “Free” doesn’t mean it’s cheap!
Amen! I am exhausted with the same type of phone calls. Sing it Sister!
lol – Thanks Julie! I will appreciate you joining me for the chorus though 😉
Great post, Jenn!
The best email I have ever received was from an author with almost no social media presence who wanted me to make him an overnight success. His goal was to sell at least 1,000 copies of his book per week.
Needless to say that the conversation didn’t go too well. lol
Oh geez, Cendrine! I can only imagine!!
Hi, Jenn!
Another great post! I try and regularly look at the engagement rate of the client accounts whose social media presence I manage. I have a question for you (and I’ve had a hard time finding a straight answer on this): what % of engagement rate is a good rate by industry standards? Or do you simply look to see that the rate is growing over time? I know our industry talks about only 1-2% of followers seeing Facebook content, etc. But I really want to know what a “solid” % number might be so that I can say to a client “Hey! This 18% ER is awesome.” Does that question make sense? Thanks for any insight you might have to share.
~Melissa
Hi Melissa! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post.
To be completely honest, I wouldn’t say there’s a definitive number to look at for engagement rates. It’s all so dependent on so many factors. That being said, I know that the average engagement rate on Instagram is 5.7%. So for every 1000 fans, you should be getting 57 likes and/or comments. As for Facebook, I haven’t seen an exact number, and it depends on the size of that page as well. However, if an average page is seeing a reach of 8-10%, then chances are their engagement would be somewhere in the 1-2% range. Which I know seems really low. But Twitter engagement tends to be really low – like less than 0.1% for most brands.
So, to answer your question, I wouldn’t worry too much about an “industry standard”. Instead, focus on the growth of your clients’ engagement and the RESULTS of that engagement. 10 likes that generate 5 leads is way better than 100 likes and no leads 😉 And if you’re trying to show a client (or potential client) the realities of engagement rates, feel free to do a quick analysis of their competitors and show them how they’re performing in comparison. Doing better than a competitor will always put them in a positive mindset!
Hi, Jenn!
Thank you so much for your input. Your advice was exactly what I thought in my own mind, but it’s nice to have you confirm that. When you say “do a quick analysis of their competitors”, what is your typical approach to that? Do you simply look at a competitor’s FB Page and look for comments/likes/shares or on Twitter for favorites and retweets or on Instagram at the likes, or do you use an actual tool to run a report? I ask because I know there are some free competitors analysis tools/reports generators out there, but I’m curious what method you find to be the most effective? Thanks again for your input! 🙂
Hey Melissa! Yeah, I just do quick math based on likes & comments versus fan count. That’s usually more than enough to show a client. There are tools and apps out there, of course, for in depth analysis but unless you’re producing regular reports on how your client is producing in relation to their competitors, it’s not worth it (IMHO).
Great–thanks again for your feedback, Jenn! 🙂
Happy to help!
Really true Jenns, getting followers is not the ultimate success. It’s how the followers connected and do I give what they need.
Thank you for all the tips. This is one article I have to keep in front of me .. reminding myself daily
Absolutely, James! I hope this helps keep your blogging strategy effective.
Great post! It’s honestly the saddest thing I’ve ever seen in my life how desperate people are for attention on instagram. I’ve got two pages, one is personal page(public) second is car page(also public) note: I suffer from a severe auto addiction as well as beautiful photography/art. Anyways I been in insta prob 6 months and spend most of my time on the car page (want to plug, but not enough to disrespect the forum AND I’m not really that desperate for attention) that’s the problem with insta, it’s a race to popularity and is 100% a “highscool” experience. I’ve never once asked for a follow, under any circumstances. Not once. It’s so annoying to get a comment “I love your page, follow me” or more specific ” awesome cars! You should check my page out…wait for it…and like my last 5 pics and follow my page and follow the pages blah blah blah BLOCKED! Lol, I don’t always block these type comments but I do exercise my blocking skills when it comes to the obvious spam such as “GET 182 FOLLOWERS NOW! @looserspamacct.” Like who wants fake friends, or followers that could care less about your content? My rule of thumb is anyone who chooses to follow my page is fine, I’d prefer to have followers that are actually into cars or into photography. I follow whatever page I’m interested in, NOT because a page follows me. That is also annoying when a follower expects to be followed back in return, “BRO your a dude and your page is nothing but bathroom mirror selfies! I’m not a homophobe by no means but Im not into dude selfies so I’m not gonna “like” any pics if i did follow and Im not into pitty follow backs, unless it’s obvious the person needs a friend. In. That case I’m happy to follow back.
To sum it up, my motto is post post post what you love, don’t post for follows post out of love for your passion, ugh..even if you passion is 8 thousand defies a day. Don’t count you money at the table, ie. Don’t post and wait to see how many like it follows you get. Any true artist or perfomer is in it for the money or fame, the best are in it for the love and passion and when you take that later rout the game and fortune will naturally follow. Have a great day FOLLOW MY PAGE @sike! Gotcha didn’t i
lol – yes to this! And, yes, stay true to your passion and focus on that. Not the numbers or metrics. That always brings more success!
Agree! Starting with a more targeted approach is always a good idea. The smaller the audience, the more you can truly focus on their niche in a more engaging manner, and the less competition you have. As your fans grow, then you should start worrying about numbers.
Kostas
Absolutely Kostas! Thank you for your input 🙂
Hell YES!
lol – Thanks Lara! 🙂
I think getting followers is a start, and not the end all, be all to having a flourishing social media presence. Providing useful content is the next big step. Even with a small, engaging group of supporters the numbers can speak for themselves. Thanks for posting this article!
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it!