The ABCs of Building a Social Media Following and Presence from Scratch

Thanks to the rapid development of the digital world, having a social media presence is practically a non-negotiable nowadays for any business looking to grow its current community. That being said, we know firsthand how building a social media following from ground zero can initially feel overwhelming. Read on for six ways to set your account up for success from the start!

A.) ACE YOUR BRANDING

They say never judge a book by its cover, but we won’t be the first to tell you that GOOD 👏BRANDING 👏SELLS 👏

Why? Because it speaks directly to the target audience and draws them in. Think about it: if you come across two identical products, but one has cuter packaging or a slogan that just gets you: which are you more likely to purchase (or even follow on Instagram for further nurturing)? We thought so.

Not only that but branding makes brands memorable. In order to ensure consistency on social media, solidify branding you love prior to getting started. If you’re constantly using fonts and colors outside of your brand kit, your brand will struggle to be recognizable, so be sure to nail down a style guide that you will actually use.

B.) BE WHERE YOUR AUDIENCE IS

Once your branding is solidified, start by meeting your audience where they’re at and creating a social media presence on the platform(s) they spend most of their time on. With this in mind, know that it’s better to be really good at one channel than mediocre on them all. 

Be realistic about the number of channels you’ll be able to manage effectively, even if that means starting with one and adding more later. Whenever you’re ready to start showing up on new social platforms, be sure to promote your new channel on existing platforms so your followers know where else they can find you. 

If you don’t have any social media presence yet, think of other forms of marketing you have in the works that you can use to plug your new venture. Do you have an email list that you can spread the word to? Can you add your social media handle to the footer of your website or somewhere subtle on your packaging? Wherever you are now, continue to keep your audience in the loop on where you’re expanding to.

C.) CREATE CONTENT PILLARS

Before publishing your first post, establish content pillars. Your "9 pillars" are the 9 areas of content that you post about most on social media. Think of them as the categories on your blog or in your online shop. For instance, some of our content pillars include: our services, clients, team, social media tips, self-care tips, and more! 

Anything that goes outside of these established pillars should NOT be posted on your social media. Why bother reaching an audience with content unrelated to the rest of your profile? 

Once users discover and like your video, they can easily tap on your profile to see other quality content from you. If they like what they see, they’ll follow for more, so it’s important to keep your content on-brand and consistent to prevent unfollows.

D.) DIVE INTO KEYWORD + HASHTAG RESEARCH

Once your content pillars are established, it’s time to dive into keyword and hashtag research. These are simple ways to build your social media and increase discoverability.

KEYWORDS

Did you know that 40% of young people, when searching for information, no longer turn to Google Maps or Search? At a recent conference, the Senior Vice President of Google Knowledge and Information, Prabhakar Raghavan, revealed that they are now going to Instagram and TikTok. 🤯

To identify which keywords to target on social media, leverage the search bar’s predictive text! Start by typing in your base keyword and then see what other keywords Instagram suggests in the drop-down list. This list is based on data that users are most commonly searching for at the time of your research.

For example, if you were a makeup brand, you might start by searching the keyword “makeup.” From there, the drop-down list may suggest search queries like “makeup tutorials” or “avant garde makeup.” To show up as one of the top results for these search queries, you’ll want to start incorporating these keywords into your content.

HASHTAGS

Rather than using the same hashtags across all of your posts (this can become spam-y and ultimately limit your reach), create multiple, unique hashtag groups that correspond with each of your 9 pillars of content! For instance, if you’re an interior designer, consider having separate hashtag groups (only 3-5 hashtags are needed for each group) for different types of posts like bedrooms, kitchens, detail shots, etc. Both Later and Planoly have an awesome feature where you can save these hashtag groups for future use!

An important thing to keep in mind when doing this is hashtag density. It’s a highly saturated market out there, but luckily hashtag density provides insight into the level of competition associated with any particular hashtag. As a general rule of thumb:

• You want your hashtags to be popular and what your target audience is searching for, but you also don’t want that hashtag to have SO many posts that yours will only get lost.

• We typically try to aim for hashtags that have between 10k and 50k posts, but it is important to incorporate a healthy mix of small, medium, and large in each of your hashtag groups!

For more tips, check out our How to Conduct Hashtag Research blog post and Ultimate Guide to Hashtags freebie!

E.) EXPAND THE REACH OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

Recognize that the early days of building a social media following and social media presence should be focused on more top-of-funnel initiatives (ie reach and awareness) before worrying too much about conversion and sales. After all, it’s not realistic to expect the first time someone hears of your brand, they’ll be comfortable or inclined enough to purchase. 

So when formulating your initial content strategy, prioritize reaching as many users as possible. When you expand your reach, the followers will come. Once followers come, a community will be formed. And once community and trust are formed, a sale is on the horizon. 

Some of our favorite free tactics for increasing reach include:

• Engaging with your current and potential customers

• Following potential customers

• Sharing IG Reels, TikToks, and Idea Pins

• Leveraging UGC featuring your brand and tagging the creator (the goal is they re-post!)

• Using location tags

• Using hashtags + keywords

• Creating shareable content (ie memes)

• Incorporating engaging stickers (ie polls) when possible in content

• Leveraging call-to-actions that prompt shares or engagement

• Posting when your followers are most active

F.) FINETUNE YOUR STRATEGY 

Last but not least - track social media analytics on a routine basis, so you can continue to finetune your strategy going forward. Take note of what is performing well and continue doing more of it. Similarly, take note of what is not performing as well as anticipated and brainstorm ways to make it better. For more analytics tips, check out Decode Your Data: A Course on Social Media Analytics!

We hope you found this blog post on building a social media following and social media presence from scratch helpful! For more tips on how to grow your following or build your social media overall, be sure to follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our digital marketing newsletter. Chat soon!

xx,

The Homies