So, you started your social media accounts, completed your profiles, added content… now what?

Sometimes it is hard to stay motivated to keep posting content on your account when it sounds like you’re speaking to, well, no one.

There are a few things you can do to help grow your audience and increase your engagement (and no, this does not include buying page likes. Yes, that is a thing, unfortunately). Try these ideas to grow your audience on social media platforms.

Try these ideas to grow your audience on social media platforms.

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Think of who you are speaking to

Sometimes when I get a little bummed because my post that I thought was so awesome turns out to be a dud, I think about who I am speaking to. Did my post actually contain information that would help them? Was my post entertaining or educational? People have such a short attention span, and there are thousands of pieces of content out there, just waiting to be read. Your content and posts need to stand out, and really appeal to your target audience.

Ask your current customers for help

If you already have a customer base, try asking some of them that you have a great relationship with to like your accounts, or share comments on your posts. Don’t go overboard with this tactic and upset your customers, but maybe you could offer a discount on services, or a freebie, in exchange for some social media love.

Another thing you could do with current customers is to ask for feedback on your posts. Many people out there love to give their opinion, so ask your trusty customers to give their honest opinion of your content.

Encourage your employees to get social

If you have employees, make sure to ask them to like your accounts, and even share with their family and friends if they think they will find your accounts valuable. Give shout-outs to your most social employees (just encourage them to do most of their social media after-hours).

grow your social media audience with help from employees

Run a contest

People love to win things, so create a fun contest and either give away a product or service or pair up with a local business to give away something new and unique. This can be a very inexpensive, yet effective way of gaining reach and engagement while collaborating with another local business.

Add your social links to email

Adding your social media links in your email signature can help grow your audience. Add the social media icon with a link, or simply add the link and encourage people to connect with you online to stay updated on events and giveaways.

Cross-promote platforms

Creating unique content for each social media platform you use is important not only to stay true to that particular platform (think yes to hashtags on Twitter and Instagram, not on LinkedIn) but also so that each platform offers your audience a unique experience. Add an Instagram and Twitter tab to your Facebook page, and share your LinkedIn published posts on Twitter. Cross-promote your content, and also encourage people on each platform to check you out on your other accounts (and tell them why they would want to ie. unique contests, giveaways, etc.)

Experiment with social media advertising

I have seen great success running low-cost social media advertising campaigns, and helping a small business page gain more page likes, as well as reaching a larger audience. Although ads should mostly be used to drive traffic to your website, or to gain leads and sales, when a small business is just starting out, brand awareness is also important. Depending on your goals, social media ads could help boost your business in the start.

There are a lot of different ways to build your social media audience and these are just a few ideas.

Do you have a cool and unique way to increase your audience on social media? Share with me in the comments!