Like a flower, social media accounts need a lot to grow. Growth goes beyond planting seeds in the ground and making sure they have enough sunlight and water. You may need to add fertilizer or you may need to adapt to how you care for them as they grow. Social media accounts are the same way. In this instance, a social media community is the fertilizer social media accounts need. When thinking about the future of your account, and growth of your business overall, you must consider building your community.
When building a social media platform, it’s important to form connections with other business owners or accounts with similar goals and attitudes and create a supportive and collaborative community. This community will be an important factor to the growth of your business/account.
Why is this important? Communities increase brand awareness, attract new followers, and promote creative ideas. As a brand, it’s important to form these relationships for the prosperity of your social media accounts. Taking this step creates an environment where your account can grow with the help of your community.
If you don’t know where to start, we’ve identified three steps toward building a community.
Plant the seed: Consider your goals and what you are looking for in a community. Identify those things and write them down. Clear goals are crucial to being strategic when following accounts and finding mutuals. When identifying goals, think about what you hope to gain from the connections you make and what kind of community you want to build. Find accounts, hashtags, people, etc., that align with your goals.
Add Fertilizer: Spend time engaging with other accounts on social media. This is where the research comes in. Use what you learned to follow the proper accounts, utilize the appropriate hashtags, and reach out to the right people. Make meaningful connections by commenting on posts that align with your brand values and follow people/accounts that genuinely meet your goals of a supportive community. While you may not get a follow back from every account, commenting is critical to show that you appreciate their content and, in turn, make them look at your account. Continuing to revisit this step is key to having ongoing growth.
Move to a bigger pot: Even after you’ve taken that initial step and worked towards making those initial connections, continue building those relationships. You could collaborate on a post or create something together in the future. To maintain those connections, you must continue engaging with their accounts and your community. This includes commenting on and liking their posts, watching their Instagram stories, etc.
These three steps are crucial to building a meaningful community. As a small account or a large one, these connections are vital to bringing new people to your account and creating an environment where your account can grow and flourish.