Social media is undoubtedly one of the most powerful content marketing tools in the world that our brands currently exist in.  From crowdsourcing and campaigning to selling products and services, social media marketing allows you to reach people down the street or across the globe. Sure you can you get a "like", make someone laugh, and showoff your latest project, but with the right content strategy your social media channels can become a lead generating machine! How to get started? I'll be honest, unless you've got an incredible piece of viral content stored in your quiver, then social media success doesn't happen overnight. This is going to take some effort and consistency, but you can do it! To kick things off, check out these 4 steps for building an organic social media following.

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Target Your Audience

If you own a cheeseburger stand, chances are you are not going to do very much selling while posted up at a vegetarian food festival, right? You're going to have much more luck somewhere like a sporting event, where you know there will be people with an interest in your offering. This same concept goes for building an organic social media following. Instead of crafting a post or creating content an publishing it to your channels randomly, determine who you are trying to reach and do your social "homework" on them. What are ideal customers searching for? What is their age range? What times of day do they most frequent social media? Which type of content is driving the most engagement? Gathering some data will help your organic social media following grow while wasting minimal resources.

Optimize Your Presence

Now that you've highlighted an audience that you would like to target with your content, it's important to provide them an attractive and simple to navigate destination. Whether you are launching an entirely new social media page or cleaning up an older one, make sure your profiles content and message matches across numerous platforms. Although every network is laid out differently, all profiles should include the following:

• A recognizable username (keep it consistent from platform to platform)

• A recognizable profile photo (you can’t go wrong with a company logo)

• A brief, keyword-rich description of your company

• A trackable link that directs visitors to your website

Create A Schedule, Be Consistent

Have you ever been scrolling through your Facebook or Instagram page and wondered, "wait, this person still exists?" It's very important that you do not let this happen with your business! When working at building an organic social media following, although you will not see overnight success, it's important to continue regular posting and maintain consistency even in the earliest stages. Why? When you find something useful or something you enjoy at a store, you're going to check that store again and again. Social media works the same way. By publishing on a regular basis, your page will begin to build traction as more and more readers return to the page to check out new content, products, offers, or whatever you may be posting about. Remember, in order to make publishing on a consistent basis worthwhile, you should be creating content your audience actually wants to consume.

Promote Your Channels!

In a day and age where companies are receiving startup money by literally going online and asking total strangers for money, there should be zero shame in promoting your channels for building and organic social media follow, by any means necessary.

Utilize social media icons- Incorporate icons to your social profiles wherever applicable: website footer, on your blog, in your email messaging, on your business cards, in the window of your storefront, etc.

Reach out to friends- Chances are, you may already have a social media influencer in your friend group! An influencer is a person who has an impact on a specific market and a social following, like a CEO, a food writer, or a tech blogger. Influencers may play a large part in a small community, or a large part in a huge one. By getting an influencer to share your brands content, you are increasing awareness by exposing yourself to a new audience. Whatever they are, reach out to your friends and promote like crazy!

Real Life Social Networking- Social networking doesn't just have to happen online! It's important to ask your real-life friends and connections to engage with your social media profiles to help build up your organic impact. 

ImageWorks LLC | Social Media Management

Hopefully, you're feeling encouraged to get out and start conquering your organic social media plan! No matter how many articles we may provide you, we understand that social media management can be a bit overwhelming. From restaurants to manufacturers, our team at ImageWorks,LLC., has experience in creating, growing, and managing social media accounts in a widespread variety of industries providing prominent ROI and a next- level tier of customer service and engagement.Have questions? Let's talk!