Growing your social media audience will not happen overnight.

Sometimes trying to build a brand on social media can feel like you’re yelling into the wind. You’re posting photos, trying to interact with others but nothing is happening – how frustrating. Here are some solid, basic strategies to help you quickly grow an engaged social media audience for your brand or business.

First, let me clear up what I mean by “quickly”. Growing an audience that is highly engaged completely organically will take time. The strategies I’m sharing in this post will help speed up the process beyond basic posting and playing the following game. The effort will be worth your time when you have an audience that actually clicks on your links and cares about your products.

Get to Know Your Audience

The most crucial step to quickly grow an engaged social media audience organically is getting to know your audience. Does your audience like photos or links? Do they respond better to more frequent posts, or when there’s a day or two in between? Are they as active on LinkedIn as they are on Twitter? Each business or account is different. Getting to know your audience (what networks they’re on, what websites they visit, what they do on their free time, etc.) is key to knowing where to find them, what kind of content they respond to and what kind of messaging and language makes them take action.

Have a Strategy

Posting with no rhyme or reason will not help you quickly grow an engagedaudience. Use the insights from getting to know your audience to build a strategy that accelerates your exposure and growth. This means determining post frequency, what kind of content works, and aligning your social media objectives and goals to your efforts.

Add Value

No one wants to see another photo or video that screams “look at this new product I have”. People tune this kind of promotion out. Instead, try adding value to your followers’ lives and relate it back to your brand. For example, in place of posting a photo that simply showcases that new dress in your collection take it a step further and show your followers a few ways to style it. If you have a guide, highlight the benefits and how this guide can help solve a problem. If you plan on selling services or a course create a few blog posts with free tips (look familiar? lol). Giving your potential customers valuable info they can put to use helps build trust and makes you a source of knowledge.

High Quality (Original) Content

Content is king and quality matters. With everyone getting better and better with content creation, you’ll need to step up your game to quickly grow an engaged social media audience. Using stock images can ensure the quality of your photos, but original content is the best kind of content. Why? Because sometimes stock images (especially free ones) get used over and over again – making potential followers visually tune out. Try to create original photos and videos for your brand or business so that you can stand out from the crowd while relating back to your brand. Creating your own content lets you customize and refine the look and feel you want to put out there – creating a full experience for your audience.

Work with Influencers:

Working with the right influencers for your brand is probably one of the best ways to quickly grow an engaged social media following organically. Emphasis on the right influencer. You don’t want to choose someone based on followers alone. Make sure your target influencer makes sense for your brand.

Use Hashtags Correctly

Hashtags are an essential part to quickly grow an engaged social media audience. Using hashtags will expose your posts to new eyes and people who may not be following you. With that said know that hashtags aren’t one size fits all! Finding the RIGHT hashtags for your business is important for attracting an audience that will convert into engagement, traffic, and sales later on. In theory, it makes sense to use the most popular hashtags for exposure – but in practice, you won’t get the long-term results you need. Sure hashtags like #love and #beautiful have hundreds of thousands of posts, but these generic hashtags are going to be useless for your business. You’ll get likes, but not from people who are actually interested in your business or brand.

If you’re not sure how to find hashtags that will work for you read How to Find the Right Hashtags for Your Business and make sure to read up on the 8 top hashtags mistakes I’ve seen in the time I’ve been in social media.

Some more general tips to help you grow an engaged social media following organically

Incorporate video: Since videos are getting so much reach and interaction I suggest adding more videos to your 2017 social media strategy. Don’t be nervous you can create simple videos that still deliver great impact. Here are a few ways on how to easily create great video content and 4 ways to use live video on Instagram Twitter and Facebook.

Keep Consistent: Remember that consistency is key and letting an account go dormant or not posting enough will not help your presence grow. My rule of thumb is to post at least 3 times a week.

And last but not least keep interacting! This is the most time consuming, but most effective way to get in front of new followers. Interact with brands similar to you, related brands, influencers, and folks from your target audience. Like photos, leave genuine comments and be a part of the conversations happening in your space.

Article written by: Dhariana Lozano