Why Should I Follow You on Social Media?

by | Marketing Thoughts

I often hear from business owners who are frustrated because they set up a Facebook Business Page or Twitter profile and have no followers. My first questions is always “Why should I follow you?”. Remember the adage: what’s in it for me?

I’m hoping you sat down to determine how social media fits into your overall marketing strategy and what you hope to gain from participation. Once you know these answers, you should have an idea of WHY your ideal customer should follow you and WHAT type of content you are going to share. If you are a restaurant, maybe you are going to share the daily special or a monthly coupon. If you are a professional services firm, perhaps you plan to share industry trends through relevant articles.

Whatever you decide, you need to TELL your audience. This means whenever you mention a social media platform, tell me what you are sharing there. For instance “Follow Me on Twitter for Interesting Articles” gives me an idea of what I’m getting if I decide to follow you and, in my opinion, increases the likelihood of getting an engaged follower. Here is the sidebar from my blog as an example:
laurabcreative.com sidebar image

I believe you should have ALL the platforms where you are actively sharing content publicized in two places: your web site and your email campaign template. Please don’t set up a profile, add one update and publicize it all over town. Wait until you start participating and start seeing some traction, then publicize it.

On that note, I believe you should choose ONE social media platform to start with. Starting with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest all on Day One of your social media effort will be too overwhelming and not successful. Find the best match between the content you have to share, your ideal customer and what you are capable of. Watch my No Magic Bullet video for details on this model for determining your social media strategy.

And that ONE social media platform should be included on your business card and email signature. Don’t forget to include the URL and WHAT you are sharing there.

Are you more likely to engage with a business owner who has a email signature like this:

Joe Smith*
Joe Smith Movers
703.555.1212
www.joesmithmovers.com
Facebook: facebook.com/joesmithmovers
Twitter: @joesmithmovers
Blog: www.joesmithmovers.com/blog
YouTube: www.youtube.com/joesmithmovers
LinkedIn: www/linkedin.com/in/joesmith

or one like this:

Joe Smith*
Joe Smith Movers
703.555.1212
www.joesmithmovers.com
See our latest fast packing techniques at www.youtube.com/joesmithmovers

I think the chances of an email recipient following that YouTube link is exponentially increased versus any of the links in the first signature example. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

*Please Note: No Joes or Smiths were harmed in the writing of this blog post.