Key Takeaways:
- Social media is far more competitive today, with platforms like Instagram seeing a decrease in reach. This might be one reason why you are not getting any social media followers. Therefore, you need to learn how to change this.
- New businesses cannot replicate the tactics of established influencers or celebrities. Instead, focus on short-form videos and building a niche audience while gradually adapting strategies as you grow.
- The best advice comes from those who are a few years ahead in their journey and have recently achieved the milestones you’re targeting.
Creating quality content but not getting any social media followers?
How often have you seen big influencers talking about creating quality content as the recipe for their success? Also, how often have you seen them posting a picture of an avocado or writing a quote on a post and getting thousands of likes on social media?
Based on their advice, it is easy to conclude that posting a picture of an avocado and explaining its health benefits is quality content. It is just frustrating that Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t agree. If only you could get more views on the post, the problem would be solved. Or would it? If you feel like you are not getting any social media followers listening to big influencers, you need to change your approach.
Let’s be clear: a new business should not follow the same tactics as big influencers.
There are several reasons for this, and we will explore them in this article. Most importantly, we will give you insights into what you need to do differently to grow successfully at the start of your journey.
Today’s big influencers have been growing their audience over years or decades.
First and foremost, forget what Zack on YouTube tells you about how he gained 100k followers in 30 days. This is not realistic. Most are not getting any social media followers in the first 30 days unless they have identified a niche and posted a lot of content that aligns with that niche. However, some accounts have been on social media for a few months and have more than 100k followers, but the problem is that it is not real. It is very easy to fake this today. You can buy bots, and they are not even expensive.
This has led to a 300% surge in fake follower interest globally. But it doesn’t mean you should do it. In reality, it won’t give you any influence, and it is unlikely to make you feel good about yourself either. And no, using this “trending music” or this “trending #” or this “secret new feature” won’t get you there either. There is a formula, but it requires more insight than that.
The real influencers are celebrities or people/companies that have consistently posted content for years. Think about it this way. If you start working in a new industry, how long will it take you to get real influence? There is no reason why it will go considerably quicker online. It is just a different platform with a potential for higher reach but less real-life exposure.
So, if you cannot listen to Zack, is listening to big influencers a better option? Unfortunately, in reality, it isn’t. It will likely lead to you not getting any social media followers.
The digital landscape has changed massively- using the same tactics will lead to not getting any social media followers
One decade ago, social media influencers were few and far between. The lack of competition compared to today made it much easier to stand out. Instagram, for instance, has seen a YOY decrease of 18% in reach in the last few years. This means it requires much more to be visible today. For example, a few years ago, videos were not introduced. You could post a picture and go viral. Furthermore, it was more likely that other brands wanted to cooperate with you as there were fewer options.
We have seen big influencers advise companies to reach out to other companies and suggest collaborating to increase their Instagram followers from 0 to 1000. In the current marketing space, this has two issues:
- Collaborating with companies with, let’s say, 250 followers is likely to give you a slightly higher reach on your post, but the overall reach will still be insignificant. For instance, using traditional Instagram engagement calculations, the average reach on Instagram today is 4%. 4% of 250 is 10. Even if you double that, reaching 20 will not lead you anywhere.
- Since the competition is much more significant, you need more reach to get new followers. In other words, people are less likely to follow you if they have seen ten similar accounts.
Not getting any social media followers, even if you manage to reach a big audience, can feel frustrating. But if you spend time learning about Instagram’s algorithms and building a niche, you can get results. You just need to be patient and consistent and adapt according to where you are on your journey.
Tactics that work when you have a big brand differ from those when nobody knows who you are…
Another notable piece of advice from an influencer with millions of followers is to talk to the camera. Understandably, this works for him, as he has many loyal fans just waiting for him to post more content.
There is a reason why celebrity posts often get higher reach, even from accounts other than their own. People are more likely to stop scrolling when they see someone familiar. They are also more likely to listen to what they say if they are already fans and would like to have their lifestyle.
This doesn’t mean that people only listen to celebrities. There is undoubtedly scope for unknown people to have a voice. However, it is unlikely that enough people will listen to what you are saying for several minutes unless they are familiar with you. Therefore, your reach is likely to stay low.
The best way to grow in the short term is to create short-form videos that last a few seconds to build an audience. Eventually, when you know how to build a following and understand which type of content resonates with your audience, you can move on to the next stage: long-form videos.
By the way, the company, the large influencers advised to “talk to the camera”, did start doing that. However, several months later, they were still stuck on a few hundred followers.
So, what should you do going forward…
Listen to people who are a couple of years ahead but have demonstrated success.
The best way to generate success is to surround yourself with other successful people. As Tony Robbins says, “You are the product of the five people closest to you.” Interestingly, friendship groups tend to surround themselves with people from similar socioeconomic status. Naturally, you are picking up ideas from people you surround yourself with.
Therefore, to be great at marketing, surround yourself with great marketers. If you don’t have people like that around you, focus on finding them online. The people who are most likely to offer sound advice are people who are a couple of years ahead of you in their journey but are successful themselves.
Set yourself different milestones. For instance, how do you grow from 0 to 1000 followers and take advice from somebody who has recently done that? The next milestone can be going from 1000 to 10,000 followers, and so on. Just make sure you listen to somebody who knows how this can be achieved today, not in 2015.
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