You’ve found the perfect setting for your district page, created the amazing feeds, and brought even more coherence by setting and following your social media goals.
Now, it’s time to focus on growing your following!
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
As much as you may want to be the next viral sensation, there’s nothing wrong with taking the long route! Just like in the storybook fable, when it comes to growth, patience and dedication will take you much further when all is said and done. 🐢
When you’re able to effectively build a community with sincerity, it means better engagement throughout the life of your networks. No matter your follower count, the goal is high engagement. People who are excited about your socials want to interact with you now and will be back to check-in, for updates, and more later!
Rich, multi-layered, organically grown socials are the way to go!🧅
Organic Growth
At the center of it all, clarity and consistency will encourage growth. Stay on topic in all that you do so your message remains crystal clear. Determine a posting schedule that works best for you and stick to it, through thick and thin (unless analytics tell you otherwise, but more on that later). This way followers won’t get hangry for content! Once you’ve mastered these principles, you can put more focus on another layer of growing your following: engagement!
In this layer, the “social” part emerges in full effect! You’ve reeled them in with your looks and charm. Keep the romance alive by making the effort to interact as much as possible.😉 Demonstrate to your followers that you’re invested in staying connected to make them feel special and heard.
Responding to comments, likes, and shares is another layer and you can get even more interactive with using livestreams—informal webinars where you can chat about a relevant topic with your following. For example, use Instagram stories for question prompts and posts. This is great for engagement and it’s a brilliant way to collect helpful information about the preferences of your school, district, or organization.
Keep It Real
Keep things sweet and harmonious by avoiding platform pitfalls.🕳️ Avoid shadowbans that will stop your growth in its tracks because fewer people will see your content! Shadowbans are when a social media platform limits your functionality in an effort to protect the overall community. Following a certain number of people in one social media session or excessive liking can result in shadowbans.
Follow for follow, or the use of bots and large hashtag clouds are all old tricks that are likely to land you in hot water. 😅 Keep an eye out for other outdated methods to stay on the algorithm and your followers’ good side!
💡 Bonus Tips
- Share your social media handles in your real world interactions such as conferences, PTA meetings, and other areas where your potential audience might be.
- Create a ton of high quality content for the week, month, or quarter all at once to avoid missing a post.
- Stay encouraged! It takes time for things to grow 🌱