Small Social Media Following? Turn it Into Business with These Tips
There’s a lot of hype around social media in the marketing world. It may seem like you have to post on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn (or any other platform) daily if you want to successfully grow your business online.
The good news? You do not need a large follower count to get more clients or students (*cue the sigh of relief*). While having a large social media following has its perks (such as higher perceived credibility and a larger audience to engage with), it's not something to stress about. Especially if you're just starting out in your online business.
So if you don’t have thousands of followers, relax. You can absolutely grow your business even with just a few dozen followers - or even without using social media. Let’s take a look at the role that social media should play in your business so you can change more people's lives through your work.
How Social Media Fits Into Your Mindful Marketing Strategy
The main purpose of using social media for business is to increase brand awareness. It’s a great way to let your target audience know that you exist in the first place.
Your social presence can help people become familiar with what you can help them with. It can also help them feel more comfortable with you as they get to know you on a more personal, authentic level.
But all of this is just the first step in the customer journey process. And if you don’t guide people through the remainder of the journey mindfully and strategically? Well, the chances of them signing up for your offers are relatively low…regardless of how many thousands of followers you have.
The Next Step in Your Audience's Journey
You probably know of brands that have very little social media presence yet generate large sales while impacting millions of lives. On the other hand, you might see people on social media who have millions of followers but who don’t convert any of them to clients.
Where’s the disconnect? In the big-picture strategy, sweet soul. In the answer to “how does your next social media post, story, or reel lead the audience to the next step?”
Call Them To Action
Posting even the most engaging content will not translate into more sign-ups or bookings for your offers if:
You’re not sharing your posts with the right people (aka your target audience)
and you don’t have a clear call to action.
What do you want people to do as a result of reading your post?
Many of your posts might serve to simply inform or inspire. In fact, that’s highly encouraged. Mindful marketing is all about providing value! But you also need to have a way to stay in touch with your followers outside of social media.
So you invite them to click on a link to check out something valuable that you created for them - in exchange for their email address. Enter the lead magnet...
Give Them A Gift In Exchange for Their Email
If someone on social media comes across you for the first time, they’re often not ready to buy your offerings…and that’s absolutely normal and ok! That’s why the next logical step in the journey is to invite them to get a sample of what it’s like to work with you.
How can you best accomplish that? By offering them a freebie, also known as a lead magnet or opt-in. Learn more: What’s a Lead Magnet and How Can You Use It To Grow Your Email List (Mindfully)? This will allow them to learn more about how mindfulness could be a solution to their current problems and will make them more likely to want to learn more about your offerings.
Nurture The Relationship In Your Own Community
Think about this: If social media disappeared tomorrow, how would you stay in touch with the people who want to hear from you?
Plus think of how many of your followers won’t see your social media posts because: 1) they already follow thousands of other people and 2) because they don’t check their social media daily.
So how do you best stay in touch with the people who are genuinely interested in hearing from you?
You guessed it...through email! And if that word makes you cringe, don’t worry - it can be done mindfully and with love. Email marketing allows you to bring value straight into your audience’s inbox. And people are 40x more likely to take action on a link you include in an email versus on your social media post or ad! Email is a way of building your very own community on the internet without being subject to the rules of social media or other platforms.
Cultivate Relationships that lead to success
Now, none of this is to say that you shouldn’t use social media to grow your business. It’s absolutely a great tool! Thanks to social media and your other outreach efforts (check out 3 ways to market your services without social media), new people can get to know you and your brand better.
Once they download your freebie, you'll build a deeper relationship with them through email so they’re more likely to sign up for your next offer. But how exactly do you do all that without spending all your time in front of the computer.