Just when you thought the daunting task of achieving popularity would be over by high school – you were wrong.

Yes, I must admit, in a pool saturated with infinite tweets, Facebook posts, and videos, small businesses must become the unscrupulous sharks that sniff around for a volume of fishy followers.

One of the challenges for any small business is the ability to appear seemingly popular amongst a multitude of social media sites with followers that consistently “like” your Facebook posts and “re-tweet” your content. But how does one become so popular? Yes, great content is key to achieving this goal, but building that base of followers is the first step in establishing online credibility.

Twitter: Follow others and others will follow you back – Twitter etiquette

  1. Research influential industry leaders related to your field of interest that are on Twitter. You can search for well-established companies with twitter handles or individuals who have a high following base.
  2. Click on their Twitter follower list and begin following their list of followers.
  3. You will begin to see your Twitter follower base grow. Many of the people you follow will follow you back. Yes, it works!

Facebook: Join specific groups that are related to your particular industry.

  1. Log into Facebook using your personal account; this will not work if you log in with your business account
  2. Click on the Facebook search tab and type in key words related to your particular field of interest. When the drop down appears, click on the last item with the magnifying glass.
  3. Make sure you select “Groups” (listed under the “More” tab)
  4. If the groups are listed as a “Closed Group”, request to “Join” the group.
  5. Once you join the group, you can comment, share , and post content related to your company. Share content that relates to that group’s interest while also integrating your company’s services.

Blogs – Build relationships with bloggers that blog about your field of interest

  1. Take some time to look through your list social network or Google bloggers that write content related to your specific industry.
  2. Navigate to that blog’s page and analyze the type of content written and the style in which it is written: videos, text, pictures, and length of content. Does this blog appear to target your specific audience?
  3. Comment and share the blogger’s content – this builds trust and relationship between you and the blogger.
  4. Once you’ve established that trust, you can email the blogger requesting that he/she share some of your content on his/her site.
  5. Having your content appear on a blogger’s website increases your SEO rankings Google’s search engines and establishes brand exposure for your business .

Last piece of advice: Be consistent with content. Once you’ve established a growing base of followers, you should at least post twice a week across all social media sites. Remember, your goal is to remain consistent and relevant, otherwise you’ll become that old high school buddy that’s been socially “de-friended” and long forgotten.

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