Social Media influence can bring you notoriety, cash and, sometimes, a new gig (or two). But how do you actually get your audience to grow? There are three things that are essential for all digital brands , no matter what you’re saying, sharing or selling. And I’m giving them to you, right here.
Consistency. Clarity. Communication.
Those are the three things that every brand, entrepreneur and influencer needs to do in order to build a healthy digital community that translates to clients and builds your bank account.
This article is more about the authentic connection than it is about any hard and fast best practices.
It’s about understanding who you are and what you’re offering then it is about building a sales funnel or the perfect Facebook ad.
It is about mindset, intuition and goals. All of your goals.
Step 1: What is Your Community?
Tribe, community, gang. Whatever you call it, it’s all about the people you’re engaging with. The content you share, the products you sell — they have the power to change someone’s life. Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, building a following, a community, means that you have leverage to work with as you work your way up the ladder as a careerpreneur, which is my term for someone who treats their job like a business.
In order to build a community, you have to understand what the people who follow you, are inspired by you and choose to connect with you are interested in as a unit. What shared traits do they have? What shared interests? Identify those first, at least the top three, before you define the relationship.
Related: How to Keep Your Business Boundaries and Increase Productivity
Step 2: Define the Relationship
Are you the teacher? The guide? Coach? Cheerleader?
Defining the relationship in your community is a key step… it’s a key step in every, single relationship you have (right, millennial friends?!?) but in building a community that converts, it’s even more important. Be the Alpha your community needs AND help them grow, share and be confident in their own abilities.
Step 3: Give the People What They Want
Once you know what common traits and interests your community (or desired community) shares, it’s easy to give them what they want. And, if you’re still not sure? That’s where polls and quizzes come in. Creating a quiz (like my “What’s Your Boss Style?”) is a great way to generate leads that are interested in what YOU have to offer. Polling your Facebook group or your audience on Facebook in general, is the best way to figure out what they want. You can also look back through your past posts to get a sense of what’s popular in your organic content strategy.
Overall, the three steps to building a community involves setting a clear intention for your efforts ONCE you’ve established the needs, hopes and dreams of the community you desire.
And then? Then it’s just about being authentically, awesomely, amazingly, YOU.