In the first part of the building your audience series we looked at the first steps to gaining a social media audience. Strategies included getting your friends and family to follow your posts, along with other techniques such as claiming your vanity URL for easy searching and actively promoting yourself.

In part 2 we will look at several more easy concepts to expand your social media following.

Follow to Gain Followers

One powerful strategy to building your followers is to follow others who are considered thought leaders in your industry. This strategy has two very powerful benefits; first is that you can learn from their posts. The second benefit is that many times you have opportunities to engage and get your name in front of others by just participating in the conversation. One final added benefit is that on occasion third parties will go through the followers of thought leaders and follow the followers.

Participate

You’ve got the knowledge, so share what you can. Join groups on LinkedIn and participate on topic bulletin boards. Answer questions, assist others who might be struggling with something you are comfortable with and set yourself apart as an authority figure worthy to be followed.

Shout Out

Did your favorite thought leader blog/tweet/post something that you found really valuable? Let them, and your followers, know. Give a shout out to them from your space, and don’t forget to use the ‘@’ call to get their attention. Some will share or retweet words of thanks or kudos, and sometimes your message will be found in searches for that name as well. Don’t use it too often though, you need to give them some time to keep creating the content you like.

Post Regularly and Often

It doesn’t matter how large your following is if you are not engaging them. Set some standards in terms of posting and try to stick with them. Your followers will appreciate your presence, and you will appreciate the boost of shared posts, people talking about your product and more. Whether it is a shared joke, a product highlight or an answer to a frequently asked question, social media is a great place to not only engage your customers but keep them there as well.