There will always be a Facebook and a Twitter. The globe cannot imagine the internet without them but why do we need followers? Feeding the ego with an exemplary number of likes and tweets is for the misinformed. Those statistics are not the main reasons followers appear on your pages, it is an indication as to how well your message was received as it reached across the immeasurable Ethernet.
When you’re working toward a following, attracting the number of likes and tweets, the numbers prove that what you’re doing is working. It’s worth the effort to take notice. Numbers make a difference in the decisions prospective clients make. An example lies with a number of perhaps 250 compared with some 10K when a product is presented. Who will you go with? Social proof is right there. And when you’re building your list the actions you take are an integral element of your growth and the growth of your brand.
Attracting More Followers
Without to many more reminders (just one more), you need to offer quality content, and the quality has to be high. Give your followers an incentive to follow you. If you’ve done your research and you’re aware of what your audience wants, ensure you’re offering it.
Now slip into their shoes just for a moment. You’ve felt good when you’ve shared something worthwhile with friends. Return the favour; give them a reason to click on the share button.
Share Buttons have a Purpose
You can provide share buttons on your own site and make it easy and pleasurable for your visitors to share your content to their own social media platforms. You can do this manually or via a plugin, and we’ve included a brief list of those mentionable plugins available. Monarch is a plugin designed to enhance the display of icons of which there are over 39 and has styles and hover effects to choose from. Set it up as a sidebar either side, below or above your content, on images or videos if you feel that’s appropriate (it can be annoying) or as fly-in popups that are governed by time.
The above suggestions are designed to capture attention and subtly remind visitors to share your content when they’re leaving the page. And it’s all responsive, so it all works on mobile devices while giving you social sharing statistics. Monarch’s Developer Package begins at $89 per annum and comes with 87 professionally designed themes.
Jetpack, a plugin suite is a tool designed by Automatticc and includes:
- Publicise: A feature that allows your post to be shared automatically when it’s published
- Sharing: Adding share buttons to your posts which you can move anywhere you want them displayed. You can also add your own buttons including a captcha to the email share button.
- Related Posts: Keeps readers on your site occupied. It will show thumbnails to snare their attention.
- Likes: a Like button can be added to your post if you want. A post with many likes is a post that will likely be shared.
- Enhanced Distribution: Shares content with Search Engines and places feed in the WordPress Firehose.
Easy Social Share Buttons for WordPress
Here’s a one-stop-shop, an all in one sharing centre that has several attractive features for the enrichment of buttons. 12 templates will keep you busy while you customise them and you can monitor your results with built-in statistics. It works with WooCommerce and WP eCommerce for adding eCommerce to your social networking campaign.
The price is $19 for a regular license.
Shareaholic resonates with many people and is a free plugin which offers related features which being customisable and an ability to monetise your website with an affiliate link.
- Share Buttons: Counters for Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and Reddit
- Related Content: Optimised code is used for rapid display purposes and has built-in themes, or you can adjust to fit which is a boon for mobile devices.
- Follow Buttons: All social media platforms buttons are found here
- Social Analytics: Indications of which pages are performing and who is making referrals.
Comment Usage is Vital
Replies are a must. You’re interacting with your audience, and it’s a courteous way to build a trusting relationship. Comments get shared, and when you’ve provided high-quality content, generally comments trigger more comments and readers begin to interact with each other. Getting involved means your audience feels compelled to share not only your content but their opinions as well.
Disqus
This is a plugin that promotes discussions and sharing. It can be placed on your website as a system that builds activity among a community. It’s a login site that allows people to leave a comment and then become connected to the other millions of readers. Comments are shared on Facebook and Twitter. Disqus is responsive and works well on mobile devices and integrates with your website seamlessly and won’t look out of place.
Spam filters are in-built and you remain in control with the moderation system. Built-in SEO loads after your site making the content readable before the comments are loaded. Disqus is free and is operational on all publishing platforms and mobile devices and operation systems.
Conclusion
Use social media to post high-quality content and post often. The more you post, the more content you will have for your readers to share.
Adhere to a regular schedule when you’re posting your content. If you can manage (use Hootsuite or a similar site) to post consistently every day. This kind of behaviour trains your followers, and they get used to expecting more content from you. Engage with people who follow people of influence. This is a way to build your own influence which will entice people to follow you.
Become the authority, the expert in your niche. Do your homework and share the facts. People enjoy following and sharing content from figures of authority. All the effort you put into social network following takes time, but it’s time well invested. With the mountain of tools at hand, you’ve got something enjoyable to do rather than something that is more of a task. Combine some of the techniques suggested above and see what you can achieve. The results may surprise you.