Engage or Alienate? Building Your Following the Right Way
“Engage. Don’t alienate.”
Engaging on social media is super important for building an authentic and loyal following, and here’s why:
✅ Spark connections with your niche
✅ Showcase your authentic self
✅ Make them feel they're part of a supportive community
✅ Create a lively conversation where everyone has a voice
✅ Amplify your content by sharing, liking, and commenting
Groove with your followers. Have a laugh together. And create lasting connections. By combining effort + authenticity, you can foster a loyal following. And the best part is you become more than just a content provider; you become a real human being who's interested in their thoughts, opinions, and experiences. People love being heard, and they'll reward you with their unwavering loyalty!
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TDE Episode 10: Engage or Alienate? Building Your Following the Right Way
Anne: Adam Rose is one of the funny people I follow on Instagram. I love his skits and his blue cardigan. And there’s this reel I watched - that was funny but at the same time thought-provoking too for content creators or anyone in the digital space.
The reel says how he got to 4 Million followers by posting every day, keeping up with trends - which are still sensible enough.
But when he got to “reasons” 3 to 5, you know right away it’s satire.
Other things he did was neglected his family, ignored his responsibilities, and sold his soul. And then the last line he said “Please help” like a hilarious cry for help.
It’s satire but sheds light on how someone can feel burnt out trying to create an impact on online presence.
Is there a right way to build a following on social media?
Anne: I can only speak from our experience with our clients plus through research and learning, but it’s safe to come to the conclusion that there's not just one right way.
There are different paths and different strategies to grow your audience on social media.
Carl: Let’s focus on Instagram.
Anne: Yeah since the majority of our clients are there. Our clients are mostly focusing on Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, but of course each platform has its own advantage for creators depending on their focus, purpose or goals.
Fostering growth as a creator
Carl: Okay so let’s talk about some valuable insights we’ve learned over the course of our agency’s history.
First insight: building an Instagram following requires a thoughtful approach and consistent effort. From what we’ve learned, one crucial aspect is the strategic use of hashtags.
And of course, you’ll see a lot of posts and reels saying hashtags are dead and whatnot, but it’s more of how you should be using hashtags.
Anne: Most people use either the most random hashtags or they’re not well thought of. I do think that using 30 or so hashtags isn’t as impactful as it once was - you can be more precise and efficient with just 5 to 7 hashtags.
And you also have to make sure that you update your hashtags regularly and that they are in alignment with the content you're sharing. This will help you reach the right audience and increase your chances of engagement.
So again, consistently use relevant hashtags in your posts and update them regularly.
Carl: Another strategy our clients implement is enhancing captions and keywords since these play a significant role in attracting and engaging your audience. Be intentional with your captions, using compelling and relatable content.
Also, you need to optimize your keywords to improve discoverability and ensure that your posts are seen by the right people.
So again, be intentional with your captions and use relevant keywords.
Anne: Now, let's talk about engaging with your audience.
One thing we’ve seen clients do is to carve out time each day to connect with people who are following and engaging with their posts using the same hashtags. I mean, there’s just no way around it.
If you want to really build a true, organic following, not buying followers or attracting bots, then it's essential that you incorporate this into your daily routine, even if it's just a couple of times a week.
This simple practice can make a big difference in growing your following.
And eventually, you can have a member of your team help you with it. You can come up with your own system that fosters consistent engagement.
The key is to regularly engage with people who use the same hashtags as your engaging posts.
Carl: When you’re engaging with your audience, it's crucial not to spam the comments section of a current post. This can be quite annoying to creators and might lead to negative outcomes. Instead, focus on other posts from the original account and engage with their content…
Anne: That’s helping you expand your reach to people in the same niche.
Common interests are prioritized by or on Insta. So if someone is commenting and engaging, take the opportunity to visit their account and interact there. So again, avoid spamming the comment section and engage with other posts from the same account.
Building relationships is key
Carl: Show genuine interest in your audience's content by liking their posts and leaving meaningful comments.
Don’t just reply with random phrases or thoughtless emojis - not unless that’s really who you are or how you interact. But especially leaving comments, this will start conversations and create a sense of connection, leading you to increase the likelihood of more loyal followers.
So, like posts and leave comments to initiate conversations and build connections.
Anne: As we’re going through this list, you might have a prevailing thought in your head that this is going to take you so long to do and will eat up a good portion of your day.
But if you’re a business owner or a solopreneur and content creation isn’t the focal point of your business, then it wouldn’t make sense to spend a couple of hours a day on social media or marketing yourself, creating these platform followings.
And this is where a good system + an efficient team comes in.
Carl: We’re all for getting the optimal experience. So to maximize your efforts, set aside 10 to 15 minutes a day for engaging with your audience, while your team helps you create content. If you can choose between outsourcing the task of content creation and audience engagement, choose the first one and keep the engagement task on your to-do list. We know a lot of bigger names who are still doing a good portion of their engagement themselves.
This is because it keeps you in the know with your community, your audience, and your loyal following.
Anne: It’s community building and market research rolled into one task - but it’s one of the most important ones that you should be on top of.
Carl: Engaging on social media is super important for building an authentic and loyal following. And we’re currently doing this ourselves. Because we’ve been in the industry for so long and we were always so locked in on our clients’ followings that we weren’t able to build our own social following. But we’ve managed to grow it organically. It’s not yet at the level that we want it, but what we’re happy about is our audience is not just engaged but they’re the right niche.
Anne: Our own Instagram is a good case study especially for small businesses, solopreneurs, coaches, creators and anyone who wants to build an organic following. The strategies we outlined in this episode can seem “slow” for those who are looking to just blitz social media and build a following quickly. But keeping that following engaged and nourishing them to be active and loyal, that’s another story.
Carl: If you combine effort and authenticity, it’s the formula for building and nourishing a loyal following. And the best part is you become more than just a typical content provider; you become a real, actual human that engages, has an interest in other people, and listens and cares about actual experiences and stories.
So remember: engage, don’t alienate!
