12 Ways to Grow Your Social Media Audience Fast in 2021

With over 4.2 billion users and counting, social media is one of the best tools for businesses to reach their target consumers. Think of your followers on social media as potential customers. The more you have, the better for your business.

There are endless ways to go viral and grow your social media following in 2021. Try the following methods and watch your follower count grow exponentially.    

Free Download

The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Marketing for Business

1. Ensure your name and bio sections are SEO friendly

Use keywords in your name and bio that are related to your business. Now that Instagram allows for keyword searches, businesses with SEO-friendly names have a better chance of being discovered by potential customers.

For example, if your business is a bakery in LA, make sure to include the words “bakery”, “LA”, and “Los Angeles” either in your name and bio.

2. Post aesthetically pleasing, sharable content

Thanks to photo editing apps, beautiful photos are more attainable than ever. The more appealing your photos are, the more likely your followers will share them on their own feeds or stories. Another idea is to post relatable quotes that followers might be inclined to share. With every shared post, your followers are expanding your audience reach for you.

Some popular and user-friendly photo editing apps are Snapseed, Canva, and VSCO. A pro-tip is to use the same edit settings or filter for all the images on your feed. This creates a cleaner and more cohesive look.

This clothing brand grew its following to 75,000 through relatable, beautiful, and sharable posts.

3. Use a variety of hashtags

It’s no secret that hashtags are essential to be discovered on social media. By varying the hashtags you use, your posts have a higher chance of being discovered.

Check the number of posts or tweets using a hashtag.

The greater the number, the less visibility.

Your post will be visible for longer on smaller to medium hashtags due to less saturation. Aim to use less popular, more niche hashtags in addition to the big ones.

4. Post content consistently

Think of each post as an opportunity to grow your following. “The more you post, the more chances you have to be discovered by potential customers. At the same time, spamming your followers will annoy them” says Mavis Hundt, a business writer at Research papers UK.

According to Hootsuite, businesses should post between 3-7 posts a week on Instagram, 1-2 posts a day on Facebook, 1-5 tweets a day on Twitter, and 1-5 posts on LinkedIn.

5. Leverage trending video sounds on TikTok and Instagram Reels

More and more businesses are taking advantage of TikTok’s growing audience. The video-sharing social media platform is currently so popular that it forced Instagram to redesign its app to promote its Reels section.

To find trending sounds on TikTok, tap the “+” sign at the bottom center of the app.

Next, tap “Add sound” at the top.

This will take you to the “Sounds” page. Under Playlist, go to the “TikTok Viral” sounds.

Videos that use trending sounds have a greater chance of ending up on people’s “For You” page. Another method is to simply scroll through your feed and choose one that sparks an idea.

To find trending Reels sounds on Instagram, tap the Reels icon at the bottom of your screen.

Tap the camera icon at the top followed by the audio icon.

Under “For You” the sounds are the most popular used on Instagram.

In terms of content ideas, many businesses post behind-the-scenes clips, such as creating your product from scratch or packaging orders. “The wonderful thing about TikTok and Reels is that any of your videos have the potential to go viral. You can create one short-form video and share it on both platforms” says James Hager, a marketer at Draft beyond and Writinity.

6. Use words to engage your audience

While hashtags are a good tool to attract views, don’t limit your account’s potential by neglecting to use words in your posts to engage with your followers.

You can ask a question.

Redirect them to a link.

Encourage them to tag someone.

7. Engage with your followers through comments

While you may not have the time to reply to every single comment, you should be replying to some. Establishing a relationship with your followers can turn them into consumers and encourage them to share your business with others.

Engagement with your followers can be as simple as “me too”.

8. Respond to other accounts with large followings

This is a great way to gain exposure and more followers. You can comment on another account’s post or reply to a famous person’s tweet to increase your visibility to their followers.

9. Do a giveaway

Giveaways are the perfect way to gain new followers because you make the rules. To enter, ask your current followers to tag a friend and share the post on their story. Each tag counts as an additional entry, encouraging them to tag as many friends as possible. Make sure the giveaway is exclusive to people following your account.

10. Follow the followers of accounts similar to yours

This is an especially effective strategy if your account is just starting out. If a user already follows accounts that are similar to your own, they are more likely to follow you back. They’re also more likely to be interested in the products or services you offer.

11. Collaborate with other businesses

Collaborating with another account is a less time-consuming approach than following their followers. It’s mutually beneficial. You expose their account to your followers and they expose yours to theirs.   

12. Collaborate with influencers

Influencers are people who have already done the work of growing their social media audience. By collaborating with them, you reap the benefits of their popularity. You can send them a free product to review or do a giveaway with them that encourages their followers to follow you.

Guest author: Jenny Divine is a marketing specialist and blog writer who enjoys exploring different facets of marketing. You can find her work at the Paper writing service and Business assignments. She is also an editor at Gumessays.