Followers – Why people follow on social media

Before we talk about what to post… Let us look first at why people follow or unfollow organizations on social media 

  • Communication
    Many people are using social media as their main way to connect. For some people this is the only way. Your organization can tap into this by engaging your followers. Ask them questions and then reply to their responses.  Remember social media is about engaging with followers, not just giving them information.  
  • Entertainment
    Our days can get monotonous.  People often go to social media to get entertained.  Can your organization provide engaging entertaining content? Remember it doesn’t always need to be about your organization, but try to keep it related or your followers will get confused.
  • Interest
    People like to learn more about what they are interested in.  They will follow organizations and industries that interest them. Keep posts interesting and informative to keep interest peaked.
  • Interest in services and promotions
    Everyone loves a sale! People often follow a company to get sales. But, be careful, too many posts about sales is often why people will unfollow an organization.
  • Updates and Information
    People want to know what is going on in your organization.  As less people are subscribing to newspapers and are instead getting their news online, social media is a great place to talk about updates and new exciting things.  Do you have some great news to share? A goal you met?  A new employee?  A new product or service?
  • Customer Service
    Customers are turning more to social media as a way to ask questions about products and to resolve issues.  According to Sprout Social  
    people are turning to social media over email, websites or phone lines to resolve customer service issues. When organizations are responsive, it makes customers happy.  
  • Feedback
    Humans are social people.  We like to tell others what we think and how we feel.  Social media is a great way to tell people what we think of organizations and brands.  Reviews give us a way find out what others think of organizations.

 

What can get people to unfollow you on social media?

  • Posting too many promotions
    While people want promotions, if that is all they see, they will unfollow you.  It clogs up their newsfeed and disrupts them from finding what they want.
  • Not Replying to Messages
    Being unresponsive in social media will turn customers off fast.  Most customers expect responses in under 4 hours (during business hours).  Being responsive will keep followers as well as make customers happy.
  • Posting too often
    People want their newsfeed to be diverse. If you are clogging up their newsfeed, they will unfollow you, especially if they feel your information is irrelevant to them.
  • Using Slang or Jargon 
    Unless you are talking to a very specific person, most people will not understand the slang or jargon of your industry.  If they do not understand you, they will unfollow you.
  • No Personality
    This relates back to using social media as entertainment. Your personality should relate back to your brand and be interesting.
  • Trying to Be Funny (when you are not) 
    This relates to no personality.