Getting Content Seen Pt 2: The Art of Fandom

We all want to make great content- but the true art of online marketing lies in getting that content seen. How you engage with your fans, and encourage them to share the news about your business, will play a key role in this critical aspect of social media marketing. Here’s some expert tips from the whizz kids at Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency to help you keep your biggest marketing asset working for you.

Why Followers Matter

The true value of social media followers for online marketing doesn’t lie in a big number at the bottom of your photo or page. It lies in the engagement with the post that those followers show. Of course, there’s no single guaranteed formula for success, but there’s a lot you can do to encourage people to interact meaningfully with your content, allowing you to build a thriving fan community that will bring that precious resource- word of mouth- to the advertising table.

And it all starts with understanding those fans. When you know more about the people who already support you, you can both leverage the content that appeals to them most well and subtly steer engagement where you need it. Of course, this means that you need to stay on top of who your ‘top fans’ are, be it on Facebook (which actually offers this feature as a poster reward) or any other social media platform. Here is where active metric and demographic tracking helps  a ton- what content is performing well? What are the key statistics of the people interacting with that content? How does it intersect with your marketing aims?

Find ways to acknowledge their efforts, too. On Facebook, for example, you can easily see who is earning the ‘top fan’ badges through the ‘see all top fans’ option. There’s also their newer ‘weekly engagement’ feature, showing who has been ‘top achiever’ with regard to the content you’ve posted that week. It is accessible from the ‘about’ section of your business page.

Encourage Safe Interaction

The logical space to start here, of course, is in the comment section of your existing social media marketing. The idea is to build a sense of community, rather than throwing content into the void and never interacting with the people who like it. Pay special attention to interactions with those top fans, but above all, make the place a safe, friendly, and productive space through vigilant moderation and subtle control of the conversation, too. When people feel safe and welcome, they return.

Plus, this makes fans feel appreciated and seen. Smart marketers will also let top supporters know their efforts are seen, even through something as simple as a platform shout out. Celebrate milestones, and consider aspects like contests and giveaways. Or consider allowing top supporters exclusive content aspects, to work a sense of FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out, into what you have to offer.

These are, obviously, very general guidelines. For each social media marketing platform you have, there’s different creative ways to ensure you’re nurturing the community you already have, and letting fans feel heard, appreciated, and wanted. When you content is positive and your engagement high, you’re building critical brand ambassadors that will pay their weight in ROI for your marketing efforts. Remember, if you’re not sure where to start building your brand presence, or how to better put your fan community to work for you, the Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency team are always here to help.