How to Grow Your Social Media Presence

There’s no question that improving your social media presence can have a big impact on you or your organization’s work. Whether you are running for office or working to advance an issue, being active on social media is important.

But if you are a small organization, you likely don’t have the time to keep up with all the trends and to post on every platform, every day. The good news is you don’t have to. There are a few strategies you can use to grow your social media presence and expand your reach without spending hours on each platform.

Pick your two favorite social media channels

Pick two social media platforms you prefer or that are best for reaching your audience. Perhaps that’s Twitter and YouTube or Facebook and Instagram. Figure out which two best fit your needs and get started.

You can have accounts on all social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok), but focus the majority of your time and energy on two. Make sure you are following people in your space so that you can engage with them or engage on topics that align with your work or your priorities.

By focusing your time on two platforms, you can better deliver consistent and relevant content rather than spreading yourself too thin across four or five platforms. It will help you build a following, and once you reach a critical mass of followers, you can start to build on other platforms.

Create a content calendar + schedule your posts

You may think that you can handle posting regularly – especially if you’ve hired someone to serve as a social media manager – but the reality is even the most advanced brands use a calendar to help guide their posts.

HubSpot offers a free content calendar to aid in scheduling regular social media posts. This helps you prioritize topics that are part of your brand. Resolve to post about these topics at least once per week, drafting evergreen content that aligns with your priorities.

For example, if you are an elected official or if you are running for office and you want to have reproductive health care as a central tenet of your messaging, make sure you have a post each week about the topic in some form. It can be tied to a news event or can simply be a link to a study or to a local organization you support.

Schedule the posts with an eye for consistency: Mapping out posts ensures you follow through. A busy schedule can get in the way of regular posting and ultimately can stall growth. Posting regularly helps reinforce your brand. There are no hard and fast rules about how much to post, but studies show that posting 4-6 times per week is effective.

Invest in multimedia

Given how fast people are scrolling, it’s important to also create engaging content that people want to read or click. Make sure you are bringing some pop to your posts by including videos, GIFs, graphics, stories, statistics, or something else that piques interest.

You don’t have to force posts that aren’t aligned with your style or brand, but work to find an angle that is interesting to you and your audience. Try to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and create content that they would want to click on — content that is interesting, fun, or has value.

Engage with followers and other accounts

Who you follow and who follows you is important. If you are an elected official or if you are running for office, follow other elected leaders, agencies, local organizations, or non-profits. Interact with their content, communicate with them, or tag them, if applicable. This is similar concept as being active in your community.

You also want to make sure that you interact with your audience. Ask questions, take polls, hold public meetings or telephone town halls and invite your followers to attend. All of these methods boost engagement. It helps build your following in your target community. It also helps you stay attuned to what’s happening in your space.

Building an online community requires connection so make sure you are truly connecting with the people who follow you – reply to comments and make sure to deliver value in what you post. Much like in-person events, online events help show people you are available to them.

Repurpose content

It can be hard to feed the content machine that is social media. Posting four to six days per week can be tiring, and sometimes finding something to post about can be a challenge, but don’t overcomplicate it. If you send regular emails or write reports and articles, all of that can be repurposed for social media content.

Any time you are working on something, consider how you could use a piece of it for a social media post. Perhaps it’s an excerpt, sentence, or a short clip from an interview. All of that could make a good post that helps reinforce your priorities or shows your followers what you’re up to.

Test your results

Lastly, test the performance of your posts. Compare how many people liked a post, commented, clicked, or saved it. Learn from the data to see what kinds of posts perform best so you can devote more energy to the posts that appear to generate the most interest or value for your followers.

When it comes to social media marketing, data is always helpful. Make sure to use it to guide your strategy. You may think that your audience loves graphics, but they may actually prefer a short video from you. Be open to experimentation and dig into the data to figure out the best options.

Conclusion

Growing a social media presence can seem like a daunting task, but if you are consistent and open to experimentation, you will see progress.

Make sure to focus on two predominant social media channels (rather than spreading yourself too thin across four or five), create a social media calendar and schedule your posts, invest in multimedia content creation, engage with your audience, and make sure to test all your work. If you do this, you will be on the best track to increase your followers and see better engagement and awareness.