There are endless ways to create a solid social media presence. As an influencer, one of the biggest perks is the opportunity to craft your own content and generate a loyal following. But when you’re trying to stand out in an ocean of content, you need to take the time to do some research so you can keep your numbers trending upward.

Let’s take a look at six easy steps you can take to help increase your followers and fans!

 

 

Focus on the right platform

 

There are lots of social media platforms, but trying to maintain quality content and great branding on all of them is going to water down your efforts. The best strategy is to choose the platform that will allow you to promote your brand effectively and allow fans who are looking for content like yours to find you easily.

 

For example, Twitter has very lenient rules when it comes to content, so if you’re pushing an adult brand, Twitter can be a great option for posting teasers without fear of being deleted. Instagram, on the other hand, can be used to help promote your brand without getting overly explicit. That’s one of the reasons why branding yourself is so important–with the right branding, your content will appeal to your audience no matter if you’re going vanilla or XXX. Don’t think of every social media platform as a must-have — instead, take a look at how each can benefit your brand and focus your efforts on what kind of content is best to post there.

 

Another helpful tactic is to recycle content across multiple platforms to encourage “cross-pollination” of followers. Taking a screenshot of a Twitter post and sharing it on Instagram is a great way not only to get double use of a single post, but also alert your Instagram followers to your Twitter account, encouraging them to follow you there as well.

 

 

Check out your competition

 

There are a lot of people who are trying to make it as an influencer. With so much competition, you may be wondering how you can possibly make it to the top of the ranks. What’s your best bet? Study your biggest competitors! They are a great tool for finding out what works, so check out influencers with brands that are similar to yours and analyze their strategy. Where are they most active? When? What kind of content do they post, and which posts are the most successful? How often do they post? How much do they engage with their fans? By using their success as a roadmap, you can start to guide yourself in the right direction.

 

 

Be Consistent with Your Brand

 

You can’t put one face on Instagram and then turn around and be someone completely different on Twitter. You’ll confuse your fanbase and they won’t be interested in sticking around to see who you might be tomorrow. Staying loyal to your brand will give you loyalty in return. That means that even if the type of content you’re sharing is based on the platform you’re using, your unique personality still needs to shine through. In short, don’t post your hottest content on one platform and your most hilarious memes on the other. Stay true to your persona and let it shine no matter which platform you’re using.

 

 

Show, don’t tell

 

Your content should always reflect who you are, but you should never have to tell your fans what to expect from you. They should know the minute they click on your profile. That’s why it’s important to show fans who you are instead of telling them.

Consider this:

 

Profile Bio 1: I’m a super-hot camgirl and the most incredible content creator ever! I post amazing content that will make all your dreams come true!

 

Now, while that might all be technically true, it’s also pretty…boring. You’re basically telling people what you are without letting any of your personality shine through. If your profile is dull, how can they expect your content to be interesting?

 

Now consider this:

 

Profile Bio 2: I’m the girl-next-door you always wanted to spy on. Now you can.

 

In this example, instead of telling your fans what you’re all about, you’re painting a picture of yourself instead. The innocence mixed with voyeurism creates an intriguing image, and fans are going to want to know more.

 

Another tip is to offer up content that your fans will love, NOT content that is simply pushing them to make a purchase. If every post you make directs your fans to a sale, they’re going to get tired of the constant pitches. Vary your content by offering some ‘pure’ content that you know fans will love, no strings attached.

 

 

Go live

 

People love live content, because it makes them feel like they are actually spending time with their favorite influencers. We live in an age of interactive entertainment, and doing an IG live from time to time is a great way to intrigue your fans and make them feel like a real part of your life. Your lives don’t have to be explicit, they just have to be real.

 

You also want to be sure that you’re engaging with your fans, not just letting them sit back and watch you. By liking their posts, responding to their comments, and creating a two-way conversation, you’re going to improve your relationship with fans and increase their loyalty.

 

 

Use your hashtags and use them right

 

Hashtags are a great way to pull in new traffic, but overloading your posts with a paragraph worth of tags is just going to exhaust your audience and turn them off your content. Do hashtag research to find the most relevant tags and try to incorporate them as organically as possible. Identify the most important #hashtags in your post and allow them to occur #naturally in your text. Lesser important hashtags can be added on to the end (but put a good bit of space between your tags and your main text to give their eyes a break). It’s also useful to check out current banned hashtags so you’re not wasting your space on tags that won’t bring you results.