How to Create & Cultivate your Community using Social Media

Hi guys,

Isn’t it just amazing how far technology has come. We live in a digital world and with that comes endless opportunities to connect with people, organizations and businesses on a global scale. We literally have the world at our finger tips with over 3 billion people on the internet and signed to different social networks.

As you may have heard me say so many times, you should always be proactive, intentional and prepared to maximize opportunities and leverage the resources you have. If you were ever doubtful, let this be a reminder that the internet is a great resource. You should think of different ways to take advantage of the internet, the different platforms and programs to create, cultivate and grow your target audience, your community, engagement and influence to develop a successful business, blog and brand organically.

One of the biggest questions I always get is, how did you grow your audience? And the answer to that is, it was a combination of different things and some were much more effective. Although it’s much more difficult to grow an online community using social media right now due to changes in the algorithm, there is still so much you can do to be more visible, to connect with people, cultivate relationships and expand your reach personally and professionally.

I grew a community of over 20,000 people in a year using social media and these are some ways you can do it too

1. Be clear about who you are, what your story is, what your purpose, message and goals are and focus on this always and don’t be distracted by the numbers.
2. Focus on developing yourself, improving your skills, harnessing your talents so you are growing and becoming the best version of yourself, and you will attract the right people.
3. Share the importance of what you do and why it matters to your audience. Being relatable is what will attract them and help them connect with you but being relevant is what will keep them interested so they keep coming back for more.
4. Be transparent and showcase the different dimensions of your personality and if possible your life, so they can better understand and connect to you. A certain level of vulnerability and transparency shows that you are human and far from perfect just like them, hence they can relate to you and you become more approachable. Also, this can empower them to share and shine just like you despite their imperfections.
5. Educate, empower or/and entertain your community. To be able to cultivate a strong and loyal community, you must be providing something important that they want or you must be solving a problem for them. Regardless of what you choose to do, make sure you deliver on your promise and you are always welcome to do all.
6. Pay attention to details and the needs of your community. Ask questions, listen to them, research, find solutions and deliver on your promise. Also invite and include them in the process so they feel connected to you, your brand and products. You can get feedback by using surveys and polls to collect and analyze information.
7. Support and collaborate with people and brands who do similar things like you or serve the same audience. By collaborating, you also become more visible and grow your community while having fun, sharing something you love and supporting someone else.
8. Engagement is essential and sharing the same love and support you get is key. You can’t expect to grow when you don’t appreciate your community of supporters who like, comment, read your content and purchase your products or services. Continue to have an open line of communication by being approachable, being interested, asking or answering questions, replying comments etc. On Instagram, the algorithm is designed in such a way that it is more beneficial for you to engage for 30-60mins immediately after posting. Also, when you post, always have an open-ended question and a call to action to initiate dialogue and continue the conversation.
9. Host an event physically or virtually on Instagram, Facebook or Periscope and post on meet up, Eventbrite etc. By doing this you get to share more content and people get to see your personality, people can understand you better and connect with you on a different level.
10.  Host contests, raffle draws, giveaways and challenges as a way to engage with your audience and give back to them for all their love, trust and support. You can do this on your own, with a brand or with a group of people like brands, colleagues and other influencers who share similar values and the same niche.
11. Be committed to your community. Invest in yourself, invest in your brand but also invest in them. In life and in business, there comes a time that you must commit and invest your money, time and energy into what matters like your community, to get to the next level. Also, the best investments are in engaging, learning, connecting and giving back to yourself and community for growth, change and transformation.

I hope you enjoyed reading this and I encourage you to start implementing them and share your results with me. It can be overwhelming to do all at the same time, so start with a few things at a time and don’t give up after a few days. You can create a plan and implement certain strategies at a time for several weeks or months, then analyze them before making conclusions. Also, if you have a system that already works for you, don’t mess it up.

If you have questions, feedback or suggestions, kindly share on my page or email me info@chigisworld.com Also contact me for a free consultation on growing your business, blog and social media community.

For the full list with over 30 strategies to grow or for direct access to me with the step by step guide for more branding, blogging and business resources and strategies, SIGN UP to my Membership Program and join my tribe. Our Social Media Growth Challenge will start June 1 and will run till the end of the month, so don’t miss it.

Stay blessed and have a fabulous day!

xoxo

Chigi.