Why should we follow you?

I have a LinkedIn group for people in the pet industry, and once a week I post quick social media tip. A few days ago I posted one and got an interesting comment.

Here’s the tip I posted:

Make it about your followers. When you ask people to follow you on a particular platform, tell them what’s in it for them. Let them know if they’ll get free dog training tips, coupon for grooming services, free dog treat samples, special offers, etc. You want to give them a reason to want to follow you.

The response I found interesting was from someone who said she didn’t want to “bribe” her followers. She felt that if people wanted to follow her, they would follow her.

It’s important not to think of telling people what they get if they follow you as a bribe, because . . . well . . . it’s not! What you are doing is giving us just enough information to decide if it makes sense for us to follow you.

Think about what happens when you’re online, and how many websites are crying out for your attention. We have email, pop-ups, banner ads, video ads, friend requests, page suggestions . . . phew! Everybody wants a piece of us! Most of the time we dismiss them with a click of the mouse, unless something catches our eye.

Stand out from the crowd

One way to stand out from the crowd a bit is to tell people how we might benefit if we follow you. Do you have special offers or coupons for your followers? If you’re a hairdresser you might offer a coupon for a free haircut. If you’re a financial advisor, you may have unique tips on how to save money on vacation. Or, you might just be great curator and share some of the funniest videos you can find in order to give us a good belly laugh every day. Whatever the case, tell us from the get go. This isn’t meant to be an advertisement. Think of it as giving (yes, giving) real value to people who decide to follow you.

We all tend to be opportunists to a certain extent, and you can capitalize on that by telling people what’s in it for them if they follow you. It’s not a bribe. It’s simply providing information, being transparent, and even lets people know you respect their time

Think about what you normally post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Then, when you ask people to follow you, say what they can expect to see. It’s that simple. For example, which one of these will you click on to follow me on Twitter?

Follow me on Twitter
or
Follow me on Twitter, where I love to talk about social media and pets!

And now, without advertising, in the comments below tell us why I should follow you!