Oftentimes businesses of any size, big or small, make the biggest mistake in their social media marketing strategies. They fail to appear human, and in most cases resemble web bots spewing external links or emotionless posts across all social media platforms. Hard selling, irrelevant content, and lack of engagement with followers and potential customers is far too common among industries, leading to missed opportunities to snatch undecided consumers who haven’t made the commitment to buy into your product or service. In today’s marketplace, you have to be open, friendly, and willing build relationships with your customers and followers, or you’ll begin to see post by post that engagement and growth on social media will dwindle.

Being human on social media, is really all about having the same mindset or emotions as the consumer. If you’re selling a Subaru, you must know what owners of that brand do on a daily basis. Whether that’s hiking or off-roading, or taking on the very worst mother nature has to offer, Subaru owners want a dependable car that can get them out of any situation life throws at them behind the wheel. By not affectively communicating to these consumers, your voice will not be heard. You must create emotions behind what you’re selling. A Subaru owner looking to trade up from an older model, might be more enticed to buy a brand new Outback if you cater your marketing efforts to that person, or others like him or her. By speaking their language, both literally and emotionally, you’ll begin to see results as you’re no longer hard selling, but actually being informative.

As an owner of a Volvo S40, I wanted to join a group or fan page on social media to share my enthusiasm for my car. When I couldn’t find one, I created one myself. Within about six months I built a following of 250 Volvo S40 enthusiasts, organically. By being human, evoking the same emotions other S40 owners had, engagement numbers and total reach were much larger than the current following I had. Getting Likes, comments, and shares became easier by the day because the content was catered to those who love their car. Being human, and understanding where your customers or followers are coming from, is exactly what’s needed in social media marketing, and that’s my attitude when running my own accounts.

Stop using social media platforms as another stage to hard sell. While consumers are using Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and even Snapchat to make buying decisions, their influences are not from companies who hard sell or throw their products in the faces of consumers. Social media is your opportunity to build a community, a community of loyal consumers who will buy from your business for the rest of their lives. By not building your bridges now, consumers will find another path to being treated with value and catered to specifically. Your social media efforts today, will dictate where you are five to ten years down the road when digital marketing becomes the main focal point of a marketing strategy.

Since the beginning of blogs and independent news websites, content has been king. The value being offered by the author of articles and the administrator of websites always attracted real followers, subscriptions, and even customers. Today with social media marketing, the same strategy can still be applied to Twitter and Instagram, and to an extent Facebook, which still brings a return on investment from content, despite the change in algorithms which now makes organic growth difficult. Social media experts are beginning to push the idea of spending money on advertisements for Twitter and Instagram, yet those two platforms differ greatly from Facebook which does indeed force small business owners and bloggers to advertise to reach their target markets.

Why does content have a different effect for Twitter and Instagram than it does for Facebook? Twitter and Instagram achieve the same goal, but the type of content that is being shared can differ. Both platforms give the user much more freedom than Facebook when it comes to creating a following and attracting customers. By posting a tweet or Instagram picture and properly using hashtags, hundreds if not thousands of people are being reached organically, which means free exposure.

Creating a following on these platforms is seamless, and the user can mold his or her following in anyway they desire based on the content they’re posting and who they’re engaging with who also share similar content. Exotic car owners are the perfect example for growing a massive following on Instagram, as high resolution photos are an art form that gets a lot of engagement. That’s what Instagram was intended for. Photographers would share their photos to promote their skills and share their talent. Fast forward almost four years and Instagram can now be used in the same way that photographers, athletes, and actors use it, benefitting both you and your business.

Twitter is essentially an open forum where there are hundreds of thousands of different conversations going on simultaneously. Whether you’re self branding or using Twitter for your business, becoming a part of these conversations is key to succeeding on Twitter. Growing a large following takes time and a lot of work, but unlike with Instagram, you’re building a reputation and credibility through the content you’re posting, whether that be articles or tweets. Having influence in your market is very important as you become a leader in your field. While Twitter is ideal for the individual who is trying to shape and change an industry, small businesses that have physical locations can still benefit from being active and engaging with people in their local area.

When you take a step back and look at Twitter and Instagram for what they are, paying for ad campaigns is unnecessary. Organic growth outweighs paying for followers, as dedicating time and effort on both platforms will yield a much higher return on investment, and the money you’re saving could go towards more meaningful and effective marketing tools. Content is still king, and until Instagram and Twitter change their algorithms, which has been unsuccessful as users disapproved of the changes, articles, posts, and pictures will grab the attention of consumers that you want to reach. Put in time and energy, not money, and you’ll see your hard work pay off in the end.

When you think of Twitter, a 140 character limit, a constant refreshing newsfeed, and the ability to post as many tweets a day without spamming your followers probably comes to mind. However, 95% of users, including social media marketing experts, have completely misused the platform despite growing a large following. For some, the user’s name immediately draws in followers such as household brands, athletes, and hollywood stars. Yet, for those who are trying to build their own brand from essentially nothing, their course of action on Twitter must be different from people who have been in the game for years who have transferred their followers and customers over from other platforms.

Twitter, much like Facebook and Instagram, is often looked at as a self promotion platform where wannabe influencers in any market try building their credibility through promoting their blog articles and YouTube videos. It’s the attitude of social media marketing experts that have completely distorted the minds of their followers, and have shaped them into believing that what worked for the expert will work for the individual who’s looking to build a large following. But when you look at the people who are succeeding on Twitter, there is a different approach they use to grow a following; brand reinforcement.

Brand reinforcement for you or your business on Twitter starts with retweeting, favoriting, and following others in your niche market. Forget about self promotion; it’s almost as bad as hard selling, except you’re hard selling yourself, and if no one is listing to what you have to say, you’re not going to grow a following that will engage with you or your blog posts. Social media experts get away with nonstop self promotion because they make a living off individuals who don’t know where to start on social media platforms, and as a result, they’ll mirror those who they deem to be credible or reliable.

Your business and or your personal brand’s growth on Twitter, will require a different path because you need to stand out from your competition. Twitter has evolved into an alternative news source, and if you can get ahead of your competition by becoming the “reporter” or lead blogger in your field, you’ll be worth far more than anyone else offering the same services or selling similar products in your market.

Maybe you’re a personal trainer or an experienced weightlifter looking to grow a following so you can share your expertise to become a credible source of information on social media. Twitter is the perfect platform, as you can retweet others who share similar philosophies on training while you’re posting your own tweets. Those articles you’re retweeting are reinforcing your position on weightlifting. Combining that with your own content, whether that be articles on your own blog or YouTube videos that you produce, your voice and insight will carry much more weight (no pun intended) and add to your credibility.

The question people need to ask themselves before they become influencers is, “Where do I start”? Brand building is a very long process, which is why before promotion, you need to reinforce who you are and what you’re offering. Anyone can create an account and start spewing every ounce of information they’ve retained over the years, but without having any credibility or brand to promote, your insight will fall on deaf ears.