Digital Friends: Building Relationships with Social Media Leaders

When you have something important to share on social media how do you ensure it is seen?

When is the best time to attract followers and grow your presence on social media? Now.

Don't wait until you have to get the word out about an upcoming event. It takes time and effort to find on social media accounts that share common goals with you and to build those relationships.

Here are some tips on who to follow on social media and how your digital friends can make a big difference in reaching your goals.

Boosting your digital audience engagement, including increasing clicks on your links and having others re-share your content, starts with identifying other businesses and individuals who are thought-leaders in your field. How do you find the experts in what you do? Hopefully, you've already visited your favorite search engine for some basic searches on who to follow in your field. Once you have looked up professional organizations, blogs and podcast creators, and relevant hash tags (#socialmedia, #mplsactors, #websitecreation, #smallbiz, #audiencedevelopment, etc.) you can start to find lots of potential "digital friends."  I recommend building lists on your Twitter account to keep track of these superstars. But also sign up for their email lists, check out their websites and resources, follow them on Instagram and Facebook. Explore what they do and examine what is working well for them and keep in mind your common ground.

Who could you follow on social media?

• First, find your current collaborators, project partners and clients on social media.
• Second, learn who your main competition follows and who is following them.
  
• Finally, identify your ideal clients or collaborators for the medium- and long-term.
  

Expand from there. You will attract like-minded people by keeping your social media posts relevant to your audience and directly linked to your mission and goals.

Connect with your online friends by asking questions, congratulating successes, and re-sharing their posts and content that is relevant to both of you.

Finally, keep in touch with your digital buddies. Watch out for opportunities they might appreciate and help them to expand their online reach. Reciprocity is the name of the game when it comes to social media and engaging your stakeholders online.