I’d like you not to worry about the numbers of fans you have. Your focus should always be on the content you create for marketing. But wouldn’t you like to have 100 highly engaged fans ready to buy your products on social media?

Creating the type of content that your fans are looking for must be your brand’s priority to achieve growth using social media. And the reason it is so important is that the quality of your content will equate to the quality of your fans – great quality content; high-quality fans.

If you have done your research and understand your target market, and what type of content they want, they are more likely to look forward to seeing your content on social media. They’ll be happy to engage with it and eventually buy from your brand.

Look at it this way, and by the way, I see this happen all of the time -you could have 10000 Fans and be averaging 100 likes per post. Or you could have 1000 fans and an average of 50 likes per posts. Now, which scenario do you think is more favourable? It’s scenario two.

The engagement rate for the brand with 1000 fans is 5%, whereas the engagement for the brand with 10000 fans is 1%. The first brand may have more fans, but they have a lower rate of engagement. You’ll be surprised by how many well-known brands with millions of fans fall into this first scenario. So don’t be distracted by how many fans you have, because engagement is so much more important.

When brands focus on the number of fans they have, they do things like create content just for likes, buy followers, run irrelevant competitions for people who will follow them solely to win a prize but rarely engage for the long term. These brands will not make as much as sales from their fans in comparison to brands with highly engaged fans. When it comes to fans, the type of fans you have has more than weight than how many fans you have.

However, we do need fans because our fans will become our customers. Suppose they follow you uncoerced and are regularly engaging with your content; it is more than likely your brand has placed itself in a position where fans find your content useful- even if is only a handful of people. If they like your content, it stands to reason that they prefer your brand and what it offers. So they are going to buy from you.

So let me share with you some essential steps you must take to get your first 100 highly engaged fans. And not just any fans, fans that will remain loyal to your brand. And significantly, these tips will work for any platform you are on.

Follow a handful of accounts of people that could be your potential customers. Firstly you are going to want to know who your potential customers are – so do the research. Spend time discovering who is most likely to need, use and buy your products. Then seek out these types of people on social media and follow or connect with them.

Now, something I would advise is that you don’t have to follow a considerable number of people. If you already have large followings, I’ll address that shortly. But to be clear, I am talking about people outside your friends and family. I have very good reason why you shouldn’t follow your friends and family. It’s something I’ve explained before and believe me, I will discuss it again. If this is something you want to know my thoughts on soon, let me know in the comments, and I’ll share – perhaps I’ll do a LIVE on it so that we can chat.

So once you have found this small select group of people, you are going to take the time to interact with their content. That’s right. You are not going to try to convince them to engage with your content; you’re going focus on engaging with theirs. And by engaging, I mean liking, sharing content and leaving meaningful comments. And this is why I say you don’t have to follow a large number of people. Follow and engage with as many accounts from your potential customers that you can reasonably keep up with daily.

I find that on social media, there’s so much content going out there that if you follow huge numbers of people in the early stages of brand building, it becomes challenging to develop those meaningful relationships. It’s much simpler to start small and make connections gradually.

When you have a lot of connections, you may miss their content and not be able to keep up with everyone. With a smaller number of connections, you’ll find it easier to form relationships, and those connections are more likely to remember you. Spend a month or two doing this. Once you are satisfied you have developed good relationships, seek to make new ones. Within the first couple of months, you should have hit the target of 100 highly engaged fans, if not more,

Now, if you’re reading this I don’t expect that you have a large fan base. But just in case you do, be sure to choose a few people who you will network with closely.

Manage your expectations. It’s common for brands and individuals to want the large numbers from day one, but give yourself a break. You’re starting out, and Rome wasn’t built in a day. Strategise towards achieving those bigger goals. Relationships with customers are currency. It’s how you get known in your industry and referred for doing a good job.

Get well known amongst a few potential customers rather than hardly known amongst many.

Whilst you are getting to know the people you are engaging with, take time to study the content that they engage with. What do they like? What themes keep popping up? What issues are regularly discussed? And what does the content they engage with say about their pain points?

The more you understand the type of content your potential customers like, the better placed your brand will be to create content that resonates with them.

Taking your time to understand your customers is key to you being able to give them what they want. Many brands create content that is either what the brand wants, doesn’t resonate well with customers and doesn’t go beyond just selling products.

Social media is more than a platform where you will create content that promotes what you offer. You also have to be able to attract fans, and the way you do that is by creating content that they want to consume. And most certainly, customers want to consume more than just content that sells your products.

Social media users prefer brands who publish a varied range of appealing content that is also brand relative. So you’ve got to do more than mere advertising to attract your first 100 highly engaged fans.

Finally and significantly, after you have figured out who you are creating for and what you will be creating, be sure to show up consistently.

Being completely focused on social media marketing is an essential business function. I can’t stress enough marketing’s importance. It is the single activity that will get your brand known, and keep you at the top of customers minds. You cannot afford not to dedicate a considerable amount of resources towards marketing. Once you are known, and when customers remember you, they will buy from you.

Big brands don’t spend billions on advertising spend because they have nothing better to do with the money. They understand that customers are looking for the best products, but they want to find these products effortlessly. Customers prefer not to get a headache searching the internet trying to figure the best brand or product. They’d much rather the information came to them. Therefore your brand has to show up and has to show them that it’s your products that will meet their needs.

The great thing about social media is that unlike advertising you are not merely telling your customers how great your products are, you are taking the time to connect with them, listen to them and treat them as important.

Having 100 highly engaged fans who love your content and are willing to buy your products are fans that will spread the word.

Start giving more that you take so you can attract your first 100 highly engaged fans, who become loyal. Engage with them, create what they want and do it every day without ceasing.

I personally believe that every brand, no matter how small or big, with the right tools, can succeed, including you. So put this advice into practice and start doing some amazing things!

P.S. If you have found this article useful, please share with your networks so we can help more brands grow!