Impacted by the 2018 Social Media Bot Purges? Tips for Creating an Engaged Follower Base

If you’ve noticed sudden drops in your follower counts on Twitter and other social media platforms lately, you’re not alone. At the beginning of 2018, many Twitter users noticed that their follower numbers had changed drastically with some users seeing drops as high as several thousand. Twitter made minimal comments on the drops but did recently announce this month that they were instituting a new set of guidelines that are aimed to stop the creation of bot accounts like prohibiting mass tweets, likes and follows across Twitter and other third-party platforms. The mass deletion of spam and bot accounts is not new, nor is it unique to Twitter – in 2014 Instagram also purged inactive and spam accounts, causing many influencers, brands and other high-profile users to panic. In a world where social media controls so much of the way consumers receive information and awareness about products, how can you as a manufacturer or integrator cultivate a follower base of engaged and legitimate users? Here are a few tips:

Engage with your audience

The key to having a successful social media presence is more than just posting regularly, though that is important. Creating real conversations with your followers is incredibly important to establish relationships that result in purchasing decisions, brand commitment, and ultimately, new followers that hear about your company through the conversations they see you in on social. Be sure to use hashtags relevant to your business in your posts – #smarthome, #connectedhome, #smarttech – are a few popular ones in our industry. In addition to using these hashtags, follow them and jump into conversations that you are knowledgeable about or know that your brand is a fit for. For example, a user could ask for suggestions on which smart light bulb to purchase. You could then respond and say something like, “We have a few options you can choose from – check them out on our website.”

Create dynamic visual content

If you’re trying to create content that users want to engage with on social media, you have to evolve with the way they’re using social platforms. Including an image with every post is now standard, and video is even better. Short videos about your products or projects you’ve been involved in, especially in the smart home world, help educate and give potential customers a way to visualize their homes with smart tech – an important part of driving adoption in the industry as a whole.

Follow those you’d like to follow you

If you’re just sitting back, hoping that you get real followers, you’re not going to have much luck building a base of engaged users. Make sure that you’re spending time on hashtags like the ones we mentioned above looking for qualified, active, and engaged users who are spending time talking about the topics that matter to you and your business. It’s one of the best ways to build organic awareness of your brand and begin to build a strong following on social media.

And finally – take it seriously. Social media is no longer something you can do in your free time. You need to have a serious strategy as a business owner and be able to handle a social program in house or hire some outside experts to jump in. The work you put in will help you retain business, build new business leads, partnerships and generally stay engaged and connected in the most hyper-connected, always-on economy in the history of capitalism.