This question is something that I often get asked by my social media marketing clients. They want to know how much monthly growth in their engagement metrics or audience size they should expect once they start implementing a social media strategy or posting regular content (which is something we do for our clients).

Of course, these averages are going to vary wildly by industry, I have seen an average growth of about 15% monthly in audience size (e.g. likes and follows) as well as a similar number in engagement (comments, likes, retweets, etc). This is organic growth for Twitter and organic + paid campaign for Facebook (which I recommend to all my clients, as Facebook organic reach has greatly diminished).

15% is just my experience with the clients I’ve worked with so far, and your results may vary. A lot of what goes into growing your social media audience is the work you put into it.

To meet this industry average, the following actions are going to help grow your social media presence:

 

Regular Content

Today’s customers aren’t stupid. They are savvy enough to know a crappy website design or an abandoned Facebook page when they see it. People judge a business as a whole by its online presence, even if it’s not truly indicative of a businesses’ quality.

Regular Self-Promotion

Sharing external content (e.g. industry news links, expert interviews, etc) is key to setting your brand up to be a thought leader, but don’t forget about regularly sharing your own content. Use a tool like Edgar or CoSchedule to regularly reshare your existing evergreen content and long-form projects, like ebooks and white papers.

IMAGES

I put this in all caps because it is so important. My clients see 2-4x the engagement with posts that use images over ones that don’t, depending on their content (after all, quality trumps everything).Buffer will automatically pull up images from the URL you’re sharing  or manually attach a featured image to your social media posts. These graphics catch the eye and stand out from the text-based content customers are used to see in their feeds.

A strategy behind what you’re doing

I see so many businesses on the right track with knowing they need social media, and then just posting without putting some thought into it. Create a social media editorial calendar and figure out what you want to accomplish with growing your social media audience before starting to regularly post content.

If you know you need to be doing better social media, but aren’t sure about what you’re doing, it’s ok! So many other businesses are in the same boat. Research, planning, and a little fun can help you build a great social media presence that makes an impact.

 

Contact me today to get a free social media marketing estimate.

Kelsey Jones

Kelsey Jones

Founder/Chief Marketing Consultant at Six Stories
Kelsey Jones helps clients around the world grow their social media, content, and search marketing presence. She enjoys writing and consuming all kinds of content, both in digital and tattered paperback form.
Kelsey Jones
Kelsey Jones