The Best Social Media Tool for Growing a Loyal Community
For a time, Tiffany Aliche, more popularly known as The Budgetnista, used her personal Facebook page as a “playground” for growing her business. She would send an average of 50 friend requests per day, get 5 or 6 responses, and then go through friends of friends to start networking. She even posted a daily “Tip of the Day” to garner interest. At first, she says, no one seemed to care. But slowly but surely, she gained traction and people started to read the content on her Facebook feed.
“Your best tools are consistency, ingenuity and making it really easy for folks to contact you,” she shared during the Brand Building for Beginners workshop at BlogHer Biz. Many consider Facebook the dinosaur of social media platforms, but according to Aliche, Facebook groups are the best place to foster a community that will grow to love your brand and the space you’ve created for them.
“Facebook groups are a great space to create community. It’s a great place to meet people who are working toward the same things,” she shared.
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Thanks to consistency, Aliche now manages a Facebook group of about 500,000 women called her “Dream Catchers.” In addition to maintaining that group, along with a robust Facebook page, she also emphasizes the value of a consistent Instagram presence. “I have to use my social media as a living, breathing resume.”
If you’re overwhelmed by the prospect of managing correspondence on multiple social media platforms, boost your productivity (and save yourself a headache) by using a contact sheet or form instead of simply listing your email. Aliche recommends Wufoo, which allows you to create custom HTML forms. The first 100 responses per month are free and make getting in touch with you incredibly simple.
“Do you know how much easier it is for someone who is busy to click a link and fill out a form vs. memorizing your email, going to their email, and then emailing you?,” she adds.
Aliche adds that offering your followers freebies in exchange for email addresses is a tried-and-true tactic for growing your audience or customer base. “You go, I collect your name and email, and I give you amazing resources.”
Amanda Lederman, Marketing Director of BlogHer and moderator of the panel added, “People think that you shouldn’t give things away for free if you’re trying to really establish your brand. It’s okay to do that in the beginning until you establish what kind of pay model you’re looking at and you get in touch with your community to see what they’re looking for.”
Make sure you watch the entire workshop (above) for more tactical branding advice and if you haven’t already, register for BlogHer Biz so you don’t miss any more entrepreneurial tips and tricks. Oh, and while you’re at it, join our BlogHer Creators Group on Facebook, too.