There is a phrase that is popular, and it goes something like “if you build it they will come”. Well, that could be further from the truth when you want to gain more Facebook fans. It is the same with any other website. If you build a great website, and even if you have a great Facebook fan page or Facebook company page, that does not mean that all sorts of people will come flocking to your website or your Facebook page. You gain Facebook fans by offering people something, offering some reason to like your web page or become a fan.
The same goes for social media websites like Twitter, as well. There has to be some reason why someone would want to follow you on Twitter. There are certain celebrities that have lots of Twitter fans just because of who they are and what they tweet about. But for the rest of us, the other 99 percent that set up Twitter accounts and only dream of having one million followers, or even one hundred thousand followers, you have to offer your followers something. Granted, it does not necessarily have to be some monetary gift, payment, or even some sort of “prize”. But you have to give Twitter users some reason to follow your Twitter account and interact with you on Twitter.
Standing Dog, on their interactive marketing blog, explains how to build your Facebook fans and Twitter followers organically in seven steps. These are 7 fairly easy tasks that you can perform without a lot of investment. Lauren Parajon from Standing Dog believes that if you follow these seven steps you will gain more Facebook fans, and you will gain more Twitter followers.
Lauren says that “You have to build an audience to cultivate an online community of brand supporters. You have to focus on your existing fans to gain new fans. The more often your fans interact with your brand, the better chance you have at their friends seeing it in their newsfeed and deciding to become a fan as well. Every time someone interacts with your page, it’s free advertising for your brand.”
So, that whole “If you build it, they will come” saying only holds true if you redefine the it. It isn’t a Facebook page. It isn’t a Twitter account or a YouTube video.
It is an audience.
