5 Things No One Tells You About Gaining A Social Media Following

We’ve all heard influencers talking about how they gained their following. Some admit to using targeted ads to get the followers they want. Others? Well, they tend to do the regular song and dance of telling people, “Oh, I don’t know! People just like my content and I’m cool, tee hee!”

Ugh, right? We don’t need any more fluff when it comes to this stuff. People who want to market their stuff to a larger audience usually already know that you should put out good content and that you should consider promoting your posts with paid advertising. Saying fluff is futile. I will give you a better idea of what it takes to gain a following. 

#1: You will spend a lot of time on it

You need to interact with your followers to grow a following. You also may need to promote your social media (or site) to everyone who has a remote interest in this. It may seem easy at first, but your workload will multiply. The more you promote and the more followers you get, the more time you’ll spend moderating everything. 

Not going to lie, I have this issue with my Medium account. People love my stuff. But I sometimes obsess over my numbers to make sure that I get more people reading. So, it eats up my time. My workload suffered. It’s part of my life now. 

#2: Social skills matter

It sounds weird, but you still have to have social skills if you want to be popular online. Saying cringey stuff and lashing out at people who critique you won’t look good at all. In fact, it’s one of the most common reasons why you are not getting the followers you want. 

Charisma is a thing, both online and in person. If you are not charismatic, you need to come up with a campaign that removes you from the equation. 

#3: It’s not about you

Here’s the hardest thing people have to wrap their heads around, especially if they want to be influencers. It’s never really about you. You might use stories about your life to illustrate points, but at the end of the day, it’s not about what you’re doing. 

Rather, it’s about what you are providing to people. Are you offering them relatability? Intelligent advice? Humor? Everyone reads for a reason. What you bring to the table matters. If all you talk about is you, your only follower might just be you.

#4: You are going to have to learn to use your block button and drop people as a result of fame

It is a jungle out there, especially when it comes to toxicity. You are going to notice a serious uptick in people creeping you out, picking your work apart, trying to steal from you, and more as your following grows. It can and will grate on your mental health, especially if your following is for your own personal brand. 

The good news is that you still have a right to privacy. This means that if you get people annoying you and disparaging you on a regular basis, you can just block their behinds. Done. Almost every influencer does this, so don’t feel too bad about it. 

On a similar note, fame will also make others treat you differently. If you notice people flaunting you like a Starbucks coffee cup, don’t be afraid to drop them. You’ll thank yourself later.

#5: Mental health matters

I know that this is an article about things you do when you gain a following, but I want to emphasize this. There is a lot of truth to “more fame, more problems.” You might notice that you are more morose or even more stressed than before. This is actually normal, at least from my experience. 

If you’re feeling very stressed, take time for some self-care. Meditate, hit the gym, or just go out for mani-pedis. You can’t keep up your following and social media if you’re falling apart at the seams behind the picture. So, take a break if you need to.