How to Build a Following on Social Media in 4 Easy Steps

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By Drew Boehmker, Scooter Media

Whether it’s writing creative copy or creating compelling videos, crafting memorable content is vital to taking your social media posts to the next level.

But that’s only half the battle. In order for any social media marketing plan to be successful, time must also be spent on growing your brand’s following from platform to platform; after all, even the most well-crafted social media post won’t do much good if no one ends up seeing it.

Here are four easy-to-implement strategies that will help you build your brand’s follower base on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and beyond:

1. Be Proactive

If you’re just getting your brand’s presence established on social media, you must be proactive and actively seek out new followers instead of continuing to churn out new content and hoping that people will find it and begin engaging with your page. The old adage of “if you build it, they will come” simply doesn’t work in the social media universe.

A few simple ways to start building your social media following from scratch include:

  • Inviting friends and family members in your own network who have a logical connection or genuine interest in your brand to follow your social media profiles;
  • Following social media profiles for any professional/networking organizations in your brand’s industry;
  • Searching popular hashtags connected to your brand (for example, those that are specific to your local area) and following users who actively engage with them;
  • Locating similar profiles to your brand and following accounts that you feel would be receptive to the types of content you are posting.
  1. Try a Few Tools

Of course, implementing the bullet points above is easier said than done, and building a substantial social media following takes valuable time that many business owners or social media marketers might not have.

Luckily, there are a variety of great third-party applications, both free and paid, designed to make your life a little bit easier. A few of the best that we recommend include:

  • BuzzSumo, a “content discovery engine” that helps to key you in on the trending conversations in your industry and can recommend the key influencers for you to follow;
  • HypeAuditor is a paid service that will help reduce fake or “bot” followers on your Instagram profile and will also help to provide in-depth demographic data on your follower base;
  • Friend or Follow, a fantastic app with handy sorting and filtering features to help you locate the accounts you should be following — and shows you the accounts you’re following that aren’t following you back. Check out this fun video introducing the basics of the platform:

3. Experiment with Social Advertising

In the early days of social media marketing, it was possible to grow a substantial following simply by posting a lot of great, organic content. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case.

The simple fact of the matter is that if you’re going to be spending the time on creating social media content, it’s also worth investing at least a small budget on sponsoring that content on Facebook (or promoting those tweets on Twitter, etc.) in order to ensure it is actually seen.

Dedicating a portion of your budget to sponsoring social media content — even if it’s just a few dollars behind each of your Facebook posts — not only makes sure that your current followers will see those posts, but can also be a great way to attract new fans to your page, too.

As a bonus, most social media platforms make it even easier to grow your following via tools such as Facebook’s “invite people to like your page” feature, which is a great way to build a following of the types of people most likely to engage with your posts.

4. Have a Purpose

Growing a social media following is one thing — but sustaining those followers and keeping them engaged with your brand’s content is something else entirely.

The best way to make sure your brand’s social media page doesn’t become one that has thousands of followers but generates little to no engagement is to be strategic about every single post you make to your social media profiles. Every post should have a purpose, which should be easy to articulate from the inception of the post onward. Are you attempting to inform your followers about an upcoming event, or entertain them with a new video you’ve created? If you can’t articulate your reason for posting, then that’s probably a good indication that it’s best to hold off for now.

Continuing to post high-quality, engaging content that delights your social media followers every time they see your brand pop up in their News Feed will go a long way toward keeping your current audiences engaged — while also attracting new followers, too!

Building a social media following can be a frustrating process. However, being persistent and sticking to these strategies can get your brand’s profiles trending in the right direction.

If you have further questions, comments of your own follower-building tips, we’d love for you to start a conversation with us. Let us know your thoughts on social media by tagging @ScooterMediaCo (on Facebook and Instagram) or @ScooterMedia (on Twitter).

Looking for more social media tips? Visit scootermediaco.com.

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Scooter Media is an award-winning boutique PR agency specializing in public relations, social media and digital communications. Based in Covington, Ky., the agency has been named Small/Mid-Size PR Agency of the Year for the last four years by the Cincinnati chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Independently owned and a nationally certified Women’s Business Enterprise, Scooter Media is always on the move – connecting people and driving results.

 

April Aviatra of the Month: Allison Chaney, Bare Knuckle Digital

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After spending 12 years working in digital marketing at a local Cincinnati SEO agency, Allison Chaney felt like she was hitting her head on the ceiling and had nowhere else to go. She knew she wanted to do more, but couldn’t at her current job, so she decided to go out on her own and freelance. That’s when she founded Bare Knuckle Digital, a full-service digital marketing agency offering website design, social media marketing, strategy, and SEO services. As a single mom, this was a huge leap of faith, and what she thought would be something small turned into something way bigger.

Allison knew almost everything about marketing, but not much about building a business. Fortunately, Aviatra Accelerators solved that problem. Through the Aviatra program, Allison learned how to successfully start and run a company, found seed money, and made invaluable connections that helped her create a significant part of her business.

In 2014, Bare Knuckle Digital was acquired by Red 212, a Procter and Gamble spin-off agency. However, Allison’s entrepreneurship journey didn’t stop there. She recently started her second company, Breakthrough Accelerator, an accelerator for impact-minded businesses. Both of these impressive accomplishments were possible thanks to the advice, education, and connections she received through Aviatra. Her experience with Aviatra gave her the confidence and knowledge she needed to build two businesses, increase her chances of success, and, most importantly, help even more companies accelerate and grow.

“Aviatra Accelerators (BGV) is the starting point of my success today. I discovered this incredible organization when I wanted to start my first business. The support, mentorship, and amazing networking opportunities I have received throughout the years have been priceless!”

 – Allison Chaney, Bare Knuckle Digital

Click here to listen to Allison’s “Her Million Dollar My$tery” episode.

Click here to make a donation in honor of Allison. 

Everything You Need to Know About Social Media Images Sizes and Specifications

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What size should my graphic be for my brand’s social media channels? It’s the question every digital media manager has asked at least once. But have no fear, the social media experts at Scooter Media are here with all the social media image sizes and specifications you need to know, updated for 2021. Scroll down to download our “2021 Social Media Cheat Sheet” and check out our templates for each platform below.

Facebook

Remember to use JPG for your graphics on Facebook (or PNG if your cover contains text of logos). Size your cover photos to 820 x 312 (pixels), while your profile picture should measure 170 x 170.

Twitter

Looking to trend on Twitter? The first step is to make sure your cover photo is 1,500 x 500 (pixels) and your profile image measures 400 x 400. Also important – in stream content to catch the viewers eye should be sized 1,200 x 630.

Instagram

Instagram is the original visual social media app, so it’s important to make sure your posts and stories are aesthetically appealing. Size your profile image to 110 x 100 (pixels), post images to 1,080 x 1,080 and Instagram stories to 1,080 x 1,920.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is perfect for networking so making a great first impression is essential on the platform. Your personal profile or your company profile should look as professional as possible. Have your cover photo measure 1,128 x 191 (pixels) and your company logo at 300 x 300. When sharing a link or an update, have your custom image sized at 1,200 x 627.

YouTube

YouTube is more than videos. Creating the right images for your channel can elevate your brand. Have your channel icon measure 800 x 800 (pixels) and your channel art image sized at 2,560 x 1,440. And don’t forget the video thumbnail image, which should be 1,280 x 720.

You’ve got the sizes now, but that’s a lot to remember. Save time by downloading this free cheat sheet from Scooter Media so you can easily access all the social media image sizes you need the next time you’re updating your profile picture, posting an image, creating a cover photo or working on a graphic.

Looking for more social media tips? Visit scootermediaco.com.
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Scooter Media is an award-winning boutique PR agency specializing in public relations, social media and digital communications. Based in Covington, Ky., the agency has grown to become one of the top agencies in the Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky region and has been named Small/Mid-Size PR Agency of the Year for the last four years by the Cincinnati chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Scooter Media drives long-lasting results helping clients reach their business goals and boost their bottom line. Learn more at scootermediaco.com.

March Aviatra of the Month: Robin Gentry McGee, Functional Formularies

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In 2005, Robin Gentry McGee received a life-changing phone call. She learned that her father had fallen and was suffering from a severe brain injury. His chance of survival was very small, and almost daily, the medical staff encouraged Robin to pull the plug.

One day, Robin read the ingredients in the feeding tube formula that was keeping her father alive; it was little more than corn syrup, and not one ingredient was real food. She immediately began looking for an organic whole-food feeding tube formula online and at local health food stores, but found nothing.

Robin decided that she needed to make a change. After much research she created an organic whole foods formula for her father. The formula contained 17 whole food ingredients with no added sugar. After just six weeks on Robin’s formula, her father’s health improved astoundingly. With time, he went from taking 17 medications daily, to taking just two. This is how Functional Formularies was born. Robin’s objective was to take Liquid Hope and manufacture it on a large scale, but she needed help. As an Aviatra, Robin found herself immersed in robust business education courses and surrounded by mentors and peers encouraging her to turn her dream into a reality. Robin sold her company in 2018, but Liquid Hope continues to save lives internationally.

“One of the best decisions I ever made when I decided to commercialize my product was to seek a business accelerator program. Attending this program was a game-changer for me and was instrumental in my success. 

Whether you’re just beginning to explore an idea for a business or product or are ready to take your business to the next level, I firmly believe you will find all the tools you need through Aviatra Accelerators!”

                       – Robin Gentry McGee, Functional Formularies  

Click here to listen to Robin’s “Her Million Dollar My$tery” episode.

Click here to make a donation in honor of Robin. 

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 019 – Sherry Sims, Black Career Women’s Network

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Sherry Sims and I go way back! We became fast friends when I joined then BGV, Inc., which became Aviatra Accelerators. She was a high-energy female founder just starting out on her journey to scale BCWN to support women across the country and across the pond. Since then, I have watched as she truly created her own category of virtual networking and coaching, specifically for the African American woman who can’t find mentors like herself in today’s corporate world.

In our podcast visit, Sherry walks us through the kinds of advice she gives the over 20,000 women in her network. Common themes are relationships, communication and executive presence. How can we command respect in the room? We can all use this kind of advice.

Funding continues to be the rub for minority women, and women in general! Part of the issue is lack of access from not being in the right circles. And, before we even get to the asking for capital, we have to be confident, knowledgeable and just plain SHOW UP right! Sherry is a master as these skills and even better at teaching them to all women.

Sherry and I continue to learn from each other on a regular basis and I know you will enjoy hearing more of her inspiring story!  Join us HERE to listen in to two girlfriends having a chat about empowering other women.

Utilizing Facebook Ads to Drive Action for Your Business

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By Kelly Holtgrefe, Scooter Media

Social Media is everywhere, and everyone is on it. That includes your customers.

Your company is on Facebook and you’re familiar with Facebook Ads, but are you doing enough to maximize these platforms for your business needs? Here are six simple strategies you can incorporate into your next Facebook Ads campaign to help move the needle and drive action for your business.

Audiences

You may already be pretty familiar with Facebook Audiences, and probably have a “go-to” saved audience for your brand that reaches users in specific locations and demographics. However, tapping into these lesser-known and less frequently used targeting options can help your Page reach different audiences and attract new fans:

  • Customer List: emails from your subscribers, email list, past buyers;
  • Facebook Page: users who visited your page, engaged with a post or ad, clicked the CTA button on your profile, sent you a message, and more;
  • Video: people who watched a video on your Facebook or Instagram account;
  • Instagram account: those who engaged with your Instagram account, visited your profile, sent a message, or saved an ad;
  • Event: people who responded to your Facebook Event, visited the event page, entered the ticket flow, or abandoned ticket purchase

By incorporating one or more of these audiences, you can help your Facebook Ads reach those who are already engaged with your brand.

Lookalikes

For those not familiar, a lookalike audience is when Facebook takes a list of users and finds users that have similar attributes to create a new list of users who are likely to engage with your Page. You can then add this new list to target with your Facebook Ads, hitting a whole new group of users who maybe don’t like your Page or haven’t previously heard of your brand.

See all those custom audiences above? You can create a lookalike audience from any of them! The possibilities are truly endless with the audiences you can create using lookalikes.

Pixels

If you plan to target users who visit your website, it’s imperative to implement a Facebook Pixel. A Pixel is relatively simple to set up. Once added to your website, you can tap into a variety of targeting options including users who have been to your site — or even a specific page — shoppers who abandoned their cart, and more.

Expand Reach

If you have a fairly large Facebook Ads budget but often experience issues spending your full budget on campaigns, try checking this box at the ad set level:

Targeting Expansion, according to Facebook, “helps improve your campaign performance by allowing our system to reach a broader set of people than those you defined in the detailed targeting section.” If Facebook deems that you’ll get better results, they will set aside some of your budget and “split it between your selected audience and a broader audience.”

It’s easy to miss this check box when quickly setting up an ad; however, it can help lower your overall cost per impressions, thereby maximizing the effectiveness of your ads.

Dynamic Content

Instead of setting up an A/B test within Facebook, you now have the ability to test out multiple headlines and descriptions within one Facebook Ad. This only works for new ads created, not boosted posts. Add in a few options for copy and Facebook does the rest, optimizing the ad to more frequently display whichever text option is performing best.

Naming Convention

Perhaps this is the simplest hack we have, but implementing a naming convention across your Facebook ads will save a lot of headaches down the road. It’s now optional to name your campaigns in Facebook Ads; however, we highly suggest that you create a naming structure that you can use across your campaigns, ad sets and ads.

Some things to include in your campaign would be the date of the boosted post or ad, the campaign objective, and a description of the post or ad. Facebook Ads has an option to create a “Name Template” that gives you a great place to start.

Having a naming structure allows for better tracking and organization when looking at the campaign view in Facebook Ads. When it comes to the end of the month, your nicely named campaigns are what gets pulled into Facebook billing invoices. You and your client will know exactly how much was spent on each campaign, keeping things streamlined throughout the process.

Remember, Facebook Ads aren’t going anywhere. Savvy social media marketers can apply these six strategies to maximize the effectiveness of their campaigns and have their brand’s presence on Facebook soaring to new heights.

Looking for more social media tips? Visit scootermediaco.com.
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Scooter Media is an award-winning boutique PR agency specializing in public relations, social media and digital communications. Based in Covington, Ky., the agency has grown to become one of the top agencies in the Greater Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky region and has been named Small/Mid-Size PR Agency of the Year for the last four years by the Cincinnati chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Scooter Media drives long-lasting results helping clients reach their business goals and boost their reputation. Learn more at scootermediaco.com.

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 018 – MOLLY BERRENS, SPOTTED YETI

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You have to love hearing the story that belongs to a woman who would choose Eleanor Roosevelt as her famous woman to meet for dinner! Molly Berrens uses her “smart video” business to “show the world that you exist.” I think Eleanor would have loved this concept.

Having worked directly with Molly Berrens and Spotted Yeti on a video production project unique to Aviatra, I know firsthand her passion for telling stories in video with the end-user in mind. Thinking backward from results to tactics has put Spotted Yeti front and center in the video storytelling industry in the Cincinnati/Northern KY region.

Join us on the podcast where we learn where the creative name originated, her ingredients for success, and how she overcame the inevitable obstacles small business owners encounter. She shares how relationship building has driven her success, as well as her commitment to investing in others.

In the meantime, check out Spottedyeti.com and view some of her artistically created storytelling videos that “show the world that you exist” in living color! You will love the easy way Molly has about her – you can see how her clients are put at ease while they share their stories to be told in video form. Be inspired by Molly Berrens and Spotted Yeti’s journey.

Listen to the podcast here!

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 017 – Barbara (Stanny) Huson (PART II), The Leading Authority on Women, Wealth & Power

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In the blog post for part one of Barbara’s podcast, I promised that in part two, we would take a very deep dive into her book, Rewire For Wealth, which is coming out in January 2021.

In this episode of Her Million Dollar My$tery, Barbara opens the cover of the book and lets us in on the rich content we will find when we read the book. She is super passionate about this topic and knows from experience how well it works. She describes the three main phases of rewiring your own brain to break bad money and success habits. Recognize, Reframe, Respond Differently – it sounds so simple, but when we all have years, maybe decades, of bad habits formed probably in our childhood, there is nothing simple about it. Barbara proves, though, that with focus on this three step process we CAN actually rewire our own brains. I call it “getting out of your own way,” Barbara calls it rewiring, which means changing for good the perceptions, habits, and thoughts that hold women back surrounding money and success.

Listen in with me as Barbara generously shares her approach in Rewire For Wealth, then pre-order her book on Amazon. It will be a great winter read!

Then, go Rewire (your brain) For Wealth!

Listen to the podcast here!

HER MILLION DOLLAR MY$TERY: EPISODE 016 – Barbara (Stanny) Huson, The Leading Authority on Women, Wealth & Power

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I could write this blog post all day and still not totally unpack all the rich content Barbara and I discuss on this two-part episode of Her Million Dollar My$tery!

Barbara walks us through her multi-step processes of truly understanding the barriers women face when it comes to money. As the author of several books – Prince Charming Isn’t Coming, Secrets of Six-Figure Women, Overcoming Underearning, Finding A Financial Advisor You Can Trust, Breaking Through, Sacred Success, and her soon to be released 7th book, Rewire For Wealth, Barbara digs deep into the issues that women have around money, wealth and power.

In part one of my chat with Barbara, we talk about money issues equaling power issues. We tend to have a silent critic that says “Powerful women are burned at the stake,” so why wouldn’t we shy away from money when it equals power?

Barbara takes us through the four phases of digging deep into our money issues: Outer Work, Inner Work, Higher Work, Deeper Work. All fascinating and will strike a nerve at some point in all of us. When I asked her about the traits of women who have broken the barriers, she notes that they all have confidence but they also all have FEAR! Wow – we thought fear was bad and you have to be fearless! Barbara blows this myth out of the water and talks about walking right into your fear. Self doubt never stops the successful woman.

In part two, Barbara gives us a deep dive into her new book and talks extensively about reprogramming our brains for financial success.

You won’t want to miss these two episodes, and if you are like me, you will listen over and over again and take notes on this one – and then go grab her books. She is a delight to talk to and listen to, so I know you will enjoy joining us (here).

Then, go Rewire (your brain) For Wealth!

Listen to the podcast here!

Aviatra Spotlight: Mavis Linnemann-Clark

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The pandemic has brought many unprecedented challenges for entrepreneurs and small business owners. We asked Aviatra alum, Mavis Linnemann-Clark, owner of The Delish Dish, Made by Mavis Artisan Jams, and Kickstart Kitchen, how she has managed and pivoted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

  1. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your business?

COVID-19 has been devastating to the catering and events industry, just like the restaurant industry. We lost all of our corporate business overnight (33% of our business) when folks moved to working from home. No one hosted an event in their home for months. Many of our weddings were moved to 2021or cancelled, but thankfully some did simply reschedule to the fall, and we’ve been catering weddings since July. However, November and December are some of our busiest months of the year, and with the increase in COVID cases, we are not sure what to expect. We had expected 2020 to be our best year ever, and instead, our sales are down 50%.

  1. How have you pivoted or adapted?

In March, we created a carryout menu and moved to a curbside carryout and delivery model. While this did not offset our losses completely, it helped us keep our kitchen cooking and our full-time employees working. When restaurants opened in June, our carryout business faded, but weddings were permitted, so we pivoted back to full-service catering. With the fall and more folks moving indoors, we just launched a new permanent branch of our company called The Delish Dish To Go. At our new food shop, we have pre-made dinners for two, take-and-bake appetizers, soups, breakfast items, as well cookie dough and desserts available for folks to order online and stop by and pick up.

  1. How are you staying motivated?

When the pandemic first hit, I definitely wallowed at home for a few days. Then I remembered that this is not how I do things and that I needed to make a plan and take action, rather than closing my company for an undetermined amount of time. So I put on my big girl panties, and I got to work.

The drive to keep my employees working so that we can all feed our families and pay our bills is certainly motivation to figure out new and creative ways to keep my business open. 

  1. How have you managed your staff during this time? (maintain, layoff, furlough, etc.)  

Our salaried staff has continued to be paid their full-time wage. Some of our hourly workers chose to basically furlough themselves until there was enough work to be had, while we did our best to keep the rest of our staff cooking with carryout and catering orders.

  1. What have you learned from the pandemic?

That no matter how many years you’ve been in business, there will come a time when you are forced to adapt and change and to create something new where there wasn’t before. You can cry for a day or two, but after that, put your feet to the floor and make things happen.

  1. Do you have any advice for small business owners and entrepreneurs right now?   

Don’t panic. Take deep breaths. Be creative. Be resourceful. Use your contacts and your staff to help you shape and create new ideas and facets of your business. Put in the work. This too shall pass.