Social media is the new front door for small businesses — forming an integral part of any business’s marketing plan. Many people discover and follow small businesses via social platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook, so a sound social media strategy is essential. One often-overlooked aspect of your social media strategy is the etiquette of which accounts to follow back. Who you follow — and why — is a vital part of your business’s identity.
We’ll explain how to be selective with your social media follow-backs. Also, we’ll share more about followers and influencers as part of your social media marketing strategy.
Who should you follow back on social media?
A few years ago, the social media trend was to follow back everyone who followed your account. However, this isn’t a great current-day strategy for small businesses for the following reasons:
- Following back everyone can be considered spammy.
- A business’s social media attention and energy are better spent following users who can benefit its operations and growth.
- Following everyone back is unrealistic because social channels limit the accounts you can follow. For example, X users can follow up to 5,000 accounts initially; after that, additional follows depend on your follower-to-following ratio. Facebook limits the number of friends to 5,000, and Instagram only allows you to follow 7,500 accounts regardless of your follower count.
While there are no strict rules for follow-backs, consider the following guidelines to maximize your energy and efforts on social media.
1. Follow back your target market on social media.
Social media is a tool to help you reach your business goals. Many companies hope to generate more sales leads via social media, while others may want to build a larger network or learn something new.
If your goals involve any aspect of increasing sales and strengthening your business, accounts from your target audience are excellent to follow back. Look at your customer personas and decide if someone who followed your account matches your target customer’s demographics and psychographics.
Let’s review two different scenarios.
Scenario 1: You have a U.S.-based e-commerce business that sells homemade baby products like bibs and hats. Your target audience might include the following groups:
- Recently married couples living in the U.S.
- Expectant parents living in the U.S.
- Grandparents living in the U.S.
Scenario 2: You have a catering business. You’re based in Manhattan and can reach prospects within 60 miles of your kitchen. These people could be part of your target audience:
- Midsize and large businesses in Brooklyn
- Recently engaged couples looking to plan a wedding in or near Hell’s Kitchen
- Event planners organizing events within 60 miles of your kitchen
When determining whom to follow back, look at users’ profiles to see if they are within your target audience. If so, they may be good choices for social media follow-backs.
2. Consider following back your interesting social media followers.
Social media is a vast web of different voices, opinions and information; you’ll likely use multiple social media accounts to harness it all. If your business goals include learning about specific industries, topics, tools and more, consider following back accounts related to those topics.
Check your X, Instagram and Facebook followers for engaging users who bring something new to the table. Read their bios and see what they post about. If you’re intrigued by their interests and what they have to say, follow them back to learn more.
Additionally, the platform you’re working with will often dictate who you follow back. “[X] is the only network that has a real culture of thanking people for following, retweeting, and mentioning, and you should be more selective there,” explained digital marketing consultant Giselle Aguiar. “On Instagram, follow people back if you like what they are sharing.”
3. Consider following back accounts with many followers.
Ultimately, you want to maintain a good followers-to-follow ratio. If an account has more followers than they follow, it indicates that they may be a worthwhile follow-back. It shows that the person or business behind the account is selective and sees your account as a meaningful one to engage with.
When you’re notified that someone has followed your account, look at their follow count and followers-to-follow ratio. If they have many followers, it shows they have a substantial audience interested in their posts. If they follow you and like your product or service, there’s a chance they’ll repost your content — helping you reach a more extensive audience with similar characteristics.
4. Consider following back social media influencers.
Social media influencers can include celebrities, prominent business owners, respected journalists or users within a niche specialty. Top influencers have many followers who respect their opinions and can potentially become valuable brand ambassadors.
When a quality influencer in your industry follows you, it’s an open door to start a conversation and build a relationship. Follow them back, but don’t stop there. Engage with their posts, ask them questions and get to know them. Seek out opportunities to help these influencers; they just might do the same for you by reposting your content to give you additional exposure.
Not every influencer is worth a follow-back. To ensure you're not dealing with i
nfluencer marketing fraud, examine their activity. Even if someone has 100,000 followers, they aren't genuinely engaging people if their posts only get 50 likes or comments.
5. Consider following back complementary brands.
Social media is an excellent platform for forging strategic partnerships. If a complementary brand’s account follows you, that’s worth a follow-back.
For example, if you sell hiking boots, it would be great to follow back a brand that sells camping equipment. You can boost their posts, and they can do the same for you. Since the products are complementary, you know your target market is the same. That’s a win-win. Do the same with companies with whom you have strategic alliances to allow for co-marketing.
What does it mean to follow someone?
Following is when you opt in to see another user’s content on your social feed. For X, this means your X feed. For Facebook, this is your timeline. Following or “friending” someone on a social platform allows you to see everything on their profile, including their regular posts.
When you follow someone, they are typically notified — depending on the platform and the user’s notification settings. Following others usually allows you to repost and comment on their content, increasing brand awareness — though the ability to repost and share content differs by platform and features. Your followers’ posts are also a potential source of user-generated content you can use to grow and promote your brand.
When it comes to following others, experimenting can be helpful. “Test different approaches with your social media accounts and measure the data monthly,” advised Sol Gonzalez, Editor-in-Chief of Latina Seattle. “You can always unfollow someone.”
How can you get people to follow you?
People tend to follow accounts that can give them something in return. For your business, that means presenting quality content that users find worthwhile. For example, you can use your social media presence to present or promote your blog about your company and industry. This will attract industry professionals, job seekers and valuable customers to your brand.
To gain more followers on social media, you must be vocal — someone who posts interesting, vital information frequently and advocates for your business’s position in its field.
Here are some steps you can take to improve your social media presence and attract more quality followers:
- Study your competitors: If one of your competitors has a robust and effective online presence, do your research to understand how and why. While you don’t want to replicate their strategy, you can adapt it to fit your brand’s unique voice.
- Focus on platform-specific visual content: Compelling images are the secret to great social media posts. Engaging photos and videos are great for platforms like Instagram and TikTok; LinkedIn, however, may require more professional imagery or infographics. Social media is a visual marketplace, so don’t get lost in the shuffle with generic shots. You can also use video to enhance your marketing strategy on social media.
- Build a community: Work hard to network online and build a community of trusted users. They don’t all have to be customers or fans of your business; you can also form trusted relationships with other industry professionals. Remember, the key is engaging your audience on social media.
However, don’t be too worried about follower counts. “Don’t get obsessed with the numbers, and focus on a wider marketing approach that specifically targets your base,” advised Ali Zartash-Lloyd, partner of Cognisant Associates Consulting.
After creating valuable content on social media,
repurpose your content for different platforms to save time and expand your reach.
