7 Universal Laws of Building A Social Media Following

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0/ Intro

I'm not a social media growth expert or hacker, but I've built up an audience of 100k+ followers:

• Instagram = 79k
• Twitter = 17k
• Tiktok = 4k

And have noticed some common fundamentals laws to growing on a social media platform. Enjoy!

1/ Every Social Media Platform Is Its Own Country

Every country has its own culture, the same is true of every social media platform.

Users consume content and behave differently, just as people eat different foods and follow different customs.

1/ (continued)

If you speak Portuguese in Spain or Spanish in Portugal, most people won't understand you.

Nor can you repost IG content to Twitter or Twitter content to IG.

There is some overlap, but to get the best results you need to reformat it for each platform.

2/ People Want A Personality

People connect with personalities.

You don’t have to be a person, you can be a company ( @Wendys) or even a robot ( @RealSophiaRobot).

But have an edge. Stand for something.

Instead of trying to be liked by all, aim to be loved by many.

3/ It’s Called Social Media For A Reason

Be SOCIAL.

Comment on other people's posts with thoughtful and insightful responses.

Respond to people's comments on your posts and your DMs.

Just like growing a startup, to scale, you have to do things that don't scale.

3/ (continued)

Stop treating your audience like a number and treat them like a person because they are.

Here's the mindset to have:

• Friends > Followers

If you wouldn’t hang out or talk with your “followers” why do you want to attract more of those people?

4/ The Right & Wrong Way To “Buy” Followers

If you're going to "buy" followers, don't do it through a shady website.

Those followers are bots that won't engage with your posts and will result in a decrease in your overall engagement (and you might get your account banned).

4 (continued)

Instead, "buy" followers by doing giveaway contests or giving them free stuff.

You don't have to give away Teslas like @DavidDobrik, you can giveaway merch, stickers, or other small items.

5/ The Big Survive But The Quick Thrive

It’s not about the size of your audience, but the growth.

There’s plenty of large social media accounts that I was able to pass in size because I adapted to the algorithm.

You need to be nimble and adapt to each platform.

5/ (continued)

Whenever you see a platform introduce a new feature (like Instagram with IG Reels) it means they want you to use it & will reward people who do.

I gained 10k followers in a month simply by posting lots of IG Reels when it first came out.

Speed > Size

6/ To Be Better, Study The Best

Each platform has a small group of creators who are masters at creating content on that platform.

Study them in detail and learn from them.

For Twitter, I'd recommend studying:

• @mkobach
• @JamesClear
• @david_perell

7/ Social Media Followings Are Castles Made of Sand

No matter how big your sandcastle is, there's always a chance that a wave or wind that could make it disappear.

You might get hacked, banned, or the platform could shutdown.

That's why it's important to...

7/ (continued)

Spend time moving your audience to your own platform:

• Website
• Podcast
• Newsletter

That way you have a direct relationship with your audience and can connect with them even if your social media accounts vanish.

PS: Speaking of having a direct relationship with your audience...

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