Give Me More.

More Fans, more readers, more followers, more viewers, more…more. In a world of Facebook Fan Pages, Twitter profiles and YouTube videos, many marketers have made increasing the number of Fans, followers and the like a top priority.

A couple things are almost always left out when increasing numbers is an objective. What is your brand going to do with the new consumers once you have them? What are you doing with the Fans/Followers/Etc. that you have now?

Not being able to answer those questions is like throwing a party with no idea of what people are going to do there.

Have a Party Plan.

A quick tour of the Internet will show a lot of branded platforms with no brand activity. Creating something for consumers is easy. Leveraging it is a completely different story.

When you build a social media presence for your brand, you need to know many of the same things that a party thrower does:

How are people going to find out about it, and how are they going to get there?
What are they are going to do once things get started?
How should people feel when they leave and what are they going to say to others about it (if they decide it’s worth mentioning at all)?

Too often brands stop at the invitation.

Be a Good Host.

Good hosts mingle and talk with, not to, their guests, and brands engaging in social media need to do the same. Interacting with consumers by talking to them, asking questions and sharing information builds an enjoyable experience that will make them want to come back, especially when your brand isn’t just talking about itself.

Mass media does an excellent job for brands looking to push a message out to consumers. Pushing out a message really isn’t the strength of social media. Instead, social media allows consumers to interact with the brands they love through conversation, a trait unmatched by any other form of media. Brands using social media to push out messages to the masses are really cheating themselves out of something more valuable.

If It’s Hoppin’, More People Will Come.

The tactic for growing Fan/Follower/Etc. numbers with the most overall benefit is creating an experience that consumers not only want more of, but they want to tell others about it. When consumers come back to your Fan Page or retweet your posts, their connections will see that there’s a great party going on, and you’ll notice your numbers growing. The end benefit being repeat visitors and new ones as well, just like someone who throws great parties.

Creating a great party is easier said than done, and there may be a few flops along the way. However, when your brand commits, interacts and works to leverage its social media presence, that objective for more will, more often than not, be met.

It’s Not All About How Many Show Up.

A lot of people at a party can be fun, but a great experience with a few people can mean a lot more and be something that guests want to talk about. Understanding what you want your consumers to do and what experience you want them to have when they fan or follow you is a big step in increasing numbers and, more importantly, leveraging social media effectively.