Tag: youtube

Here’s some advise from a social media power user on how to grow a social media account organically.

Before we get to the list let me explain a few things. I am considered a social media power user which means I don’t have enough followers to be considered an influencer but I do have enough engagement and followers to know what I am doing.

What do I mean when I say grow an account organically? I mean that we are not paying for likes, views, comments or follows. You can purchase ads if you like from others but my budget for all my social media accounts is $0.00 so if you can afford to advertise and you want to go and do it, it will get you some results faster, there are YouTube videos and other people that will show you that method.

What is a social media influencer? That is someone that has A LOT of followers / subscribers, reaches a lot of people daily and is well known in the community they exist in.

My Step by Step Method to being a social media master

For the steps below I will use my own social media pages of Game Watch Today so you can have a point of reference.

1. Pick a “thing” or “topic” you enjoy (kind of like a hobby you already do). Example: Video Games
2. Get specific. Your first topic will be too general so pick a sub category of that.
   1. Think of or make a list of types of games you like or specific games that you are into.
3. Once you pick a focused topic, let’s say we picked Fortnite. Now it’s time to do research.
   1. The importance of a “focused topic” is because the internet is a HUGE place where everyone in the world shares their own experiences, ideas and thoughts on everything. The idea is you want to be known as the EXPERT of that topic you choose, that’s when people really start noticing you.
4. Research which social media platform you would like to focus on, so let’s say I already spend a lot of time on Instagram so lets choose that as a starting platform.
5. Research everything you can on instagram about Fortnite accounts.
6. Let’s say you start doing research about Fortnite and realize the internet is saturated with these accounts and it seems to be slowly dying trend and you want to switch to Overwatch.
   1. In this planning phase you it is okay to switch to a new focused topic just repeat the steps from step 3.
7. You learn about Overwatch accounts and know that the game isn’t as healthy as Fortnite but you know that Blizzard will support the game for a long time and they are about to release Overwatch 2.
   1. It is important to know the health and future of the focused topic you choose and not to just bandwagon the hottest topic trending today.
   2. Choose something you are really passionate about because people will see that in what you share.
8. Choose your account type: This is where you decide who to post.
   1. Posts that have you in them, you become the face of your account.
   2. Posts that do not have you in them, you are the silent partner that people ask for a face reveal.
9. Choose an account name.
   1. If you are an active part of the posts it can be your own username people will identify you by.
   2. If you are not going to be recognized then you can choose a name that people identify your account by easily.
10. Research the account name
    1. check everywhere and make sure that username is available not just the platform you want to be on. Including a website address. Start with a google search.
11. Once you have picked a name register that as an email address, then you can use that email to register your social media accounts.
12. Register your name under all the social media accounts.
    1. YouTube
    2. facebook
    3. twitter
    4. instagram
    5. snapchat
    6. tiktok
    7. twitch
    8. any other accounts you may want to have in the future
13. Start building your identity. That means logos, profile pictures, account descriptions, banners and anything else you need to show people who you are.
    1. This is called branding and it gives you an identity it will be important later when you want people to find you on other platforms.
14. We know that for this instance we want to build our instagram empire, however you can apply all these methods to any of the other channels depending on which format you choose to best yourself in.
15. Decide what you want to post. (just a few examples are below)
    1. news
    2. memes
    3. video highlights
    4. commentary
    5. live streaming (not really a thing on instagram)
16. After you decide what to post find other people that are doing the same thing and have some success at it. And consider how you can do it better than them.
    1. The real objective is to have fun with your account this will help for longevity.
    2. The secondary objective to focus on is be the best at whatever it is you choose, keep a close eye on the competition and look at how you can improve over time.
17. Start posting stuff get your friends to like your page to get some initial followers.
18. After you have a few posts start interacting with other accounts / people in your category. Talk to pages big and small (yes even big names interact with people too but don’t expect it too often).
    1. DON’T ASK FOR SHOUT-OUTS.
       1. I know people say just ask for shout-outs even if you have to pay for it, well I guess that’s fine but remember we are working on a $0.00 budget for our account.
    2. Just talk to people. Some people call it community building. But remember you are doing this to have fun with it and talking to people (being social) really is a great part of the fun of having a social media account. You get to meet a lot of great people along the way.
19. If people comment on your posts reply to all of them. This is easy when you are a small account, it’s when you have a lot of posts and people are commenting a lot all the time it becomes difficult to reply to all of them but replying to comments is an important step (it’s also referred to as “engagement”).
20. Like and comment on posts that are related to your account.
    1. By liking or commenting on other peoples account starts a conversation with them. Get an open dialogue going. Don’t be disingenuous about it and do it expecting follows.
    2. Do not use the follow / unfollow method. This is where you follow someone so they follow you and then you instantly unfollow them. This is deceptive and trashy way to get followers.
21. On instagram you have to switch to a creator or business account but you need to review your analytics daily.
    1. Even if you check your statistics by looking how many people liked a post try to do even better with the next post even if it’s by one like or comment.
22. DO NOT get frustrated, bored or tired of posting.
    1. Remember when I said choose something you will have fun doing, well it may take years before you have success, it’s like grinding levels on a video game you have to keep working at it and never give up.
    2. Do not change your account to something else cause your bored, this will kill your chances of rising to the top. If you really want to do something else start the process over.
23. Post to other accounts
    1. Use your other accounts to post to, it can even be the same thing but there are people that only use one type of social media so it’s important to grab as many people as you can.
    2. An added bonus is that you may find success on a different platform than you initially wanted.
24. Be creative not a copy cat
    1. Remember I said do it better than everyone else. That means don’t just go around the internet and steal stuff from other people. People appreciate original content more than copy/pasta content.
25. Keep it up. Once you get started keep going have clear goals in mind but not to big or you will get frustrated and quit before you are famous.
26. Something to consider is to not accept advertising or sponsorship’s or endorsements until after you get about 500,000 (not saying this is like an acceptable number but more of a maybe around this time). If you do advertise too soon in your life span of your page people will think you are fake and just in it for the money and turn against you.

That’s about it. Check back on this post or add some more in the comments. Each social media platform has it’s own tricks so once you start talking to other people in the community they will be able to help you get better and define who you are or what your voice is. Hope this helps answer some questions.

Good Luck out there.

~ bigfisch
bigfisch@gamewatchtoday.com

(edit) – added #26 1/28/2020