6 Ways to Get Your Followers to Take Action

by Kim Niemi

Amassing a large number of followers on any (or all) of your social media profiles is quite an achievement. Engaging those followers is another story, and you must engage them, otherwise you’re simply throwing out worthless info to a bunch of people who stopped paying attention after they got whatever was offered for liking your page or otherwise following you. 


How do you keep your followers interested and interactive? 

Compelling calls to action, that’s how. You need to ask your followers (aka customers and prospects) to DO things. And you need to offer an incentive for them to do it. How you do this is your choice – could be a loyalty program through your app, or access to a coupon link for each action they complete.

Whatever you do, offer followers a reason to play along. And then tell them what you want them to do.

Need some ideas? Trying asking them to:

1. Vote on something – Pit two (or more) of your products or services against each other, and ask your followers to choose their favorite. For example, a jewelry company could host a regular “Battle of the Bling” and learn which pieces are most popular with customers.  

2. Upload a photo – Ask followers to upload an image of themselves wearing or using your product, in front of one of your storefronts, or holding a sign with your tagline. Take things to the next level by asking followers to spoof a specific image of something fun, like your staff asleep at their desks at the end of a long work day, etc.

3. Create a video – Similar to the image idea, you could ask them to spoof a video, or let them create their own in order to convey a specific sentiment, or demonstrate how your product works and talk about how much they love it.

4. Write a review – Many consumers nowadays research products and services online before purchasing – Millennials in particular – so ask followers to help by writing their own reviews of your products/services. Even a bad review offers an opportunity to reach out to a customer you didn’t realize was dissatisfied.

5. Tag you in their status – It’s a simple thing, but this action puts your brand in front of their friends in their own words, which is much more effective than simply sharing your brand’s latest ad.

6. Share/retweet your post and tag a friend – Of course, that’s not to say you can’t have them share your posts as well. Just ask them to tag a friend and tell them why they should check you out to add that little bit of personalization.

In any of these cases you could sweeten the deal by holding a contest for the best image or video, and giving away a special prize to the winner – on top of whatever they get for simply participating. The idea is to make sure that your calls to action aren’t ignored. Keep them fun and rewarding and they won’t be.

What are your most effective calls to action? Share your results with us!

IMAGE CREDIT: MARIA ELENA