You have a brilliant plan: Art that is unique to you, poems that have their own distinctness or food recipes that everyone on the planet just has to try. So you want to share these on social media and
have as many people as possible see your work. Question is: How do you reach people? What if in spite of all the talent you have and all the hard work you put into creating your content, you are still left wishing for a larger audience?
Nima Yangchey, YouTube and TikTok star, Anusmriti Chapagain, fashion influencer, and Shreya Basnet (alias ‘lunaray’) blogger and captionist, all confess that making your presence felt on social media isn’t an easy task. But today, all three have thousands of followers and subscribers on their accounts. Here, they talk to The Week about what they think they have done right that has enabled them to have an active, thriving social media presence.
Build an identity
Be absolutely sure about the kind of page you want to start. “Even if you try to do something new there will be pages doing something similar. Social media is huge. Despite that you could always come up with something to stand out,” says Anusmriti. She recommends injecting humor, anecdotes in daily life, and posting with some structure. If you are a recipe-page consider the simplest way to write a recipe and decide where you want to add in the descriptions. After doing this, loosely follow that structure in all your posts. Regular viewers will find it easy to navigate through your posts because they have identified the structure.
Social Media Addiction
Be regular
Shreya confirms that bloggers often experience a decline in readers after a length of time. “Over the years maintaining consistency is the most difficult thing and bloggers tend to become irregular,” she admits. She adds that setting a day and particular hour in a day to post is something that has worked for her. “Set your own deadline and never miss it,” she emphasizes. But there will be times when you go through what is called “an artist’s block” and putting out your content may just become a huge burden to you. But you can’t avoid posting even in that case, which is exactly when the next tip will come in handy.
Hoard up and be patient
You will have days when you feel extra motivated and when you get all these ideas, work on them then and there. If not write the idea down clearly and work on it on days you particularly feel uninspired. Look for people who are doing something similar to you and see how they build their content. Now evaluate your work. “Be patient, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” says Shreya. “When you start out, the only followers you will have will be your friends. The same is true for everyone. From the very beginning be consistent and persistent,” she adds.
Interact and be approachable
Talisa Tossell runs one of the most followed slime/ASMR pages on Instagram and has millions of subscribers on her YouTube channel. And although her content is usually ASMR-slime based, people on the reply sections discuss her captions just as much as they discuss the content. On her captions, she asks people what their first experience of peppermints were like, “Mine was slobbery. My brothers liked the whole packet,” she writes. Seeming approachable is essential, Anusmriti says. “If someone leaves you a comment or a direct message, reply to them. Wish them a good day. Something that simple will work wonders,” she says. Host giveaways, if you can. If you run an art account, give away one of your paintings. Organize contests to keep it fun.
Collaborate
The more the merrier is an applicable concept just about anywhere. Give shoutouts to pages and they will do the same. “You’re bound to meet people who run their own pages eventually. Maintaining friendly relations with them and helping them promote their work will come to your aid in the long run,” says Nima. Guest post on other popular pages. Your icon will seem familiar and people generally pay attention to pages, she adds. If you’re a food blogger, you could collaborate with other food bloggers. Visit a new eatery together, perhaps do a live stream or make a video with varying perspectives on the food. If you’re planning a giveaway you could reach out to maybe, say, an ‘Achar’ brand and collaborate with them for the giveaway. Share responsibilities as such collaborations will turn out favorably. “Collaborate with people in your niche who will give you the exposure you need,” says Shreya.
Logistics matter
The first and most basic thing to do would be to adjust your profile so that your posts are promoted. With repetition and familiarity, promoted posts will generate an interest. Nima also adds that posting typically between four to seven in the evening will ensure that many people will see your post. “We’ve noticed that with Nepali people this time frame seems to be when they are most active on social media,” she explains. She also suggests posting square pictures. She elaborates that doing so will show the picture exactly as it is when put on thumbnails. This, she says, helps when your posts are listed on the explore section.
