Getting connected: Tips and tools for growing your social media audience

In the ever-evolving landscape of social media, gaining traction and expanding your social media presence can be a vital key to success for your business. Looking to plus-up your social media strategy? The Target Accelerators team gathered three of our alumni to share their winning tips and fave tools, to help you navigate the digital terrain with finesse. So read along if you’re ready to unlock the secrets to success, and take your online presence on LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok to new heights.

Lock in on LinkedIn

Danza Huey is the CEO and Founder of Party Card Mash Up credits LinkedIn as his secret tool for helping score some seriously cool opportunities. Below, his top tips for success on LinkedIn:

Target Accelerators (TA): What tools do you use to help you run your business social media account on LinkedIn?

Danza: LinkedIn has the ability to boost posts, which is a powerful tool! Boosting LinkedIn Posts has helped bring more page views to parent company, page followers, and engagement with – and has helped bring in orders, too. LinkedIn Ads is a fantastic tool as well to bring exposure to the brand but keep in mind your brand and the end goal for your paid ads, whether that’s brand awareness, website visits, website conversions, etc.

• Boosting on LinkedIn is a simple way to increase your reach through paid ads and another way to create a paid campaign without having to learn how to us Campaign Manager on the platform.

TA: How has utilizing this platform helped your business grow and succeed?

Danza: It has been great to bring tabletop games to light on a platform that focuses strongly on corporate and tech companies. LinkedIn has surprisingly been a great way for me to bring my business growth journey to my business community and bring legitimacy to the Party Card Mash Up brand as a company and real contender in the crowded card game space. Posting on my personal page in addition to my company page has allowed me to express excitement for my brand and double down on the business growth journey. “Double Posting” as I call it has led to public relation leads, potential funding leads, and has greatly increased my brand exposure with little to no marketing budget.

TA: What is something about growing on social media you wish you knew when you first started that you know now?

Danza: I wish I knew the power of scheduling posts and keeping your social media followers engaged around the clock. Planning ahead to have your brand participate with historical and even fun holidays (like in our case, International Tabletop Games Day), which organically creates a rhythm with content that your followers appreciate and enjoy. Also, finding ways to collaborate with other emerging brands in the market that compliment your business is a great way to expand your brand awareness to capitalize on reaching your maximum audience for free!

TA: What advice do you have for founders who are beginning to grow their social media accounts?

Danza: Use your existing network! Don’t be afraid to ask your current network and followers to “do the work for you” and spread the word about your business to grow your social media accounts. Consistency matters when growing your social media accounts as well. Stay focused on quality posts, showcase any and all business wins, and get your followers excited about being a part of the full journey. Don’t be scared to showcase the “lows” in addition to the highs to bring an element of humility and humanness to your brand. Discover new ways to engage your followers – a contest, a vote, or a giveaway for sharing the page with five of their current followers.

Interesting on Instagram

Have you ever wondered about how to grow your follower count on Instagram? Target Forward Founder alum Tavia Green, CEO and Co-Founder of Climax Hair Care, has cracked the code. Below, she shares how important content purpose and batching is to help grow your page.

TA: What tools do you use to help you run your business social media account on Instagram?

Tavia: I don’t use any outside tools to run Instagram, but I brainstorm my page’s content at the beginning of each week and post new content on a cadence of two to three times per week. Additionally, I digest and take inspiration from content that is relevant within my industry for creative inspiration.

TA: How has utilizing this platform helped your business grow and succeed?

Tavia: There is a direct link between social media and our brand’s success – particularly Instagram because that is the platform that has worked best for us. Social media allows visibility for new potential customers to find out that you exist. I urge every new founder to be heavily active on social media. We certainly wouldn’t have made it this far without it.

TA: What is something about growing on social media you wish you knew when you first started that you know now?

Tavia: Don’t post content just to take up space. Produce meaningful content that either makes consumers laugh or teaches them something new and if you’re able to do both you’ve got a golden ticket.

TA: What advice do you have for founders who are beginning to grow their social media accounts?

Tavia: Stay consistent and post content that gets people to share. The more they share, the more your account will grow! Don’t try to master every platform.Pick one or two that you connect well with people on and stick with those. And don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen for you right away. It took us almost two years to get the formula down.

TA: Out of all the social platforms out there, which is your favorite to use?

Tavia: Instagram has worked the best for us, with TikTok coming in a strong second.

Trending on TikTok

Aliyah Marandiz, CEO & Founder of Sugardoh, found herself trending on TikTok after posting about how to use her product and going live on the platform. Today, she gives us her tips and advice on how to trend on TikTok:

TA: What tools do you use to help you run your business social media account on TikTok and what does each tool help you achieve?

Aliyah: My setup is fairly simple: I use my iPhone 11 to film quality content. I used Splice to edit my videos. I used a basic tripod and lighting  for videos and lives. I use TokSave to download final edited TikTok videos without the TikTok watermark.

TA: How has utilizing this platform helped your business grow and succeed?

Aliyah: Utilizing social media platforms, especially TikTok, has been crucial in helping my business, Sugardoh, grow and succeed. Through this platform, I gained access to a large and engaged audience, which allowed me to increase brand visibility, generate awareness, and drive sales. Sharing my brand’s story and journey on social media has also helped me foster authenticity and build valuable connections with potential customers, partners, and retailers. The viral content on TikTok, in particular, played a significant role in catapulting my business to new heights and getting Sugardoh on shelves in hundreds of Ulta Beauty stores across the US.

TA: What is something about growing on social media you wish you knew when you first started that you know now?

Aliyah: Something I wish I knew when I first started growing on social media is the importance of consistency. Building a loyal following and maintaining engagement requires regular and frequent content updates. If I had understood this earlier, I would have planned and executed a more consistent content strategy from the beginning, which could have accelerated the growth of my business on social media platforms.

TA: What advice do you have for founders who are beginning to grow their social media accounts?

Aliyah: My advice for founders who are beginning to grow their social media accounts is to understand their target audience thoroughly. Tailoring content that addresses their needs and interests will lead to higher engagement and a more devoted following. Consistency is key, so set a content schedule you can maintain and interact with your audience regularly. Leverage influencers and user-generated content to extend your brand’s reach and authenticity. Finally, keep a close eye on social media analytics to gain insights that can inform your content strategy and optimize your growth efforts.

TA: Out of all the social platforms out there, which is your favorite to use?

Aliyah: TikTok! It has amazing potential for outreach with very little effort.