Is it more beneficial to have 50 qualified followers on your social media platforms or 1,000 followers who will never purchase anything from you? Many business-minded individuals would answer that 50 qualified followers would be much more beneficial. They would be incorrect.

Research shows that having more followers on your social media platforms directly affects your content’s visibility, as well as increases your ability to be found on the web, which will help with generating leads. The more followers you have strengthens your online footprint and sets you apart as an intellectual leader in your market.

Still unsure? Below are proven ways that having more followers positively impacts your business.

1) More followers means visibility to your follower’s followers.

Extra exposure is never a bad thing, right? So why would it be a bad thing within your social media platforms? Picture it this way, if you have 250 followers and each of your followers has at least 250 followers than each time one of your posts or tweets is reposted you have the potential of being introduced to an additional 250 potential clients. With this type of exposure, it will never matter if the original follower ever purchased an item or utilized your services because there is a very good chance that one of their followers will.

2) Creation of connections with influencers.

With a large following, there is a very good chance that at least a couple of your followers will be influencers. Influencers are strong assets because they can introduce you to investors, industry experts, bloggers, and other influencers. If an influencer is able to act as a catalyst in promoting your services by forging these relationships they will greatly affect your inbound inquiries, while never having contributed direct revenue to your business.

3) Followers who don’t buy can still refer.

Regardless as to whether your followers have a direct need for your services they probably know at least one person who does. Facebook fan Mary may never utilize the items and services you offer but she may very well know someone in her “offline” life who does. She is able to bridge the gap between your online reach and the real world by referring qualified leads to your business.

4) Your SEO is impacted by your social media shares.

Recently Google recognized the impact social media shares has on their search engine rankings. Meaning the more your content is liked, tweeted, and shared will greatly affect how your business is placed within their search results.

This being said, the more followers you have the greater your chance of having your content shared across the web. If you have 300 followers and are consistently posting information that your followers find relevant and useful you will be at a great advantage over those who have 50 followers and do not post on a regular basis. This will greatly affect your search engine results, which will allow your business to show up higher on the list and give potential clients a much easier way to find your business on the web.

5) You never know who will use your services.

If you spend a lot of time defining who your buyer is you might miss out on a whole other demographic. By having a large following you are exposing your business to several different communities and personalities. Social media platforms will allow you expand your business module and potentially bring in a good amount of unexpected revenue.

The moral of the story, even though followers may not directly be customers does not mean they can not help grow your business.

Social media is a great tool for building your business, and those who understand this concept are actively working to expand their reach and visibility as well as strengthening their online footprint.

220 Marketing specializes in Online Marketing and Management for industries such as Insurance Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, and Mortgage Marketing.