If you're new to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, growing your following can seem daunting. Getting your first hundred followers is likely goal number one.
I'll cut to the chase and make this post short and sweet - here are the actionable steps to take to get 100 followers on each of these platforms.
Set up your profile properly before you begin any of the following steps. A profile picture, header image (1500 x 500 pixels), short biography, and website link are all essential.
Before you get started, you'll also want to make sure that your follower ratio is relatively even. This means that the number of people you're following is below or equal to the number of people that follow you. This is purely a visual play that many other Twitter users take into consideration when looking at your profile - if you follow a ton of people that don't follow you back, it's a signal to others that you're not worth following. Harsh reality, but reality.
You can use the Crowdfire app to even out your following and find people not following you back.
Alternatively, the tool I'm going to recommend you use to get your first hundred followers can also take care of this for you - but for future maintenance, use Crowdfire.
My favorite tool to use to grow your following is Social Quant (note I have no affiliation with this company, I just love the product). They have a free 14-day trial, which will get your following up to 100 in a few days. Sign up, and post to your Twitter account at least a few times every day while the trial process runs. This is to ensure that people who look at your profile can see that you're active, and what you're all about.
The video below discusses Social Quant further, along with other strategies to grow a following from scratch.
Alternatively, you can also grow your Twitter followers through your current email contact list.
In your Settings tab, there's a "Find Friends" button on the left-hand sidebar. Click this link, and connect your favorite email account. From here you'll be able to add any of your email contacts that are already on Twitter.
These people are low-hanging fruit - they already know who you are, and are the most likely group of people to follow you back.
Similar to Twitter, you'll need to make sure your profile is set up correctly before you engage in growing your following. Also, try to post a minimum of nine photos to show others you're active.
Once you're set up, you can sign up for a free 5 day trial of Influx to grow your following. Influx finds users with similar interests to yours to help grow your following.
Automation can be a divisive subject in social circles, so this approach may not be for everyone, but as noted, this is one way to grow your audience quickly, and in a targeted way.
But a word of caution here: while Influx will grow your following, it'll also leave you with a huge ratio disparity - you're likely to get a few hundred followers, but be left following 1000+ users. To get your ratio back in balance, connect your account to an app like Followers Pro For Instagram. The app let's you unfollow up to 60 people per hour, so you can dwindle down that following and be left with a good ratio.
I'm sounding repetitive here, but set up your profile properly first, and post regularly.
Unlike Twitter and Instagram, you won't be using an outside app to grow your Facebook following. The best way to do this is to determine your target audience and promote your page.
Buying followers via a third party app is a bad idea on Facebook - and you won't see any engagement from your bought following either way.
Growing a following via targeted ads is another story. You can select who your ads are shown to and set a small budget that won't break the bank. $50 will easily get you to 100 followers if you run a smart ad that's well targeted.
You can also share your Page with your current friends via your personal profile. Invite them to like your Page, and ask close friends to share your page on their wall. A few shares can add up to a lot of new fans - though worth noting that if those friends don't engage aren't actually interested in your content, they will skew your Insights data, and potentially your organic reach (by not engaging with your updates).
If you're interested in growing your page further, check out these 5 Facebook growth tips.
Good luck.
This post originally appeared on Cave Social.