3 Ways to Build Business Visibility Without More Followers

Day 23 of 30 days writing something every day.

You hit 500 followers on social media and now you’re feeling the urge to do a giveaway to celebrate and reach more people.

But if your goal is to build visibility for your small business, more followers aren’t necessarily the answer.

You do not need to give away free stuff in order to boost visibility. In fact, in most cases it ends up being counterproductive. Oftentimes you’ll end up with more followers, but less engagement, because your account becomes inundated with people who aren’t actually connecting with your account — they’re just looking for free stuff.

Do you really want more people who just want free stuff?

I DIDN’T THINK SO.

Giveaways have their place and they can serve some great purpose — like finding people to fill last minute positions that otherwise would stay empty. Sometimes giveaways are a way for us to gain wealth in different ways, like data or content. But a giveaway just to gain followers on the premise of free stuff?

NAH.

Here are three ways to boost your visibility that don’t involve your social media following 👉

PARTNER WITH ESTABLISHED, INDUSTRY ADJACENT BUSINESSES

This one is delicate because it can only be asked of after establishing a relationship. I do not recommend cold contacting businesses you’ve never poured into to leverage their audience.

However, once you’ve made initial connections and agree that both of your audiences would benefit from the partnership, a collaboration with an industry adjacent business is a great way to boost visibility.

Think social media collaborations, in person events, or virtual webinars together.

SHOW YOUR FACE IN PUBLIC

Local visibility matters, especially for service-based businesses.

Wear your uniform or nametag and frequent the public. Identify places your clientele does business and go hang out.

Purchase from the vendors you find. Ask to place your business card on the counter afterwards. Take out an ad in their publication. See what you can do to increase their bottom line and I guarantee they’ll remember you when talking to their customers. Soon enough, they’ll also be your customers.

GO DEEPER WITH THE AUDIENCE YOU ALREADY HAVE

Your existing audience is often one of your most valuable visibility assets.

When there is a new offer on the horizon, your current audience should be the first to know about it. They’re already pre-qualified.

We already know who they are, where they hang out, and how to contact them. They have already chosen you once which makes choosing you again that much easier… if you make it easy.

Building visibility isn’t only about reaching new people. It’s also about staying visible to the people who already know, like, and trust your business.

This is a hill I will die on.

You do not need a big following on social media to build your brand’s visibility. You need a little confidence to show up authentically in the places where the right people already are— and give them a reason to remember you.