Followers and supporters are a huge part of a social media presence. We often use the terms interchangeably, but they’re very different. Both in how you connect with them and how you need to think of them. And understanding the differences in the audiences and how to attract them can really boost your social media skills and make creating your content easier. In this new article series, we’ll be breaking down followers vs supporters and the fundamentals of getting (and keeping) both.
Followers vs Supporters 🆚
Before we really dive in, let’s define the differences between followers and supporters. There should be some overlap, but we want to think of them as separate audiences.
Followers 🫶
Followers are people who like your content and follow your account. They may not even like all of it – just most of it! Or at least enough to follow you. They’ll occasionally comment on videos or share there, but they’ll mostly drop a like and move on.
Which is fine! A lot of us are followers, and they’re still an important piece of your audience. In fact, they’ll likely be the bulk of your audience.
Supporters 🫂
The key difference is how much supporters engage with your content. They will like most (if not all) of what you post, and seek out ways to engage with you. They’re the ones gifting in your Lives and Radios, commenting on your videos, and even DMing you.
Supporters are also the ones subscribed to your Clapper Fam Tiers. They’re the ones that drop money on your content, whether that’s paying extra or sending a gift.
And they were, at one point, just followers. Followers become supporters, so it’s important to nurture and grow that relationship. In this first entry, we’ll be telling you how to do just that.
Follower Basics 📝
At this point, anyone on social media knows that they want more followers. But there’s a lot of different reasons why we want to build substantial platforms and grab more people’s attention. We all start creating content for a reason, and this will likely be what drives you to get more followers. That motivation will also guide what kind of content you create and how you create it.
Connecting with Other Creators 👋
Many Clapper creators want to build a following because they want more friends! That’s a fantastic reason to start creating and is social media in its purest form. These kinds of followers may enjoy a more personal touch to your content, or they might enjoy the same hobbies.
More Views 🔬
Some creators want more followers to increase their views and the traffic on their videos. Maybe they want to eventually work with sponsors, they really want to go viral, or they have advice they want to share. Either way, more followers = more views. And it’s totally fine to want more followers so you can get more views!
Sponsors and Partners 💼
We’ve talked a little about sponsors and partners, but followers are an essential part of getting either one. If you want to start working with brands and help advertise their products, you’ll need a follower base to do so. At the DCS, our Director of Creator Partnerships shared that you don’t need thousands of followers to bag a sponsor or partner: some will work with you if you only have 100!
Selling a Product 💰
If you’re looking to sell a product (music, a book, a clothing line) you’re going to want to have a lot of followers. Like we said earlier, more followers means more views, which means more people will see your product. And creators with bigger followings are often pushed more on other algorithms. Which means that more people will see your products and be encouraged to buy them!
Getting Followers ➕
It seems easy to get followers: just post videos. But there are some tricks to it, and you’ll want to use different tactics depending on why you want more followers. We’ll break into some of our favorites (and some you’re probably already doing on your social media journey) below.
Post in Your Niche 🎨
Most of us don’t like or want to be just one thing, but finding a niche and creating content for it often can really help you grow your followers. Even if you only make something in your niche every two or three videos, that’s still a regular variety of content. Algorithms will still pick up that content and people interested in it will still see it on their feed.
Use Your Profile Tags 📇
Update your Profile Tags and go into each of them. Explore who else has the same tag – and see who shares multiple tags with you! Take a second to look through their content, see if they’re someone you’d like to get to know, and follow them. You can even shoot them a DM if you feel so inclined! This feature was designed to help people connect and get the conversation started, so take advantage.
Favorite Hashtags 📱
If there’s a hashtag you love to use or see on your FYP frequently, pause and scroll through it. You don’t have to follow every creator you see, but take some time to watch any that catch your attention. If they’re a larger creator, you may not get a follow-back right away, but don’t be afraid to occasionally look through their followers or their comments. There may be someone there that you’ll want to follow – and who will follow you back!
Participate in Campaigns and Events 🏅
At Clapper, we host a variety of activities each month to help creators connect and build their communities. Toss your hat in the ring and apply for any events that grab your interest. And if you keep an ear to the ground, you may also come across some creator run events that you can join to. These kind of activities are great to join, as you’re reaching communities outside of your own.
In our next installment, we’ll be diving into how to keep followers, how to turn them into supporters, and more. In the meantime, you can read more about social media and getting started as a creator on our Ultimate Creator Guide.