Social media marketing is a game of give and take. As a marketer, it might feel like you’re constantly giving – great blog content, witty tweets, alerts to breaking news, special offers, promotions. Indeed, you may even think from time to time that you are giving your very soul to your keen and hungry followers on social media.

But, those followers do give back, of course. They give back every time they click on one of your links, read your blog, like your Facebook post, or retweet one of your articles. And this is where the rewarding part of your job comes in – especially when some of those followers actually go one step further and leave a comment or even a question after a piece of content that you have lovingly provided for them.

Yes, when you start to garner some real, meaningful engagement with your following, then that’s when you really start to take something away. It might only be that warm, fuzzy feeling inside your tummy as you realise that what you have just created has been useful for somebody out there – but, at the end of the day, that’s exactly what you’re doing this job for.

Special Rewards For Special Followers

You may like this fuzzy feeling. You may really like it in fact (I know I do), and, as such, you might want to try and create it again for yourself. If your followers are appreciative, engaged and vocally grateful to you for posting up a blog three times a week, just think how happy you could make them if you gave your most loyal ones an actual, personalized reward for their dedication to your ongoing efforts.

Some of your followers, you will no doubt have noticed, will be far more frequently engaged in your output than others. Indeed, you might very well have one or two that could be truly described as ‘brand ambassadors’ out there. These people will in fact be doing a lot of your work for you – by which I mean that they will be singing the praises of your products and/or your brand across all of their social networks.

The truth of the matter is you’re being paid to market your company’s products, but your brand ambassador’s aren’t. Your followers expect any content that is produced under your company’s name to be naturally praising and proud of what you’re offering. But, your brand ambassadors and other followers don’t actually get anything out of it, and therefore, when all is said and done, these people are trusted more than you are by the rest of your following, simply because they have complete disinterest when harking happily about you. There’s nothing in it for them. They are not invested in you or your products, and so people trust that they’re telling the truth.

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3 Great Ways To Reward Your Social Followers

If you’re lucky enough you’ve worked hard enough to create an engaged and thriving community of social followers and perhaps even have a brand ambassador or 2, then you will probably be finding your job much more rewarding than you thought was possible.

As such, you will want to reward your followers in return, and here are 3 great ways that you can do that.

1. Exclusive Discounts and Coupons

Saying thank you on a tweet is one thing. Sending a personalised email is another. But, even greater than that (perhaps unsurprisingly) is the power of money. Giving your social followers exclusive discounts and coupons when they buy your products is a great way to generate follower interest – and will bring them coming back for more and more again and again. The perfect way to reward your following, and keep those sales and conversions nice and high as well.

2. Help them Give Something Back

Another great move that some companies make is by helping their followers give something back. People like giving to charity, but they don’t always have the time or the organisation to set up something big themselves. So do it for them, and they can watch the overall figure grow and grow and grow and feel like they are a part of that.

Another way to do this would be to do something like nononsense.com did a few years ago. No Nonsense are a company that produce hosiery and legwear, and they started a campaign called “Socks for America”, where the aim was to donate a million pairs of socks to needy children across the country. Every time someone became a fan of No Nonsense’s Facebook page, a pair of socks was donated in that person’s name to someone in need.

3. Invite Your Followers To A Special Event

If you can give a group of your followers first, exclusive access to something – the launch of a new product, say – then this will be a great way to generate a buzz on social media about the event or the launch, as well as making your followers feel special. Furthermore, it will give them a chance to meet you in person, and this is invaluable for humanising your business, and furthering their engagement with you on social media in the future.

How do you reward your loyal followers on social? Do you perhaps host content creation competitions, or involve your followers in your advertising and promotion efforts? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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