A few weeks ago, I shared some thoughts on my personal blog about adding friends to your personal brand. Today, I want to formalize that post for the consulting blog to emphasize a crucial point: building a real audience is essential for your brand’s success. As you start growing your personal brand, there are plenty of shortcuts and temptations, but they can do more harm than good.
The Temptation of Quick Growth
When you first dive into personal branding, it’s easy to be tempted by shady offers promising thousands of followers in no time. “1,500 fans in the first month,” they’ll say. But what are you really getting? The truth is, you’re likely buying fake accounts or bots that won’t engage with your content in any meaningful way. And in the world of personal branding, engagement rates matter—especially if you’re aiming to become an influencer, attract buyers, or work with big companies.
Engagement Rates: Quality Over Quantity
When it comes to social media, engagement rates are far more valuable than follower counts. Many tools, like Hype Monitor, can analyze your social media presence, checking for fake followers, actual engagement, and your recent collaborations. These metrics give businesses a clear picture of whether you’re authentic or just boosting numbers artificially.
While you might be able to get away with buying followers—since not everyone will investigate the authenticity of your audience—anyone with real business sense will spot the fakes. A quick scan of your follower list could reveal shady accounts that harm your credibility. That’s why building a genuine audience is so important, even if it takes longer.
Organic Growth: The Right Way to Build an Audience
Organic growth isn’t always easy, but it’s the right way to build an engaged and loyal audience. Focus on creating real connections with your followers. Yes, some people grumble about the “follow-for-follow” system, but it’s much better to have an authentic, engaged following than a large number of disengaged users. There are even services that can help you clean up your follower list to make sure your audience is genuine.
Consistency is key: post regularly, engage with your audience, and understand that not all platforms will perform the same. Sometimes, despite all your efforts, your follower count may stagnate. But here’s the thing—I’d rather have 100 followers, with over half engaging, than 1,500 followers and only 50 engaging. Engagement rates are what count.
Why Friends Aren’t Always the Best Fans
Now, let’s talk about friends. While they might support you, they aren’t necessarily your ideal audience. Take my personal example—I’m passionate about bourbon, but most of my friends aren’t. Inviting them to follow my bourbon-related content doesn’t help, even if they like my posts out of courtesy. Their lack of genuine engagement can actually hurt my overall engagement rate.
This is particularly true on platforms like TikTok, where likes without meaningful interaction can lower your score. If you’re relying on friends who don’t share your passions to engage with your content, you’re missing out on a more targeted, engaged audience.
The Pitfalls of Social Proof
The idea of “social proof” can make buying followers seem like a good idea—after all, a large following looks impressive. But this strategy isn’t sustainable. Big brands like Sony might be able to handle a few fake followers, but for small businesses, the risks are much higher. Being caught with fake followers could lead to your account being banned, and that’s a gamble you don’t want to take.
Targeting the Right Audience for Your Business
Every business is different, and the key is knowing where your audience spends their time. If you’re a brick-and-mortar restaurant, platforms like Instagram and Facebook are essential, where food lovers gather and share experiences. If you’re selling t-shirts, you need to stand out in a crowded marketplace, and simply having a page won’t lead to sales. You need to add value to your audience’s lives.
This is where good consultation comes in. A consultant can help you identify the right platforms for your brand, build a strategy, and post consistently. For example, posting three times a week with content that reflects your brand’s personality can build meaningful social proof.
Adding Value to Your Community
In a previous post, I talked about how realtors should focus on the value they bring to their community, not just selling houses. The same principle applies to other businesses. If you’re a dry cleaner, talk about the great restaurant next door or local events to provide value and give people a reason to visit your store.
Ultimately, the key is to add value. Find your real audience—people who actually care about what you offer. My friends might not care about bourbon as much as I do, and that’s perfectly fine. What I need to focus on is finding and engaging with people who share that passion. The same goes for any business. If you’re targeting an audience that doesn’t resonate with your product or content, they won’t engage, and that will hurt your growth.
Take a dry-cleaning business as an example. If the majority of your followers are jeans-and-t-shirt types, they’re not going to care about dry-cleaning tips or services. You need to find people who actually want and need what you’re offering. It’s all about the right audience, not just any audience.
The Importance of Getting Professional Help
Growing a personal or business brand takes time, effort, and the right strategy. That’s why consulting with someone who knows how to navigate these waters is so valuable. A good consultant will help you understand which platforms are best suited for your business, develop a content strategy that works, and guide you on how to avoid common pitfalls. This kind of guidance can save you time, prevent wasted efforts, and help you see meaningful results.
By working with someone who can help you create a clear, actionable plan, you’ll have a much better shot at growing your audience organically. Rather than randomly posting or “shooting from the hip,” you’ll know exactly where to focus your efforts, and what to avoid.
Conclusion: Build the Right Way, and Success Will Follow
In the end, building a personal brand or business audience is not about quick fixes or relying on friends to boost your numbers. It’s about doing the work to create genuine engagement and finding the right people who will actually care about what you have to offer. Fake followers or disengaged friends won’t help your brand in the long run.
So, take your time, invest in real connections, and remember—your friends aren’t necessarily your fans. Build your audience the right way, and success will follow naturally.
That’s all for this week! Stay consistent, stay authentic, and your brand will grow in the right direction.