Right off the bat, I’m just going to say that follower count is worthless in and of itself. If you think follower count is a badge of honour or a status symbol, then you’re doing it wrong.
That being said, gaining more followers does have value, and here’s one reason why.
More followers means more engagement.
One of the most obvious benefits to having more people following you is that the likelihood people will see the content you share will increase. After all, the more people you have following you, the more people who potentially will see something you share.
This of course leads to the fact that if more people see your content, then more people will interact with it. More people will click on like, more people will visit your link, more people will retweet, more people will click on +1, more people will repin, more people will comment, and so on.
That increase in discussion can provide you with valuable feedback for future content, including blog posts and newsletter topics. If particular content streams receive more interaction than others, then that can inspire you to produce more of that content. If someone asks questions on something you shared, you could use your answer as inspiration for a new blog post.
Plus, if you follow the people who interact with your content, it increases the content stream you have access to, which can help you discover great content you might not have otherwise seen.
People love to share content that engages them. The more your followers share your content, the more well-known your brand becomes. Even though your initial reason for joining social media might have been to get more sales, social media targets another important aspect of business success: brand recognition and brand loyalty.
If you use social media to improve brand recognition and loyalty instead of trying to increase sales, you will find that it will indirectly improve sales. People won’t buy something from you because of a single clever Facebook post or a snappy YouTube video. However, those things over time will strengthen your image in their mind, and when it does come time to purchase, they will likely think of you first.
So, more followers leads to more views, which leads to more shares, which leads to better brand recognition and loyalty, which eventually leads to more sales.
