This is the fourth part of the Wild Insta Course called “Reasons Why We Follow”. And it’s about why people follow, what do they want to achieve while doing so. It is the transcription of the audio file which you can listen to below.

We follow social media accounts for three particular reasons. One is entertainment, such as funny videos, memes, things of that nature. The second is an inspiration. We’re looking for inspo. And the third reason is social reasons, such as our friends and family. Those are the three major reasons as to why we would follow an account. So, when deciding what kind of account you should be. You should probably be something that’s entertaining or something that’s inspirational, at least in one way or another, or some mix of both.

With so many different accounts being created every day that have some mix of entertainment and inspiration, it’s hard for the average user to decide which accounts to follow because no person wants to follow thousands and thousands and thousands of accounts. They want to only follow the best of the best or things that are particularly unique.

So the way we choose the accounts is based on your value. If a person feels they’re getting more value inspirationally or entertainment-wise than other accounts they follow, then they will follow you too. So value is determined by a few key factors: a) the level of talent you have; b) the consistency of things. Meaning how consistent are you posting and how consistent is the things that you are posting. Does everything flow together and feel consistent? Do you have a very particular brand image? The next is relate-ability and likability. How much does the user feel like they can relate to you or how much do they like you?

Also, how much do they identify with you? This is why sharing your story and being real and being a little bit vulnerable helps people grow a lot because people like that you seem imperfect and therefore can relate with you better. And the next thing that determines value is uniqueness. Slash, scarcity.

Uniqueness is a form of scarcity, meaning there are not a lot of other accounts like yours. So, therefore, let’s follow you because I’m getting something valuable and different here that I’m getting from all of the other accounts that I follow. The next reason is just adding value, such as you’re giving useful information, useful tips.

You’re giving away free things. You are adding value to people’s lives mentally, emotionally, or physically. The next thing that adds value to your account is social proof, meaning the other followers you have, the more followers you have. The more followers you will get because when people come to your account, they will see, wow, look at all these other people that are already following this person.

That makes it okay for me to follow them, too. Because if other people are doing it, they must have something good to share. So that’s another key value point. And the last major value point is authority. Authority could be such as your celebrity, you have publications, you have some sort of credentials in some sort of field.

This is another reason why people might follow you. So those are the main things as to what determines value, level of talent, consistency, relate-ability, slash, likeability, uniqueness. Slash, scarcity, the amount of value you add physically, mentally, and emotionally. The social proof of having other followers and people engaging you and authority.

Now when you’re creating your account, these factors should be kept in mind. In fact, I would take these factors and write them out and then rate those areas out of five and how well you can value yourself out in these different factors from one to five, one being zero value or low value, and five being a high value.

When you go through your level of talent, you know, maybe you’re a three, and then maybe your consistency, how frequently you’re posting, and how similar those things are. Might be a one, and then your relate-ability might be a four. Your uniqueness might be a two. And then when you go through this, you’re going to start to see, Oh wow, I really need to work on my uniqueness, or I need to add, you know, start adding more value, or I need to be more consistent.

This will give you a very clear understanding of the places you’re lacking. If you can get these all up to a five, it will become very, very easy to grow. And obviously, if you’re listening to this, you probably don’t have the follower count you’re looking for. So the social proof, don’t worry about that right now.

This is only one metric, not all of the metrics. Each of these metrics alone could bring your followers, but all of them together. And you start really pushing the odds in your favor.