1. Gemma Went

Gemma has been a big player in the marketing arena for over 15 years. She now works as a Digital Marketing and Online Business Consultant and has her own site here.

"Building an engaged audience on social media is where the real time investment comes in. You need to spend time listening to your people, really understand their problems, their dreams, the stuff they love, the stuff they hate. Getting inside their minds really helps you to understand how you should be engaging with them, how you can help them and how to create content they will love. Then you need to be there. Every single day. Listening, responding, sharing content they’ll love. It’s an investment, but it pays off when you get it right!"

2. Mark Webster

Mark is one of the brains behind Authority Hacker, a business which helps companies grow their own sustainable authority sites from scratch. He teaches people on content creation and promotion, as well as revenue growth.

"As a brand on social media, you are essentially a trusted content filter. This means that users value the content you share. Facebook also recognizes this in the way it calculates your EdgeRank and determines which of your stories get displayed in news feeds. So to build an engaged following, make fewer posts but make them all amazing. If you are posting your own links or content then, focus 100% on quality. If you are linking to other sites or stories, then make sure you properly vet these to ensure the quality is at your level. If this means that you are posting less frequently, that’s fine – most users prefer to have less frequent but great content than more frequent but average content."

3. Luan Wise

Luan discovered social media in 2009, and hasn’t put her smartphone down since! Today she runs her own successful marketing consultancy, providing marketing advice, practical hands-on support, and training.

"For engagement, the process is simple: relevant content and two-way conversation.

You need to think about your followers and what is of interest to them (but also relevant to your business), before posting content that is likely to start a conversation. And it’s important be consistent. Post often and stay focused on your key messages."

4. Rick Ramos

Rick Ramos is an influential marketing strategist, author, and Transform Your Marketing founder, a marketing leadership company that provides advisory, fractional marketing teams, and CMO services. Mr. Ramos has helped numerous businesses grow from zero to 9-figures in revenue. The agency offers plans starting at only $1,500 monthly, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes.

"I think if you want to build a loyal following on social media, it’s really helpful if you pick a niche and stick to it. Personally, I’ve been working on the online marketing space for almost 20 years and that’s what I mostly talk about on my social media. People follow me to find out what I think is relevant in today’s marketplace and get informed when I’ve published a new blog post – which could be in a few different outlets. Since I started working with HealthJoy.com, I’ve started to cover the healthcare space slightly more, but I make sure to make the content relevant to a broad audience and I keep the coverage below 20% of my newsfeed. I occasionally share something goofy or that catches my eye, but I rarely talk politics, religion or any other taboo topic that could put people off. You’re never going to change someone’s beliefs from a tweet, so don’t bother. Be regular and timely with your updates."

5. Warren Knight

Warren Knight is an award-winning Digital Leadership & Digital Transformation Leader 2020, a top 100 Global Influencer and top 100 Tech Influencer. He’s internationally recognised as an award-winning virtual keynote speaker 2020 and an award-winning technology entrepreneur, certified Agile leader and author of Think #Digital First. He’s also an ex-hip-hop dancer!

"Brands must talk to their followers and customers in a way that connects with what’s important to them in their buying cycle. As consumers we’re overwhelmed with different products and services to buy, but it’s the brands that help answer those all-important questions before we are ready to buy which are the ones that will survive in the new digital age.

Consistency and good content are king and queen in this game, and without either of them, the growth of loyal fans will drop as quickly as it grows."

6. Monica Stott

Monica is a British travel blogger. She set up The Travel Hack blog back in 2009 and still loves exploring new countries and cultures whenever she can.

"To build a loyal social media following you have to love what you’re doing. If you’re using a social media channel you enjoy using, you’re sharing content you enjoy consuming, engaging with people you find interesting and generally talking about something you’re passionate about then it shines through and each update is fun, informative and engaging.

This is why I often see bloggers with more engaged followings than brands – because they love what they do and feel passionate about what they’re sharing. When social media managers are employed for brands, they’re often taken on because they have social media skills but have no love, passion or knowledge about the brand or their products. Social media isn’t about customer service, it’s about sharing things you’re passionate about and connecting with people all over the world who share their passion."

7. Ferg Devins

After 30 years in the beverage alcohol and hospitality industry, Ferg gained exposure and experience to communications, public relations, marketing, and all things social media. He is now the Communications Strategist at The Devins Network Inc.

"Building an engaged and loyal following on social media takes full-on social engagement. By maintaining a human, authentic, active voice and dialogue in one’s social networks (brands, small businesses, medium size businesses or solopreneurs) the effort will pay dividends. By then engaging directly with one’s community, the conversation will lead to opportunities for collaboration, purchase or referrals. I strongly believe that the power of social media is still grounded in the conversational social dynamic that these channels provide. It is far too easy for brands to slip back into one way push marketing and abandoning the rich connectivity that social media channels can provide and support. It takes work to engage, but there are rewards long term. You can buy audiences, but you earn loyalty and engagement."

8. Nate Shivar

Nate is a Digital Marketing Consultant and Editor of his site which helps DIYers, freelancers & small businesses build better websites for more effective marketing.

"First, as with all marketing, you have to look at your target personas and figure out what they care about. You can use every tactic in the book or create the “best” content in your industry – but if it’s not exactly what your target audience cares about, it’s going to fall flat. Second, go for a “flywheel effect” – building an engaged following requires a lot of work up front, but if you can do consistent work to build a core group of followers – you’ll be able to maintain that loyalty as you grow larger."

9. Tor Refsland

Tor has been busy mentoring businesses for the past decade. An expert in all things time management, productivity and goal setting-related, he runs his own SEO company.

"Your goal is to build up an engaged and loyal following on social media, right? It’s actually quite simple. However, simple doesn’t mean easy. The best way to build an engaged following is to care and engage with them. But you also want them to be loyal, right?

Because what’s the point in building followers if they don’t stick around? You need to over-deliver by sharing great content that your followers are interested in. Content that can help them solve their biggest problem and change their life. The social media platform is not about you. It’s all about you serving your audience wholeheartedly. Do that and awesome stuff will happen."

10. Brian Honigman

Brian is a Content Marketing Consultant and the CEO of his own content marketing consultancy that provides strategy on content distribution and production. He is also a regular contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur and more.

"Hard work. An engaged community is one where the company uses social media to interact one-on-one with people in their audience on a consistent basis, providing value, entertainment and support for others. Once trust is built in the long-term, that’s when a following is truly engaged."

11. Chris Makara

With over 18 years of digital marketing experience, Chris is an Interactive Marketing and Digital Strategist, offering solutions to a wide range of clients through his website.

"Building up a loyal following takes dedication. For me, one of the best ways to build up a loyal following is to help others out. This can be done through sharing other people’s content, answering their questions, or just being a good social citizen. And when you do this over time, your loyal following will be strong as well as be more engaged with your social accounts."

12. Jacob Cass

Jacob is the founder of JUST Creative, his design studio and graphic design blog. He specialises in logo design, branding, web design and offers design services to businesses of all sizes around the world.

"Providing value to your audience is key when building up a social media following. What are the reasons that one would want to follow you? What value are you providing? If you can do answer this and deliver then you’re well on your way to social success."

So there you have it – the best advice from the best in the business. Follow this advice, and get social!