"Feed My Sheep..." Not Count Them - Growing a Following as a Catholic Ministry

It’s the most frequent question I get as a Catholic marketer: “How can I get more followers?”

Spoiler alert: I think that's the wrong question to be asking, but we'll get there. For now, let's address the question at hand - how do you grow a following on social media?

Growing a Following Takes Work

Let me start off with this: Unless you are a public figure or have a built-in following already from some other platform, there is no easy way to grow a following. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.

Growing a large following takes a lot of work. It’s going to be a slow and steady process, and that’s a good thing.

In fact, a giant jump in followers (without an obvious explanation, such a post that went viral) can actually be bad. Because here’s the thing: Not all followers are of equal value. Having followers who aren’t in your target audience only make it harder for your posts to be seen by those who are.

Why is that? Well, the more followers you have, the more you have to work for a successful engagement rate. While a successful engagement rate will vary from industry to industry, you generally want at least 1-3%.

(Not sure how to calculate your engagement rate? Click here. Suffice it to say though, if you're disappointed by the number of likes, comments, and shares you have, you probably have a low engagement rate. )

So what we want to strive for is a growth in followers in your target audience. And in some cases, that may be a really small number, like literally one new follower a week, and that’s okay.