Let's say 1,000 people follow your business on Instagram.
You have something important to tell them.
Perhaps you're launching a new product. Maybe you're running a sale this weekend. Maybe you've finally restocked the thing everybody keeps asking you about.
So you post it.
And then… you hope it reaches the people who follow you.
This is a slightly strange arrangement when you think about it.
You did the work to find those 1,000 people. They decided they were interested enough in your business to follow you.
You can publish the post. The uncertain part is how many of those people will actually see it in their feed.
Posting and reaching your audience are not the same thing.
The world's most competitive room
Social media is an incredible way to find customers.
It's also an incredibly difficult place to get someone's attention.
When somebody opens Instagram, your new range of handbags isn't just competing with other handbags.
You're competing with Manchester United.
And Beyoncé.
And someone's wedding.
And a video of a cute baby eating his first lemon.
And several thousand people whose full-time job is apparently making Instagram videos.
It's a tough room.
The algorithms are designed to decide which tiny fraction of all this stuff somebody should see. Sometimes that will be you.
Sometimes it won't.
You can improve your odds by making better content. You can post more frequently. You can pay to advertise.
All of those things can work.
But there's another option too.
Build a way to speak directly to the people who actually want to hear from you.
Permission is valuable
A long time ago, the marketer Seth Godin popularised an idea called permission marketing.
The basic idea is wonderfully simple.
Instead of constantly fighting to interrupt strangers and get their attention, get permission from interested people to speak to them again.
This is what an email list does.
Someone discovers your business.
They like what you're doing.
They aren't necessarily ready to buy anything today.
But they say:
Yes. Keep me updated.
That's quite a valuable little click.
They've given you permission to continue the conversation.
This is why we built followers into Earn+
When following is enabled, someone visiting your Earn+ store can choose to follow it for updates.
Earn+ brings those followers together in one place and gives you tools to email them.
You decide what is worth sharing. Earn+ helps you continue the conversation.
Over time, instead of every visitor disappearing back into the internet after they leave your store, some of them become followers.
10 followers become 50.
50 become 100.
100 become 500.
And now something interesting has changed.
The next time you launch a product, announce a special or have something worth saying, you don't necessarily have to start from zero.
You have people to tell.
Your audience and your access to your audience are different things
This distinction is worth understanding.
You might have 5,000 followers on social media.
That's an audience.
But it doesn't necessarily mean you can reach 5,000 people whenever you want.
Your post is competing for a place in their feed.
Your email list is different.
Those people have specifically asked to hear from your business directly.
You are no longer relying only on a social feed to bring your message to their attention. An email still has to reach their inbox and be worth opening; no channel guarantees attention.
This doesn't make social media bad.
Quite the opposite.
Social media can be extremely good at helping you find people.
Your mailing list can be extremely good at helping you keep them.
Think of the two as doing different jobs.
Use Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp and Earn+ to get discovered.
Then, whenever you can, give interested people an opportunity to stay connected.
You don't need 10,000 people
There's a temptation with anything involving followers to think bigger is automatically better.
It isn't.
Imagine two businesses.
One has 20,000 Instagram followers scattered across the country.
The other sells cakes in Soweto and has 300 people on a mailing list who have specifically asked to hear when new cakes, specials and offers are available.
Which audience would you rather have if you needed to sell 20 cakes this weekend?
I'll take the 300.
The objective isn't to accumulate the largest possible number beside the word "followers."
It's to gradually build a group of people who actually care about what you're doing.
And don't just email them when you want money
There's an important catch.
Permission can be withdrawn.
If every message you send says:
BUY THIS.
SALE.
BUY THIS OTHER THING.
people will eventually stop listening.
The fact that someone has given you permission to contact them doesn't mean you should abuse it.
Tell them when you've made something new.
Show them something interesting about how you make your products.
Give your regular customers first access to something.
Ask what they'd like you to make next.
Run a competition.
Send them an offer genuinely worth opening.
Give people reasons to be happy they're on the list.
Then, when you do have something to sell, you're speaking to people who already know you.
Your followers can help you find more followers
There's another slightly less obvious benefit.
Your mailing list doesn't only have to drive sales.
It can help your other marketing work better too.
Suppose you're running a competition on Instagram.
Normally you post it and hope enough interested people see it.
But now you have 200 people who have already told you they care about your business.
Tell them about the competition.
Send them directly to the post.
Ask them to enter, comment or share it with somebody who might like what you make.
Some won't.
Some will.
And those first few people can help the post travel further.
Your direct audience can amplify your social audience.
The two reinforce each other.
Start collecting people, not just views
Every person who visits your store represents a small opportunity.
Obviously, you'd like them to buy something.
But most people won't buy the first time they encounter your business.
That's normal.
The mistake is assuming the only two possible outcomes are:
They bought something.
or
They didn't.
There's a useful outcome in between:
They'd like to hear from you again.
That's what your Earn+ followers are for.
So make sure following is enabled on your store.
Then send people there.
Put that link in your Instagram bio. Share it on WhatsApp. Send it to previous customers. Put it wherever people discover your business.
Get the sale when you can.
But when you can't, try to get permission to continue the conversation.
Because attention is difficult to win once.
Having to win the same person's attention from scratch every single time is way harder.