You don't want Followers. You want Exposure.

The followers will follow, don't worry.

Let’s talk equations for a minute. Not any Albert Einstein sort of equations about the meaning of the universe, just social media equations. I’ll keep it simple. Just 1+1+1.

This is the formula everyone thinks equals success in marketing:

❌ Followers = Exposure = Community = Revenue 

You can swap Exposure for Community, as they kind of become interchangeable at some point, but this is the formula that actually equals success in marketing:

 ✅ Exposure = Community = Followers = Revenue

People always ask for “followers” first and foremost upfront. How do I get more followers? What should I do to get more subscribers? How do I get popular? That is what people have been trained to want, but what they really want but don’t know yet, is exposure. That is because exposure, in turn, leads to new followers, popularity, and subscribers, which in turn leads to revenue and success. You want someone to follow you who likes what you or your brand has to offer.

You don’t want someone just to follow you for the sake of increasing numbers. However, this is the reason why so many people resort to fake followers, botted streams, and engagement communities — like for like, follow for follow, view for view, subscription for subscription, stream for stream, etc. you get the picture — but none of that actually builds your brand. 

It only satisfies your ego guiding your marketing strategy. If you ever hear any “marketer” tell you that it is “great for optics,” “everyone is doing it,” or “even celebrities are doing it,” — don’t walk. Run away. If you are going to go down that route, you might as well invest in a Ponzi scheme. It accomplishes the same thing at the end of the day because it might look good for a while, but you will only be left with nothing. They are also not a marketer. They are scamming you.

I digress because, yes, you do want followers, and all of that will come in the process of building, of course, but we need to change our mindsets and begin with the concept of exposure, which comes from a real marketing strategy. We have been conditioned into thinking that quickly becoming popular will make you successful. 

That is human nature and what we are taught all throughout our lives. That is what we see everywhere. However, it is only until you can build your exposure and people find you through what you are offering that you can begin to build the brand you want. But even the most popular brands and people, the ones who last, who everyone wants to emulate, got there through a sound marketing strategy and the exposure that strategy got them. 

If you look at successful brands or creators, they build their following based on their content, in real life and online, slowly and steadily. Then they see that spark in followers and revenue. If you look at online creators like Swagg, who now has millions of followers, he was grinding Call of Duty for years. Playing for ten people, then thousands of people, then tens of thousands of people on Twitch. Finally, during Covid, and the onset of the Battle Royale, Warzone, his content truly took off on YouTube, and he became a household name in gaming. 

MrBeast, the King of YouTube, started by grinding out content until that exposure finally paid off. Look at someone like Sssniperwolf, who has turned her whole quirky attitude into an entire brand. Even Kendall and Kylie Jenner started as one of “Kim Kardashian’s” sisters until that exposure on “Keeping Up With Kardashians” turned them into a moguls. 818, anyone? Sure, they started off on a bit of a higher foot than most, but that didn’t guarantee anything.

You can even go more old school and look at a brand like Von Dutch. They existed in a little store, grinding out designs they thought looked cool until one day, Paris Hilton was wearing it on the cover of every magazine. Even Paris Hilton was a product of exposure, going out to clubs, modeling, and finally landing a show on MTV, the everything-YouTube channel of the 80s and 90s. That exposure catapulted her into the stratosphere. 

Even MTV was a product of exposure, gaining popularity through the new medium of television, and so did every band who had their music video on MTV. Television itself was a product of exposure, gaining popularity by advertising new technology in newspapers and magazines until everyone saw one in their neighbor’s homes and had to have one. And, yes, magazines and newspapers were a product of exposure, gaining popularity by delivering door-to-door and putting newsstands on the corners of major cities.

So, that is how Exposure = Community = Followers = Revenue

You can’t become a household name by buying it. Sure, you can get some good publicity, but that won’t keep you successful in the long run. Sure, you can buy fake followers and streams to make it look like everyone likes you, but that will run out. You become a household name slowly over time by creating good content, investing in a real paid media strategy, working with other creatives to advertise your brand, and building the community organically. 

If someone Likes your post, take the 3 seconds to Like one of their posts too. If it is happening organically because they found your content, it will help you potentially keep them as long-term fans. If they seem interesting, throw them a follow. They appreciate it as much as you do. Spend $100 on a targeted campaign to spur some excitement. Keep creating content and building that snowball. That all holds a lot of weight.

So, to sum up this equation, you want to start with how to build exposure, not how to gain immediate followers. It’s a different mindset because it forces you to stem your ideas from a good marketing strategy. This can be done through paid media, such as spending some money on generating views to REAL people —not bot farms — organic exposure, such as engaging with people who find your content, and good creativity and content to get people’s attention.

It will be hard to do and take time, but that time you put in pays off in the long run. Also, you must believe in and be passionate about your creation. If you don’t have that, you can skip everything else because it will take every ounce of your being to keep picking your feet up after you have walked thousands of miles. The only thing that will keep you going is your initial passion when you started. 

Even if you are spending $100 on marketing to get your creative content out there, that exposure will help you. Remember, social media is like any other game you download on your phone. It’s freemium. You must pay for that REAL exposure at some point.

So, when you begin your next marketing campaign, start there. That should be what drives you and your strategy. The followers will then, well, follow.