How To Determine The Quality Of Your Following

Not seeing tangible results from your social media? The quality of your following may be the problem. Start with this simple audit. 

Imagine you’ve been invited to speak at a big local conference. It’s a packed room, and you’re excited to pitch your new product. In fact, your whole launch is riding on this moment. You walk up to the mic, heart pounding with excitement, but you quickly realize something’s off.

When you look out into the crowd, you see some old high school friends, random people you haven’t talked to in years, a few distant relatives, some content creators you’ve never met, and even some folks who live in entirely different states—or countries. Out of a thousand people, only a handful in the front row actually care about what you have to say. The rest? Your presentation doesn’t apply to them; so they quickly move on. 

Now imagine that crowd is your social media following. 

The Problem With Vanity Metrics

When thinking about the quality of your following, too often we focus on the number of followers, likes or views as the ultimate indicator of marketing success. But the truth is, big numbers don’t mean much if they don’t add up to the right people.

You could have 10,000 followers and very little engagement. Why? The majority of your following isn’t there for the right reasons. They’re not the ones buying your services or recommending you to others.

On the flip side, a smaller but more engaged audience of just a few hundred people can bring in more business, better referrals and stronger community ties. 

How Do You Assess The Quality Of Your Following?

Lifestyle Marketing Photography Produced for Tracy Tofte

To assess the quality of your following, start by asking yourself a few key questions:

Who’s actually engaging with my content? Are they local? Are they the type of people who would purchase from you or refer you? This is also a good time to check for bots and profiles that don’t align with your local marketing goals. Fake or irrelevant profiles can not only skew your metrics but also dilute your content’s reach and affect how the algorithm distributes your posts. 

Are your posts starting real conversations? Comments, shares and DMs often say more than likes ever could. In local marketing, this includes in-person comments and conversation, too. Are people mentioning that they saw your content when you run into them at networking meetings? That’s true engagement. 

Are you reaching your community? If you’re a local business, your social media should reflect your presence in the area—with followers who recognize you, tag their friends and show up to your events. When you’re making an impact on your community, you may notice more people reaching out to you for support, to ask questions, or to invite you to be part of local causes. If you’re top of mind with your following, opportunities will start showing up in ways that have nothing to do with your total followers.

How To Spot A High-Quality Follower

Determining a high-quality follower from a low-quality one can be a little more complicated than first meets the eye—especially if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

When auditing your audience, take a moment to click through a few profiles. Choose them at random, and then ask yourself:

• Are they local? Check their bio, location tag, or recent posts.
• Is this a real person or business? Look for a profile photo, bio, and a feed with posts—not just a blank or spammy-looking page.
• Do they engage with content? See if they like, comment, or post regularly.
• Do they follow other local accounts? A good sign they’re part of the same community.
• Would I ever work with or serve this person? If the answer is no, they might not be your ideal audience.

If a profile has no posts, a username full of random numbers or follows thousands of people with little engagement, it’s likely a bot or fake account. Removing these followers can actually improve your reach and visibility.

Additionally, watch out for followers who are real, but irrelevant:

• Influencers or content creators who live in other states or countries
• People outside your industry with no local ties or potential to refer business
• Large accounts who follow thousands of people but never engage
• Former clients or friends who’ve moved out of the area and are no longer part of your market

While these accounts may not be fake, they can still water down your audience quality and confuse the algorithm. If your content is being served to people who will never engage or convert, the platform assumes it’s not resonating—and stops showing it to others who would care.

Pro Tip: It’s okay to manually remove followers who aren’t a good fit. You’re curating a digital room full of people you want to connect with—not just filling seats.

How To Improve The Quality Of Your Following 

If your goal is to build a strong local brand, then the quality of your following should reflect your actual community. Here’s how to increase real, local engagement that actually supports your business.

1. Audit Your Audience

Start by taking a closer look at who is following you. Are they:

• Real people (not bots)?
• Local?
• Likely to hire or refer you?

If your list is full of random accounts from other countries, inactive profiles, or people who clearly aren’t interested in your industry, it’s time to clean house. Platforms like Instagram even allow you to remove followers manually—and doing so can boost your engagement because your content is no longer being served to uninterested users.

Pro Tip: If you’ve ever bought followers (or hired a service that promised “growth” without explaining how), you may have a large number of fake or irrelevant accounts dragging down your visibility. Remember, this isn’t just a vanity problem; it’s an algorithm problem. Clean house and rebuild for stronger engagement. This will make a significant difference in improving the quality of your following. 

2. Connect With Local Movers And Shakers

Lifestyle Marketing Photography Produced for Marla Gieser

The best way to build a powerful audience? Start with the people who already have strong roots in the community:

• Follow and engage with local business owners, community leaders, schools, nonprofits and networking groups.
• Show up to local events, and tag the people you meet. 
• Support others before asking them to support you. 

When you build real relationships offline, they naturally translate into stronger online engagement.

3. Tag Real People, Places And Partners

Think of every post like a story that contains real people and places. With each post, ask yourself: Who else is in this story? Then tag them.

• Mention other businesses and venues whenever possible. 
• Tag the client you worked with (with permission).
• Shout out the team member or collaborator who helped make it happen.

This creates a ripple effect. Your content is more likely to be reshared, commented on, and circulated within your actual community.

4. Feature Local Faces And Personal Stories

One of the most powerful ways to build connection is by showing the real people behind your brand. Share client spotlights, behind-the-scenes content and stories that showcase the heart behind what you do. Not only does this build trust, but it also encourages the people in those stories to engage— inviting their networks to do the same.

5. Be Findable In Your City

If you’re trying to build a Santa Clarita-based brand, make sure your content includes:

• Local hashtags (#SantaClarita, #SCVbusiness, etc.)
• Geotags for your city or neighborhood
• Keywords in your bio that clearly say where you’re located
• People want to support local, but they have to be able to find you first.

6. Ask Local-Focused Questions
Use polls and question boxes that invite people to chime in with local knowledge:

• “Best date night spot in SCV?”
• “Where should I grab coffee before a client shoot?”
• “Favorite local hiking trail?”

It gets your audience talking and taps into the pride people feel about their community.

Quality Engagement Brings Real Results

When the quality of your following is aligned with your business goals, everything works better. Your content performs better, your DMs turn into real conversations and your community actually shows up when you need them—whether that’s a product launch, event or new offering.

So the next time you look at your follower count, ask yourself: “If this were a real room of people, who would I want to fill these seats?”

Lifestyle Marketing Photography Produced for SchlickArt

Marketing Strategy With SchlickArt 

At SchlickArt, we believe the best marketing strategies start with real conversations, honest goals and a deep understanding of your unique business. That’s why our approach to strategy goes far beyond spreadsheets and surface-level planning. We take the time to get to know you—your story, your values and the vision driving your work—so we can craft a plan that not only performs but feels right every step of the way.

Whether you’re improving the quality of your following, scaling your business, launching a new offer or simply ready to take the guesswork out of your content, our strategy services are designed to bring clarity, purpose and momentum to your marketing. From high-level consulting and quarterly planning sessions to detailed content calendars and brand messaging, we offer tailored support that meets you where you are—and grows with you.

If you’re looking for a strategic partner who listens closely, thinks creatively and plans intentionally, we’re here to help. Let’s map out a marketing strategy that reflects your goals, supports your team and tells your story with impact.

About SchlickArt 

SchlickArt, a luxury visual marketing company based in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy–rather than a product, service or person–SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting fractional CMO, business and strategy planning, professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. While we can help you determine the quality of your following, we can do so much more! It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt. 

Kirsten Quinn

A lover of strong coffee and yellowed pages, Kirsten Quinn-Smith is a professional content writer and owner of WordSmith Content Marketing here in Santa Clarita. She believes great content can forge a loyal, authentic and beneficial relationship between you and your audience – and grow your business. With each piece of writing, Kirsten's goal is to position you in the content spotlight through audience-centered, strategy-based writing that actually sounds like you. Why? Everyone has a story, and every story deserves to be heard.

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