How to Attract the Right Followers (Not Just More Followers)
How to Attract the Right Followers (Not Just More Followers)
Nader Alnajjar
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TLDR
Audience quality beats audience size: 50,000 passive followers are worth less than 50 engaged decision-makers in your space.
Build the right audience with three things happening at once: a content foundation, strategic networking, and borrowed authority.
Leverage bigger accounts by adding genuine insight to their posts, never by pitching or asking for shoutouts.
Co-founder Tom went from 30K random followers to 90K of the right ones by narrowing his brand to one clear message.
We often talk about content quality when building a personal brand, which is, of course, important. But there's another side to this that gets ignored: the relationships you build, and who you're building them with, matter just as much as what you're posting.
Let me show you how to do this right.
Build Leverage By Learning:
Why audience quality beats audience size
The three-layer system for building the right audience
How to leverage bigger accounts without being annoying
Turning connections into actual clients
Why Most People Are Building the Wrong Audience
You know what's worse than having 500 followers? Having 50,000 followers who don't care what you have to say. Yet most people end up caring more about that number than the actual quality of the people they're connecting with.
The engagement from your ICP is more important than anything. 10,000 likes from random people does nothing if they don't need what you're selling. But 10 comments from decision-makers in your industry is pure gold.
Look at your DMs. Are people booking calls? Asking real questions about your work? Or are you just getting "great post" from other creators trying to boost their own visibility? Quality matters more than quantity here.
Check who's viewing your profile. If it's mostly other creators instead of potential clients, your content strategy is off. Same with saves and shares. If the right people aren't saving your frameworks, you're creating content for the wrong audience.
The opportunity cost is massive. You can spend hours engineering a viral post that might hit, or spend that same time building relationships with 10 people who could actually become clients.
One approach feels good. The other builds your business.
The Three-Layer Audience-Building System
Building the right audience isn't one thing. It's three things happening at the same time, and they all feed into each other.
1. Content Foundation
Your content casts a wide net. Top-of-funnel content brings new people to your profile, but personalise your captions so that even as you reach broadly, you're still speaking to your ICP. The post attracts attention, and the caption filters for the right attention.
From there, your content funnel does the work. Middle-of-funnel content and lead magnets give more value to interested people. Then you move them off the platform.
Posting consistently suggests expertise, but only if you're consistent about the right topics. Jumping around makes you forgettable. Pick your lane and own it.
2. Strategic Networking
This is where most people completely drop the ball. They think posting is enough, but it isn't at all.
A simple rule: spend time with 5 to 10 key people who could genuinely change your business, and aim for 50+ meaningful, value-add interactions per week with your broader network (for example, sharing resources, making introductions, giving value for free).
Quality engagement means leaving comments that actually contribute something to the conversation. That could be adding perspective, sharing a relevant example, or asking a smart question. Not "This is great!" or "Love this!" That does nothing for you.
3. Borrowed Authority
The fastest way to reach your ideal audience is to become visible to people who already have them. Find the established voices in your space and engage with their content intelligently.
When you consistently appear in their comments with actual insights, their audience starts to notice you. It's not about hijacking attention, but rather adding to the conversation in a way that makes people curious about who you are.
These three points all work together: your content attracts the right people, networking turns those people into relationships, and borrowed authority amplifies your reach to more of the right people. One without the others doesn't work. You need all three simultaneously.
How to Leverage Bigger Accounts (Without Looking Desperate)
Study what's working for people who have the audience you want:
How they structure their hooks
What content pillars they're using
What gets the most engagement from their audience
The language that makes people pay attention
Once you understand what works, engage strategically. Leave comments that add genuine value to the post. The goal is to contribute something that makes the original post better or sparks interesting discussion.
Bridge their ideas to your own expertise without making it about you. "This reminds me of [related framework]" or "We've seen this play out differently in [specific context]" works. Don't just shamelessly self-promote in their comments.
What not to do:
Generic comments that say nothing ("Great post!")
Turning every reply into a pitch for your services
Copying their content word-for-word and reposting it
DMing them asking for a shoutout
When you engage consistently and actually add value, their audience notices you organically. They click your profile, see your content, and maybe some even follow you. That's the osmosis effect.
Visual hierarchy is equally important. What catches the eye first determines whether someone engages or keeps scrolling. If your most important message is buried below a decorative graphic or competing with too many elements, it's getting ignored.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Turning Connections into Clients
Step 1: Find the Right People
Identify 5 to 7 creators who have 10,000+ followers and whose audience matches your ideal client profile. Spend time on their top-performing posts. What topics get the most traction? What's the audience asking about in the comments?
Pay attention to who's most active in those comments. Those people are highly engaged with the topic and likely your target too.
Step 2: Engage With Intent
Set aside 10 minutes daily for strategic engagement. By that, I mean actual targeted interaction as opposed to passive scrolling.
Engage with bigger accounts' posts (relevant ones in your niche)
Reply to their audience's comments
Start DM conversations that reference specific work or insights
Share their content with your own perspective added
When you start DM conversations, make it specific. "Saw your comment on [topic], curious how you're thinking about [related problem]" is way more effective than "Hey, let's connect" every time.
Step 3: Build Real Relationships
Move meaningful conversations off the platform. Suggest a quick call, or grab a coffee if they're local.
Offer value without expecting anything back:
Make introductions to people in your network
Share insights from your experience
Collaborate on something small
Check in when you see they hit a milestone
Send over resources when you read something they'd find useful
The conversion happens naturally when you've built real trust. They might even end up referring you to others or partnering with you on future projects. But none of that happens if you're just passively making connections.
How Tom Went From 30K Random Followers to 90K Right Ones
To see this in action, let's take a look at one of our very own co-founders at Lever, Tom. Tom started posting in June 2024 with 700 followers. Six months later, he hit 30K. Sounds great, right?
Wrong.
He was posting about personal development, career growth, and occasionally personal branding. All broad topics with no clear positioning. The audience was growing, but it wasn't doing anything for the business.
In 2025, Tom made one shift: he focused his entire brand around "How to leverage your personal brand to accelerate your career." The results were pretty wild:
Grew from 30K to 90K followers (this time, the right ones)
Added 2,000+ subscribers to this very newsletter
A consistent pipeline of inbound interest for our services
High-quality job applicants reaching out regularly
Massively increased visibility for LeverBrands
The only difference was targeting the right audience with a clear message instead of chasing growth for growth's sake.
That's the difference between building an audience and building the right audience.
Focus on building relationships with people who actually need what you're offering, and everything else gets easier.
What This Means For You
If you're a founder or CEO, your follower count is a vanity metric until the right people are in it. A feed full of other creators won't fund a round, fill a pipeline, or fill a room. The work is to filter for your ICP: decision-makers, buyers, and potential hires, then build real relationships with the handful who can actually change your business.
Practically, that means narrowing your message until it's unmistakable, spending ten focused minutes a day in the comments of the people who already hold your audience, and moving the best conversations off-platform. Quality compounds faster than reach ever will.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is follower count or audience quality more important for a founder brand?
Quality, by a wide margin. 10,000 likes from random accounts do nothing if those people don't need what you sell, whereas 10 comments from decision-makers in your industry are pure gold. Engagement from your ICP matters far more than raw reach.
How can I tell if I'm attracting the wrong audience?
Check who views your profile and who comments. If it's mostly other creators rather than potential clients, and your DMs are full of "great post" instead of real questions about your work, your content is filtering for the wrong people.
How do I leverage bigger accounts without looking desperate?
Engage with established voices in your niche by adding genuine insight to their posts, and bridge their ideas to your expertise rather than pitching. Their audience notices you organically. Avoid generic comments, pitch-replies, copying their content, and DMs asking for shoutouts.
How do I turn LinkedIn connections into clients?
Identify 5 to 7 creators whose audience matches your ICP, engage with intent for about 10 minutes a day, then move the best conversations off-platform and offer value first. Conversion happens naturally once you've built real trust.
Ready to Build Your Founder Brand?
At LeverBrands, we help founders and executives turn their personal brand into a growth channel. Get in touch with our team to map out your next move.
About the author. Nader Alnajjar is co-founder of LeverBrands, where he helps founders and executives build personal brands that generate real business results. More at leverbrands.com/about.
