Ever look at someone online and think something along the lines of ‘it must be nice to have so many followers. I would probably be successful with that many followers, too.’

All of us have thought some variation of this before. We look at our own follower count and judge ourselves for not growing our audience fast enough.

But when I was talking about last week’s blog on micro-influencers, it reminded me of the point of being online. It’s to connect with your audience. Not to get fixated on how big or small that audience is.

If it mattered that much, micro-influencers wouldn’t be a thing.

From someone who’s been doing this for going on 12 years now, I want to talk for a minute about slow growth instead.

Slow Growth Isn’t A Problem

Somewhere along the way, some social media ‘experts’ convinced us that if you’re not growing your platforms fast enough, you’re doing something wrong.

They encouraged people to follow-unfollow en masse, buy followers, do whatever you can to get your audience as big as possible.

And when it doesn’t happen as quickly as your peers, it’s easy to panic.

But the reality is that shifting your focus to slow growth can do a lot more for your business in the long run. And avoid burning yourself out on being online.

Why I’m Pro Slow Growth

Slow growth gives you time to figure things out

When you’re focused on growing your platforms slowly, you have time to see what ACTUALLY works. You can take the measure of success on each post you create to connect with your audience.

You learn what your audience actually cares about

When you’re posting online and don’t have time to actually engage with your audience, that’s like wasting all that time you put in. Focusing on slow growth gives you time to see what actually resonates.

You get clearer on your voice

When you spend more time in your comment sections, you get more clear on your brand voice.

You build trust instead of just visibility

When growth happens too fast, there’s often no foundation underneath it. People follow, but they might not engage or even buy from you.

Buying followers or chasing quick wins might make the numbers look good, but numbers don’t pay your bills. Relationships do.

Better Expectations = Better Marketing

In 2026, I really want business owners to set healthier expectations around social media.

Set your goals around consistency instead of specific growth targets, or set goals around actually connecting with the audience you have now.

A smaller audience that knows you, trusts you, and actually pays attention will always outperform a big audience that doesn’t care.

What to Focus on Instead

Instead of obsessing over numbers, let’s focus on:

Conversations over follower count
Connections over reach
Showing up consistently instead of perfectly
Building trust instead of chasing trends

Spending your time focusing on the metrics that really matter, and growing your business online slowly, is more sustainable than chasing trends and getting burned out from being online.

This year, let’s focus on building relationships, nurturing connections and trusting in the long game, because that’s what’s actually been working over the past few years for me.

If you’re ready to build your business using slow growth methods, but aren’t sure where to start, let’s book a Social Media Audit to give you an idea of what’s working and what needs to shift in this new year!

Shifting Your Focus To Slow Growth