Kabar Hakim Artidjo Alkostar Pernah Jadi Penasihat FPI Berbuntut Panjang, Pihak Ahok Siapkan Ini....

BERANINEWS.COM - Josefina Agatha Syukur, pengacara Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok, mengatakan telah mendengar kabar tentang hubungan Hakim Agung Artidjo Alkostar dengan Front Pembela Islam (FPI). Namun, dia tak gegabah segera mempersoalkannya.

Dia menuturkan, saat ini masih menampung semua informasi sambil menunggu putusan resmi Peninjauan Kembali (PK) vonis 2 tahun penjara kliennya dalam perkara penistaan agama dari Mahkamah Agung.

“Semua akan menjadi catatan," ucapnya kepada Tempo yang menghubunginya kemarin, Rabu, 28 Maret 2018.

Josefina menyatakan masih menunggu putusan resmi dari MA.

Setelah mendapatkan putusan resmi, akan ditentukan langkah hukum yang akan diambil selanjutnya.

“Kami kumpulkan dulu (data dan informasi), nanti, minggu depan disampaikan (hasilnya)."

Majelis Hakim MA memutuskan PK Ahok ditolak pada Senin lalu, 26 Maret 2018.

Kepala Biro Hukum dan Hubungan Masyarakat MA Abdullah mengatakan, keputusan bulat diketok oleh Majelis Hakim yang terdiri Artidjo Alkostar (ketua), Salman Luthan, dan Sumardjiatmo.

Perkara PK Ahok diterima Kepaniteraan Pidana MA pada 7 Maret 2018 dan dikirimkan ke Majelis Pemeriksa Perkara Artidjo cs pada 13 Maret 2018.

Ahok mengajukan PK atas vonis dua tahun bui yang ia terima atas perkara penistaan agama pada April 2017 di Pengadilan Negeri Jakarta Utara.

Lalu beredar kabar bahwa Artidjo memiliki hubungan degan FPI. Bahkan, disebut-sebut dia pernah menjabat Ketua Departemen Hukum dan HAM DPP FPI.

Artidjo belum memberikan penjelasan. Hingga berita ini diturunkan, dia belum menjawab panggilan dan pesan dari Tempo.

Sebelum menjadi Hakim Agung pada 2000, Artidjo adalah pengacara Human Right Watch Divisi Asia dan menjabat Direktur LBH Yogyakarta.

Sejak 1976, Artidjo adalah Dosen Fakultas Hukum dan Pascasarjana Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII), Yogyakarta, yang juga almamaternya.

Lantas pada 1991 dia mendirikan dan mengelola Artidjo Alkostar and Associates hingga 2000. Di MA Artidjo menjabat Ketua Kamar Pidana hingga saat ini.

Perihal hubungan Artidjo dan FPI pernah diungkapkan Imam Besar FPI Rizieq Shihab dalam diskusi "Harapan Penegakan Hukum, Fenomena Artidjo Alkostar" di Jakarta pada Selasa, 4 Maret 2014, yang diadakan oleh Ikatan Alumni UII.

Sejumlah tokoh memberi testimoni tentang Hakim Agung Artidjo Alksotar kala itu, antara lain Wakil Ketua KPK Busyro Muqoddas, mantan Ketua MK Mahfud Md, Ketua Komisi Yudisial Suparman Marzuki, hingga Rizieq Shihab.

Rizieq menuturkan bahwa Artidjo adalah kawan lamanya dan pernah menjadi bagian dari FPI.

“Bila ada orang yang bilang bahwa sosok Pak Artidjo itu adil dan jujur. Saya tak kaget karena begitu karakter awal beliau ketika saya mengenalnya,” ujarnya dalam diskusi itu seperti dikutip situs berita hukumonline.com.

Dia mengatakan sudah dekat dengan Artidjo ketika mendirikan FPI pada 17 Agustus 1998.

Artidjo tak segan meminta klarifikasi ketika mendengar tingkah laku FPI yang diberitakan garang di media massa. “Beliau langsung tabayyun (klarifikasi). Beliau tak mau menjadi korban media.”

Artidjo langsung datang ke Markas FPI di daerah Petamburan, Jakarta Pusat, dan diskusi berjam-jam dengan pengurus FPI.

Artidjo juga tak segan-segan menyampaikan kritikan dan solusi.

“Akhirnya, kami minta beliau menjadi penasihat hukum kami. Dan beliau juga memberikan pendidikan penyadaran hukum kepada pengurus FPI,” ujar Rizieq.

Artidjo pun rajin dengan seminggu sekali datang ke Markas FPI sehingga, menurut Rizieq, berdampak positif bagi pengurus FPI sehingga mengetahui hukum dan konstitusi.

Rizieq lalu meminta Artidjo memimpin Departemen Hukum dan HAM FPI yang kemudian diemban hingga Artidjo diangkat sebagai Hakim Agung. "Kami pun tahu diri. Kami merelakannya menjabat sebagai Hakim Agung."

Sekretaris Jenderal Dewan Pimpinan Daerah FPI DKI Jakarta Novel Bamukmin memberikan penjelasan tentang maraknya kabar Artidjo dekat dengan FPI.

Menurut dia, tidak benar bahwa Artidjo, Ketua Majelis Hakim Perkara PK Ahok, adalah pengurus organisasi buatan Rizieq Shihab itu.

“Itu tidak benar. Mungkin kalau sekedar dekat, mungkin pernah bersilahturahmi mungkin, iya,” kata Novel pada saat dihubungi Tempo pada Rabu, 28 Maret 2018.

Novel menuturkan, dia sudah mengikuti pengajian Rizieq Shihab sejak 1993 jauh sebelum FPI didirikan dan belum pernah bertemu Artidjo secara langsung. “Mungkin Artidjo pernah datang tapi saya tidak pernah lihat."

Novel Bamukmin menegaskan bahwa dia mengenal Artidjo sebagai sosok hakim yang berani dan profesional. Dia mencontohkan putusan-putusan Artidjo dalam perkara koruptor.

“Kami melihat (Artidjo Alkostar) di sisi itu. Jangan dikait-kaitkan dengan FPI, perlu tabayyun, perlu ditanyakan langsung ke yang bersangkutan," ujar Novel Bamukmin.

sumber: tempo.co

Sumber: http://www.beraninews.com/2018/03/kabar-hakim-artidjo-alkostar-pernah.html

PK Ditolak dan Tidak Ajukan Grasi, Ahok Tetap Bisa Nyapres

Mahkamah Agung (MA) menolak permohonan peninjauan kembali (PK) yang diajukan narapidana kasus penodaan agama, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok. Dengan demikian Ahok tetap harus menjalani sisa masa hukumannya selama 2 tahun penjara yang diputus PN Jakarta Utara.

Kepastian ditolaknya PK Ahok disampaikan juru bicara MA hakim agung Suhadi. Putusan perkara nomor 11 PK/PID/2018 yang ditangani hakim agung Artidjo Alkostar, Salman Luthan, dan Margiatmo diputus dengan suara bulat.

Setelah PK ditolak, Ahok memiliki satu opsi untuk mendapat keringanan hukuman yakni melalui grasi. Namun jika melihat tiga hal ini, sepertinya Ahok juga tidak akan menempuh jalan itu. Pertama, Ahok tentu tidak ingin mengakui kesalahannya. Padahal pengakuan bersalah menjadi syarat utama bagi narapidana yang mengajukan grasi.

Kedua, masa hukuman yang tinggal beberapa bulan lagi. Seperti diketahui Ahok diputus bersalah dengan hukuman 2 tahun penjara oleh PN Jakarta Utara pada tanggal 9 Mei 2017 sehingga setelah menjalani 2/3 masa hukumannya, atau sekitar bulan September 2018, Ahok sudah bisa mendapat pembebasan bersyarat. Sementara proses grasi biasanya memakan waktu bertahun-tahun. Bisa saja dipercepat sebagaimana putusan PK yang hanya 20 hari dari 250 hari maksimal perkara PK diproses, namun tetap riskan. Sebab grasi hanya meringankan sampai dengan menghapus pelaksanaan hukuman, namun kesalahannya tetap melekat alias tetap dianggap bersalah. Itu sebabnya grasi hanya bisa diberikan setelah ada pengakuan bersalah dari narapidana bersangkutan.

Ketiga, situasi politik saat ini tidak mendukung. Meski Presiden Joko Widodo merupakan teman dekat dan mantan "bosnya" di DKI Jakarta, tidak berarti semuanya bisa mulus. Terlebih Jokowi akan mengikuti kontestasi elektoral untuk mempertahankan kekuasaannya. Tudingan sebagai pelindung penoda agama tentu akan dihindari. Jika pun tidak menolak, proses grasi dipastikan tidak akan secepat PK.

Bagaimana dengan kemungkinan mengajukan PK lagi dengan novum baru? Tentu harus melihat dulu alasan penolakan PK yang sekarang, apakah karena novumnya lemah ataukah faktor lain yang tidak terkait novum. Sebab, Artidjo Alkostar termasuk hakim agung yang berpendapat PK tanpa banding dan kasasi tidak boleh diterima. Sebelum adanya putusan tersebut, banyak terpidana korupsi yang langsung mengajukan PK tanpa proses banding maupun kasasi untuk menghindari risiko bertambahnya hukuman. Sebab hakim  PK tidak bisa menambah hukuman atau mengurangi hukuman sebagaimana majelis hakim tingkat banding dan kasasi.

Jika hal ini yang dijadikan alasan, maka percuma saja mengajukan PK lagi sekalipun memiliki novum baru selain putusan Buni Yani, pihak yang memposting potongan video pidato Ahok di Kepulauan Seribu yang menyinggung surah Al Maidah 51 dan sudah divonis 1,5 tahun penjara namun belum inkrah karena mengajukan banding, disertai caption yang tidak sesuai isi pidato.

Jika Ahok tidak mengajukan grasi dan juga PK lagi sampai bebas murni, sehingga seluruh proses hukum dianggap selesai, apakah berarti karir politiknya tamat? Sebab Ahok dinyatakan bersalah melanggar pasal Pasal 156a KUHP yang ancaman hukumannya 5 tahun.  

Banyak yang meyakini karir politik Ahok tamat. Tetapi tidak kurang banyak juga yang percaya nama mantan Bupati Belitung Timur itu akan semakin bersinar usai menjalani hukuman di sel Mako Brimob Kelapa Dua Depok. Bagi pendukungnya, penahanan Ahok tidak bedanya dengan para tokoh dunia yang meringkuk di sel tahanan akibat tekanan politik. Bahkan dulu ada yang menyandingkannya dengan tokoh pembebas apartheid dari Afrika Selatan Nelson Mandela, yang menurut hemat penulis kurang tepat karena seolah membenarkan ketidakmampuan Presiden Jokowi mengendalikan isu SARA.  

Terlepas perdebatan antara yang pro dan kontra, yang pasti karir politik Ahok belum tamat. Selepas hukumannya nanti, Ahok masih bisa mengikuti kontestasi elektoral di tingkat lokal. Hal ini sesuai putusan Mahkamah Konsitusi (MK) yang telah menghapus Pasal 7 huruf (g) UU Nomor 8 Tahun 2015 tentang Pilkada yang melarang mantan narapidana dengan ancaman hukuman 5 tahun atau lebih untuk mencalonkan diri sebagai peserta pemilihan kepala daerah. Ahok juga masih diperbolehkan menjadi calon anggota legislatif sesuai Pasal 240 ayat 1 huruf  (g) UU Pemilu Nomor 7 Tahun 2017.

Namun demikian bagi mantan narapidana dengan ancaman hukuman 5 tahun atau lebih ada syarat yang lumayan berat agar bisa menjadi peserta kontestasi elektoral yakni mengakui secara terbuka dirinya mantan narapidana dan bukan pelaku kriminal berulang-ulang. Jika tidak mau mengakui dirinya mantan narapidana, maka Ahok harus menunggu 5 tahun setelah masa pembebasannya untuk bisa menjadi peserta kontestasi elektoral.

Bagaimana dengan syarat menjadi calon presiden atau calon wakil presiden? Berbeda dengan syarat menjadi calon kepala daerah atau calon anggota legislatif, ketentuan boleh tidaknya mantan narapidana dengan ancaman hukuman 5 tahun atau lebih tidak mengadopsi secara tegas putusan MK.

Pasal 227 huruf (k) UU Pemilu hanya menyatakan "surat keterangan dari pengadilan negeri yang menyatakan bahwa setiap bakal calon tidak pemah dipidana penjara berdasarkan putusan pengadilan yang telah memperoleh kekuatan hukum tetap karena melakukan tindak pidana yang diancam dengan pidana penjara 5 (lima) tahun atau lebih" tidak disertai pengecualian yang  bersangkutan mau mengakui dirinya mantan narapidana. 

Tetapi kemungkinan besar Peraturan KPU terkait syarat calon presiden dan calon wakil presiden tidak akan berbeda dengan syarat bagi calon kepala  daerah dan calon anggota legislatif. Dengan demikian Ahok tetap bisa menjadi calon presiden atau calon wakil presiden di Pilpres 2024 karena pendaftaran pasangan calon Presiden dan Wakil Presiden 2019 sudah ditutup Agustus 2018, atau sebulan sebelum pembebasan bersyarat Ahok.  

Salam @yb

Yon Bayu

memaknai peristiwa dari sudut pandang berbeda

Sumber: https://www.kompasiana.com/yonbayu/5aba0d2016835f10541c14d2/pk-ditolak-dan-tidak-ajukan-grasi-ahok-tetap-bisa-nyapres

What Life’s Taught Me About the True Meaning of Success

 Jeff Bullas

What is success?

It’s a big question.

Many times we compare ourselves to others to define it.

Is it an expensive car?

A big house?

Designer clothes?

Money?

Successful business?

Overseas holidays?

The price of materialism is often anxiety.

We are worried about losing “stuff” in the future.

Failing tomorrow.

We question our past successes.

So….

The only thing we have is “Now”.

The past is gone.

The future doesn’t exist.

But the apparent truth for success sometimes seems to sit in a cloud of technology.

And one place that makes it easy to see it all on display is social media.

Other people’s apparent success.

But often it is just the polished and published superficial image.

Often you don’t see the heartache.

The personal pain.

Just a polished front door.

An Instagram moment.

Success does not sit on the outside.

No one will save you.

It’s within you.

Giving other people the power to define it is dangerous.

It’s how “you” measure it.

And you already have it.

But maybe you can’t see it in all the noise of life.

It is many things.

For me it is….

The freedom to do something when I want to.

Stopping and just watching a sunset.

Freedom to learn.

Adding value to a world that needs my voice.

Even when I doubt they will even listen.

To share my creativity.

Even when there are many Picasso’s already.

Doing things that feed my soul.

Having the time to read an inspiring book.

Riding a bike with friends on a Sunday morning.

Sharing the childish rush of descending a hill.

Investing in relationships that matter.

Not having to put up with clients that don’t value my work.

It’s time to stop living your life based upon other people’s expectations.

Living a life based on their impositions.

Their judgements.

It’s time to stop comparing.

When I grow up I just want to be me.

We all have our own gifts.

Appreciating your own greatness is to be welcomed.

Nourished.

Loving you.

Give yourself the time and space to grow.

Invest in yourself.

Create.

Then share it with the world.

You then own it.

That can’t be taken away.

It’s out there for all to see.

Time to tell your story.

Make a difference.

No matter how big or small.

That’s success for me.

Resource: http://www.jeffbullas.com/what-lifes-taught-me-about-the-true-meaning-of-success/

The Untapped Social Network With 10x the Potential of Twitter

Social networks have changed the way we communicate…

But their use and relevance are constantly on the hop.

I remember when the world was consumed by MySpace. If you didn’t have a MySpace page you were digitally irrelevant. Now there is a generation of teens and pre-teens who don’t even know what MySpace is.

Then there was Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. Instagram. Snapchat.

Which social network is going to become obsolete next?

The social networks today are smarter than they were 20 years ago. They have seen the fate of platforms like MySpace and are desperate to adapt. They are always on the lookout for the next trend that they can woo users with and entice engagement.

Live video, automated messaging and disappearing snippets of our life are hot at the moment. But are you ready for the next big trend in social?

Why you should care about what is coming next

I remember when I first started out on Twitter. There were only about 5 million users at the time (there are now over 330 million), and people were genuinely engaged and interactive.

By publishing visually eye-catching and helpful content about digital marketing, people took notice. I could proliferate my message and create a splash in a not-so-crowded neighborhood.

In a sense I was lucky. I rode the Twitter wave, and soon became a figure of influence.

But today it is much harder to create a similar influence on Twitter and many of the other established social media platforms. Engagement has dropped for new users. True followers are hard to find. And they are making just about everyone pay to get the same attention that was once free.

So if you want to use social media to influence people to know, like, trust, and buy from you – adaptation is a necessity.

You need to have your finger on the pulse of what is coming next, what is trending, and what will enable you to create a significant impact at scale in the shortest time frame possible.

But how do you know what is coming next? How can you ride the next wave of social growth?

Here’s a shortcut…

The next big thing in social

More and more people are turning to voice as a medium for communication. Unlike text-based communication, voice conveys emotion, tone, and subtleties that text is unable to capture.

Not convinced? These stats might change your mind:

• The average human can speak 150 words per minute, but only type 40 words at the same time.
• Comscore estimates that by 2020 over 50% of all searches will be done by voice.
• There were 35x more Google voice search queries in 2016 than there were in 2008.
• 60% of people using voice as a medium of communication have only started in the last year.

Ok, so voice is on the rise… but what does that have to do with social media? How can you make the most of this trend?

The new social network that is disrupting the way we consume social content

HearMeOut is a voice-based social network built around 42-second voice recordings.1

The beauty of this fast-growing social network is the opportunity it presents for people like you and me to tap into a HUGE new audience. With voice taking over our home, our cars, and even our messengers, people are rapidly switching to audio for their daily needs.

But you better move fast, HearMeOut have partnered with Ford Motors and are currently the only social app in Ford entertainment systems, a natural fit for a voice-based social network, which is building traction.

Hundreds of influencers are already using the HearMeOut app, taking advantage of what voice can do for the brands they work with and even their own personal brand. They are even using this app with their existing social networks by sharing a voice post on Twitter and essentially creating “Voice Tweets”.  Their 2.0 version, which was just released, has a homepage full of content and feature opportunities for brands and influencers.

Why voice?

With the ability to listen to your social feed when driving, running or any other hands-free activity, voice-based social adds more “screen time” to peoples days, expanding the reach for advertisers.

Voice not only expands the time users can be social but with over 256 million visually impaired individuals globally who have been widely overlooked for years, a voice-based social network is an accessible opportunity to be “social” like never before.

Voice-based advertising is also an emerging trend that you should be aware of. Unlike static text or image ads, you can actually have a conversation (albeit limited) with voice ads. This approach to advertising is interactive, engaging, and highly effective for brands as a competitive differentiator.

Now is the time for brands and influencers to be early adopters of this voice-based social trend. It’s also an opportunity for emerging influencers to skip the “queue” of more crowded and mature mediums like Twitter or Facebook.

There is enough evidence to suggest that voice and video are where all digital activity is going.

Will you be the one standing there on top of the pops when the hockey-stick growth comes forHearMeOut?

Resource: http://www.jeffbullas.com/voice-based-social-network/

How to Get More Social Media Followers (Without Creating Content)

What’s your social media follower count?

Whether you like it or not, people do look at your numbers.

Other users consider your numbers when deciding whether they should follow you or not.

Influencers look at your numbers to determine if you’re worth partnering with.

You probably look at your numbers to determine whether you’re succeeding as a brand.

Even though a high number isn’t necessarily reflective of the quality of your brand or content, your numbers do matter.

So how do you grow your following?

It’s the million-dollar question that everyone wants the answer to. So I’m going to answer it today.

Why is it so hard to build followers on social media?

There’s usually one big piece of advice that most marketers will give when someone asks, “How do I get more social media followers?”

It’s this: Produce more content.

While content is a great way to grow your influence on social media, it’s not a perfect strategy.

Social audiences can be fickle when it comes to content. If you’re not posting exactly what they want, they probably won’t engage with you.

Researchers at Rutgers University found that there are only nine types of content you can produce:

But when you boil it down, these content categories leave you with just two options:

-You can talk about yourself, which makes you what Rutgers calls a “Meformer.”

-Or, you can share information that benefits others, which makes you an “Informer.”

Your brand is either about self-promotion or about giving back to the community.

Can you guess which one is the most successful for social media growth in the long run?

Yeah, you guessed right. Informing is the long-term winner.

That’s because most people these days (especially younger social users) want value out of the brands they follow.

They’re not following a brand so they can see sales pitches all day long. They’re in it because they believe in what a brand has to offer.

So what does that say about getting more followers?

It means that it’s not about the type of content you’re producing. It’s about who you are as a brand.

You need to grow your social following in a way that says, “Hey, we’re trustworthy and reliable.”

But that doesn’t mean relying solely on organic traffic.

Here’s how to build up an authentic social media following using strategies that actually work.

1. Make your brand follow-worthy

People today want to find meaning in the brands they follow.

It’s not enough to have flashy ads or a ton of content. If you’re inauthentic or sleazy in your approach to marketing, you won’t get very far.

Millennials, for example, are some of the most brand-loyal followers you can get:

But they can also be a difficult “catch.”

Millennials tend to follow brands that have some sort of social impact.

In a 2015 study from Nielson, 73% of millennials they surveyed indicated that they would be willing to spend more on a product if it came from a sustainable brand.

Additionally, 81% expected their favorite brands to be socially responsible.

When Sprout Socials released its “Championing Change in the Age of Social Media” report, they found that the majority of social media users wanted brands to speak out on social and political issues.

So what does this mean for you?

For starters, it simply means that if you want to build an impact with younger audiences, you have to find a way to engage with them on their level.

Whether that means tweeting at your Congressperson or not is up to you.

But start cultivating a brand image that says, “We care.”

2. Follow other brands, influencers, and users

As a practical step, following other socially-conscious brands is a good place to start.

You want to avoid the whole “follow/unfollow” game, though. You don’t want to follow people just to get follows back and then unfollow them.

It’s pretty obvious when this is happening because you’ll see a disproportionately high number under “following” with a lower number of followers.

The whole point of growing your social following is to get real, authentic people to engage with your brand.

So you don’t just want to subscribe to a ton of brands with no purpose.

Instead, break down your search for users into three distinct categories:

• People you know
• People you sort of know
• People you probably should know

Most social sites will give you recommendations for people you may know or for brands that might appeal to you based on who you already follow.

Twitter’s algorithm is usually pretty good at finding users who are likely to engage with you, so take advantage of this feature whenever you’re on your account.

For instance, it might recommend other accounts you should follow based on your own tweets:

When you get recommendations like this, follow them.

But then send a quick message to a few of the people you follow (you don’t have to message all of them, just choose a few).

Say hi, let them know why you followed, and start forming a relationship with that influencer.

This will give you some credibility with their audience while you’re establishing your following.

You can also use a tool like Tweepi (for Twitter) to see suggested followers who might be in your wheelhouse.

It will look at your social activity and your current followers and then suggest actions to take.

Take advantage of all of the resources at your disposal to find other socially-conscious brands that you can follow.

3. Retweet or share another brand’s content

Let me get this out of the way and say that you don’t want to steal content.

That’s a big no-no.

For the most part, when you’re posting content, it should be original.

While I’m not really here to talk about content, I have to mention that you do need posts. So how do you get them without spending hours creating content?

From time to time, you can repost and share content from other influencers whom you appreciate, of course.

Here’s an example of a “regram” from Instagram:

You’ll notice that they tag the original owner of the image, and they included the hashtag “regram” to signify that it was reposted content.

This is an easy way to show love for other users (or your own followers) without creating something new.

You can also share posts on Facebook and retweet on Twitter.

The reason this works to build a following is that you’re co-building relationships with anyone whose content you share.

In most cases, your “share” shows up on their social media page.

It makes them aware of you and gives you the opportunity to connect with them.

Again, it’s a long-game way to build your following, and there’s no guarantee that every post you share successfully gain you new followers.

But it will help you build relationships with other influencers while you’re getting your post count up.

And, generally speaking, more posts = more followers.

4. Cross-post your social content

You want to make it easy for people to find your social content.

If people can’t find you, they can’t follow you.

One way to make your content more visible is to use cross-promotion across all of your social channels.

Here’s an example:

You’ll notice that Buffer includes all of their other social profiles on their Facebook page.

If someone engages with them on Facebook, they’re more likely to engage with them on Instagram or YouTube because those links are right there.

Buffer is also doing something smart here because they’re leveraging visual content from Instagram to bolster their Facebook page.

A BuzzSumo study that looked at more than one billion Facebook posts found that images that users post to Facebook via Instagram receive more engagement than natively-published content.

So every time they post to Instagram, both platforms win.

Really, Buffer wins.

But by linking the two together, they create a powerhouse of content that encourages followers from both platforms to engage.

You can cross-promote your content in other ways, too.

HubSpot, for example, promoted their Snapchat account on Facebook as an announcement.

The point here is to leverage the followers you already have on one platform to grow another.

You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to growing a social media following.

Take the followers you already have and get them to follow you somewhere new.

5. Get involved in social communities

Of course, if you do want entirely new followers, there are ways to find them organically (or at least more authentically than buying them).

The best way to “court” followers is to become a member of a social community or group.

LinkedIn, for instance, has groups. They’re simply communities of brands and LinkedIn users who have the same interests or are part of the same industry.

To find relevant groups, go to the Groups homepage (it’s separate from your LinkedIn profile).

Click “Discover” at the top of the page to see your suggested groups.

You can ask to join a group via the “Ask to Join” button under the group description.

The more active you are in the group (the more you provide insights, share content, etc.), the more members will likely follow you back.

If you’re not sure how to start, check out this article: “The Definitive Guide to LinkedIn Groups for Marketing.”

Twitter also has a feature like groups that they call “chats” or “tweet chats.”

These are pre-scheduled chats using specific hashtags at specific times. You can find the schedule here.

If you want to a host a chat, you can use a website like Twubs to register a hashtag and host your chat.

Twitter chats work well to build a following because you’re there to engage with others, not just to spectate.

You’re not self-promoting, and you’re not there to shout at people to follow you.

The whole reason you’re participating is to give insights and input. There’s no way to build a better following than by being genuinely valuable to someone else.

If you want to find more relevant chats to participate in, here’s an easy-to-read and thorough listing of available chats.

6. Start answering common questions

Another way to actively engage users is by answering questions rather than posting content.

There are many ways you can do this.

First, you could join forum sites like Quora or Reddit and look for relevant questions.

If you find a question that you know the answer to, you can respond with a link back to your social channels or other content on your website.

You’re not only providing something practical for someone else, but you’re also promoting your social media channels, too.

You can also answer questions on “abandoned” Facebook posts.

If there are brands that don’t respond to questions that you know the answers to, then why not leave a comment from your business page?

I frequently get comments on my own pages that I can’t always answer due to time constraints, but I sometimes see people jump in to respond.

The idea isn’t necessarily to poach the followers of your competitors.

It’s simply a way to engage potential followers and be helpful.

If they see that you’re responsive and knowledgeable and that you follow the same people they do (instant trust, right?), they might give you a follow.

Alternatively, you can host your own Q&A sessions on Twitter.

You simply create a hashtag and respond to questions for a short amount of time.

There is a word of caution with a Twitter Q&A, however.

You want to be careful that you don’t respond to rude or inappropriate questions and that you pick some talking points.

Otherwise, you could end up harming your brand image.

But, generally speaking, Q&A sessions are a great way to connect with your followers.

7. Utilize paid ads

Paid ads don’t have to be gimmicky or unauthentic.

There are ways to market your brand without sacrificing that quality that your followers want.

The key is to create an advertising strategy geared toward engagement rather than self-promotion.

Take a look at this ad, for example:

This is by no means a bad ad. It got good engagement (1K likes).

But it’s very clearly a sales ad. It might even be a retargeting ad for someone who already visited the site.

If that pops up on your feed, you know what to do with it, right? Either you’re going to click (and browse or buy), or you’re going to ignore it.

Compare it to this ad:

Again, there’s nothing wrong with this ad at all.

It exists to promote content. But it’s not necessarily selling you anything.

Now take a look at this ad:

It’s a little in-between, right?

There’s plenty to engage with (“Like Page” in the upper right-hand corner, “Learn More” at the bottom right, and a link in the middle), and it clearly wants you to engage.

But it’s not quite salesy.

I would consider this ad to be a good blend of authentic and promotional.

It’s giving you something you kind of want (forcing engagement) without coming off like the company overtly needs your business.

That should be the goal of the majority of the ads that you use to grow your following.

If you’re selling a product, sales ads work. If you’re raising brand awareness, content-based ads or videos work fine.

But if you’re trying to get people to engage with you on a level of trust (it does take trust to follow someone on social media), then you have to hit the right blend.

To create ads that are in the “blended” zone, here’s what you want to do.

• Look at your Facebook Audience Insights for information about your audience, the communities they engage with, their demographics, and their hobbies and interests.

• Send out some surveys to see if your audience wants to learn about any specific topics or if they’re craving any specific type of content.
• Look into your most engaging content with a social media analytics tool so you can pinpoint further behaviors.

When you have this data, you should be able to see what kind of content is the most engaging for your potential audience.

Then, create ads around that content.

8. Track your social traffic

Part of the process for both social ad creation and organic growth will involve tracking your social metrics.

You want to know where your followers are coming from and how they are engaging with you.

If you don’t already have a system in place for this, there are several tools you can use.

First, start with Google Analytics. That should be a given.

Look for the social platforms that are already giving your website traffic.

For example, if you know that you have a lot of referral traffic from Twitter but not from LinkedIn, then you might start by doing some of the Twitter-focused things in this post first and skip LinkedIn Groups.

You can find your social traffic information by going to Acquisition > Social on your dashboard.

Next, you might want to use a free tool like Followerwonk.

This will give you detailed breakdowns of your Twitter followers (or someone else’s) and their activity on the site.

You can see stats like when they come online (so you know posting times), what categories they fall into, total tweets, follower counts, and so on.

A tool like this can be helpful for recognizing trends so you know when to engage, answer questions, and so on.

You might also want to follow popular trends and hashtags. A tool like Keyhole can help with that.

It gives you a preview of popular hashtags, keywords, and accounts as well as information like reach, top posts, and shares.

You can use this to keep an eye on your competitors to see what they’re doing.

This might be helpful if you’re going to respond to questions (“abandoned posts”) or simply want to know what other people in your space are doing.

These tools should get you started, but there are more tools out there depending on your needs.

The goal of monitoring your social metrics is simply to point you in the right direction.

If you know where people are hanging out, you know where you have to be to get noticed.

9. Be amazing outside of social media

Consider these names: Katy Perry, Barack Obama, Ellen Degeneres, and Gary Vaynerchuk.

What do some of the biggest names in social media have in common (other than the fact that they have a lot of followers)?

They are doing some pretty amazing things outside of their social media platforms.

Katy Perry is not only an award-winning, platinum-selling artist. She’s also a shoe-design mogul, and she partners with charities all around the world.

Obama was the president of the United States.

These people are living their lives. They’re not just social media brands.

You have to be the same way.

Roy Povarchik puts it this way: The biggest names on social media are also big names in the news.

I see a lot of brands that spend too much time worrying about their social media following while neglecting other aspects of their brand that are more important.

When you’re out there doing cool things, you’re going to get attention.

Yes, you can use the other strategies on this list to help propel yourself into the media. There are plenty of things you can do to actively pursue getting new followers, especially you aren’t the president of the United States.

But the point is that it’s okay to go out and do something amazing first.

Then worry about followers.

Conclusion

You’ve probably noticed that a lot of these tips aren’t for instant growth.

While there are ways to grow your brand by hundreds of followers a day, there’s value in the slow burn.

When you take time to build up your brand by leveraging influencers, sharing content that matters, and focusing on your own brand’s message, you get authentic followers.

This means that people are in it for the long haul.

It means that your followers will eventually convert.

You didn’t use sneaky “tricks” or tactics to get them to follow you. You just had a really great brand.

I’ll take a great brand with 1,000 converting followers over one with a million half-hearted followers any day.

What have you done to grow your following without creating content?

Resource: https://neilpatel.com/blog/social-media-follower-increase/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email