The Internet’s most popular yogis all have one thing in common: They have defined themselves according to their strongest beliefs and skills. To this day, I cannot think of Ashtanga yoga without also thinking of the graceful movement and ever-smiling face of Kino MacGregor. When it comes to handstands, I immediately envision the coral colored tattoos of inversion expert Dylan Werner. And when I approach my meditation cushion, I always hear the soft and Earthy tone of Deepak Chopra, whose collaboration with Oprah has brought meditation to the masses through yearly 21-day meditation challenges.

So before you begin building your social media presence, learn a lesson from these amazing individuals: Focus on what you love, and think of how to share it with unparalleled passion.

Once you define yourself, take a moment to think about what you want to get out of social media. Revisit your website goals, and consider ways that social media might help deliver new people into your conversion funnels. If you do not have a website strategy, take a moment to review this article on how to build your website and funneling strategy.

When formulating goals, take the SMART approach. This tactic uses the acronym S-M-A-R-T to help you set goals with maximum effectiveness. Essentially, each goal should be:

To summarize, let’s compare the following goal:

Gain a lot of followers on social media.

With the following SMART goal:

I will engage with Twitter users for 15 minutes every day, so I can build my following to 1,000 users or more by the end of the month.

Note that when you make a SMART goal, the goal itself becomes a roadmap that defines who will do the work, how they will do it, and what benchmarks will be used to measure success.

Next, consider how you might achieve your SMART goals, given who you are and what you want to deliver. For example, Kino MacGregor encourages followers to keep a regular yoga practice by sharing her daily flow and insights. Dylan Werner encourages students to chase scary inversions by posting pictures of complex arm balances, along with inspirational messages about the importance of stepping outside your comfort zone. Each of these professionals have a similar goal—to build a community of like-minded yogis— yet they use content in unique ways to develop relationships with different types of students.

One thing we can learn from these two professionals is that, although we may share similar goals, the strategies we use to achieve those goals are going to be unique. Below are just a few additional examples of how yoga instructors might use unique strategies to accomplish common goals:

Developing an effective strategy is often challenging. However, remember that fear, anxiety, and insecurity are the enemies of creative power. Take time to center yourself every morning, and use techniques like journaling, meditation, and heart-opening yoga poses to find your center and cultivate bliss. Have faith that ideas will come, and trust in your natural ability to connect with like-minded individuals. For more ideas on how to build a following online, visit this article on Content Marketing Strategies. 

As you define and refine your strategy, it will help to know where your ideal audience spends their time online. Consider these statistics on the following major social media channels for yoga professionals:

Evaluate the above platforms, as well as other secondary channels that might have smaller communities of users. Think yoga-specific blogs, forums, and even news aggregator websites like Reddit. Finally, select no more than 3 networks to focus on every day. This will keep you from feeling over-extended, and it will help you focus on what truly matters: Building community through genuine engagement.

When it comes to building a following, always remember: Quality is more important than quantity. “Networking is always important when it’s real,” explains world renowned author and marketer, Seth Godin, in this video interview. “And it’s always a useless distraction when it’s fake.” Think of social media users as new friends who you meet at a party. You would not use new friends as a means to an end; similarly, you should never waste time or energy simply accumulating followers with whom you share no connection. Instead, take the time to build genuine relationships through engagement, curation, and conversion.

Engagement. Follow like-minded people and look for opportunities to start a conversation. Like or share posts, offer your own perspective, suggest additional resources, and ask questions that will facilitate an insightful discussion. In time, you will establish yourself as a knowledgeable person who others can engage and follow, too.

Curation. Take time to curate exceptional content that others will find helpful, entertaining, or otherwise useful. To offer the most diverse perspective, be sure to feature content from leading authorities alongside your own. Most brands like to follow the 3:1 rule: for every 3 promotional or personal posts you make, be sure to post 1 piece of non-promotional content from a 3^rd party expert. For yogis, that could mean a dietitian, researcher, or medical professional who is passionate about holistic health and wellness. Think of your social media page as an art gallery—you are the curator, and you should take great pride in making your gallery an inspirational experience!

Conversion. Always give followers an easy way to find your most helpful resources. This might mean providing contact information, website links, or links to other social media profiles, depending on your conversion goals. It might feel strange to promote yourself directly but remember: If you take the time to establish genuine relationships, your presence will create value that others will deeply desire.

Tools can help, or they can hurt. Consider using tools that help to identify opportunities to build valuable relationships and achieve your goals. Avoid using tools that automate social media engagement, because nobody wants to interact with a robot. Below is a brief list of social media tools designed to help organize, analyze, and optimize your efforts.