This 21 Year Old Built an SMS Line to Over 172k Contacts Within One Month and Has Grown a Social Audience of Over 15m Followers

Today’s business needs a crowd of followers, recommendations, and referrals from its target audience to stay ahead of the competition. Still, growing such a following is a challenge as today’s customers don’t trust brands. So how do you build an online community? 

Mayur Patil is an entrepreneur with a passion for tech and media. He currently runs a website (mayurdpatil.com) where he shares his expertise.  He is also a social media and SMS growth expert. At 21 years, Mayur has helped global women’s media companies grow their social following to eight figures. 

About Mayur 

Mayur is an expert at growing a social media audience. He has experience building SMS lines, social channels, and email subscription lists. The three fields (SMS lines, social channels, and email subscription) play an integral role in establishing a connection with an audience. Statistics show that SMS open rates are at 98% compared to 20% for emails. 

Mayur recently joined Bustle Digital Group to lead growth & strategy on TikTok across Bustle.com, NylonMag.com, Romper.com, EliteDaily.com, Inverse.com, and Mic.com. Mayur has grown Bustle Digital Group’s TikTok channels to over 500k followers in 15 days. Prior to joining Bustle Digital Group, he led social, growth, and partnerships at 10PM Curfew, a women’s network founded by Bella Thorne. Mayur has done big things in women’s media. He has driven over 150K followers to @Style and @Girls on Instagram in one week and has grown an SMS subscription list to over 172K women interested in fashion & beauty in one month. Mayur has also grown two TikToks in the fashion & beauty space from 0 to over 5.6M followers each in five months. 

There is no platform that Mayur cannot build a following. Why? Because he has valuable strategies that have proven to work for any company across any social platform. Mayur helps brands build engaged fan bases and powerful tech platforms that help them gain a competitive edge. 

How He builds a Large Following 

More than 90% of businesses have invested in social media marketing. However, the ROI is low compared to the finances and time spent in this type of marketing. Mayur notes that this low ROI is because most businesses are victims of common mistakes, such as the lack of a clear social strategy. Most companies join social media platforms and use SMS lines as an add-on to their existing marketing strategies. The enterprises fail to appreciate the power of such avenues in establishing a connection with their target social audience. 

75% of SMS contacts are okay with receiving texts. But, most don’t want to receive irrelevant texts. According to Mayur, businesses struggle with curating content that will attract an audience. An SMS message, for instance, should be engaging, precise, and value-driven. If done correctly, the texts will not only give a business the required attention but also more growth. What is the right text? First of all, the right text is one that provides the audience with an offer that they cannot refuse or much-needed information. If you don’t strike the right balance, you run the risk of losing your engaged audience. 

Most businesses have not focused efforts on scaling to new social media platforms. Gen Z is heavily invested in TikTok. So, in order to grow on TikTok, brands need to formulate different strategies than what is used on Instagram or Facebook. Mayur’s strategies are tailored to be platform-specific. Not only does Mayur focus on building a following on new social media platforms, but he also creates strategies to drive those engaged fans to Instagram & Facebook. “By building a following on new social platforms such as TikTok, you are able to drive growth between each platform (IG, FB, and TikTok) as organic reach reduces on the other platforms,” says Mayur. 

Coming up with the Right Strategy 

Mayur’s strategy is all about data and content. The present shift in social media involves more video content. Social platforms are flooded with content. Data is essential as it helps brands determine how well the content engages with their audience. Still, most brands can agree that there’s nothing easy about growth. Building an engaged audience is complicated, even more so with platforms reducing organic reach. Most brands don’t have time to figure out the latest trends and how those trends can help them. 

Take TikTok, for example. This platform was once a name that was mentioned in a hip-hop song by Kesha. Yet, in the blink of an eye, this platform has developed into a new online culture for Generation Z. Today, TikTok has over 800 million active users worldwide. Can businesses use TikTok? According to Mayur, not all companies have seized the opportunity to grow on TikTok. For one to determine whether this platform is right for them, then they must do a bit of research. The business must understand what kind of content works on TikTok and whether your business can blend with the culture on this platform. There are many other factors to consider when joining TikTok or any other platform for that matter. Instead of utilizing any of these platforms blindly (email marketing, SMS, and social media), create a unique strategy for each platform that drives value for your target audience, and is easy to scale.