Within social media – at least the corporate variety – there is the belief that more is better. The more “Likes” on Facebook, the more followers on Twitter, the more readers and RSS subscribers to your blog, the better.

So how does a brand attract more attention? There are lots of different techniques but I would argue that the best approach is not to worry about it too much. It may strike you as an against the grain strategy but the obsession with getting more attention is, in the long-term, unhealthy.

It’s one thing to strive for a large following but if there is any interest in quality as well as quantity, it makes sense not to be blatantly obvious about your efforts to get more followers, likes, readers, etc.

Instead, there are better ways to get the job done. If these techniques can be mastered, they will hopefully achieve the goal of quality and quantity

1. Compelling, creative and constant content. When it comes to social media, people are constantly hungry for new content to consume – blog posts, updates, tweets, videos, photos, contests, etc.

For companies, it means generating a steady flow of content on a regular basis to meet demand. The upside is if you can feed the beast, they will come back to you for more content “helpings”.

2. Engagement and conversations: While creating compelling content is important, you can’t just sit there and expect the world to beat a path to your door. Instead, you need to get out there among your target audiences kiss a few babies, shake a few hands and wave the flag.

Just as politicians troll for votes by appearing in public to meet and greet the “folks”, brands need to be talking to people, answering questions and providing information and insight to attract more attention. It’s a lot of grunt work but the benefits of connecting with people makes it worthwhile.

3. Be generous – give a lot and ask for little in return: Whether it’s content, being a valuable resource, speaking at conferences and meetings, or supporting and sponsoring events, companies can plan the seeds for success by giving to the community while openly asking for little in return.

It’s the soft-sell approach compared with the hard-sell approach of making someone “Like” your Facebook Page before they can see content or enter a contest. At the end of the day, the soft sell slowly but surely engrains your brand into the community, creating a relationship as opposed to a short-term fling.

At the end of the day, there is no silver bullet to getting a lot of Likes, followers, etc. And while there is no doubt that quantity can matter when it comes to being one way to measure the success of social media programs, winning people for the long run can mean taking a different, more patient approach.