Tired of wasting time on social media and not getting the traffic or making the money you want?
It’s not really your fault.
You’ve listened to all those so-called “gurus” that preach – You gotta be Everywhere! Social Media is the best place for you to spend your time and money.
But you know what?
It’s just not true. But thankfully you’ve come to the right place!
As you will see today, there are only a few social media platforms that are best for bloggers.
Why?
Because writing epic blog posts that rank high on Google works way longer for you!
However:
After you are consistently publishing blogs a second, or maybe third, traffic stream is a great thing!
Time to start focusing your time where it really matters!
Here’s the top social platforms for bloggers and how to crush each one.
Let’s dive in.
How to Determine a Valuable Social Platform
Let’s look at the Big 5 social media platforms. There are new platforms popping up all the time but these platforms get used by almost everybody.
- YouTube
Some social media sites are significantly better for marketing than others. What really makes them different, for bloggers, is how people use them.
People utilize social media in two different ways:
- they actively search
and
- they consume the passive feed.
You want to take advantage of the social media sites where people actively search.
Here’s why.
When your content encounters an individual in consuming mode, this is called interruption marketing, you are interrupting what they are currently doing.
When someone finds your content because it is what they are looking for, they come to the table already engaged.
So let’s take a look at the Big 5 social media again but this time we are going to divide them into two categories:
Active search
- YouTube
Passive feed
Passive feed users aren’t out on the internet looking for something, they are just consuming. When they run across your post they aren’t likely to visit your site, even if they are interested.
Active search users are trying to find an answer to their problem, now. They are actively trying to find a rabbit hole to fall down and a site that understands them. That’s where you come in!
What’s the Best Social Media Strategy for Bloggers?
If you are wanting to scale your social media game you need to concentrate your efforts on active search because your audience is out there, looking for you.
The simple recipe for winning at social media is this:
- Use the blogging content you already have
- Repurpose your articles for Pinterest and Youtube
- Bring new users back to your blog with other Social Platforms
Let’s dive into a super valuable social media platform for most bloggers first, Pinterest.
Drive Traffic Easily With Pinterest
Pinterest is one of the most powerful tools for social media for bloggers today.
Why?
Visitors on the site spend time browsing pictures and projects, much like a digital magazine.
It’s social and a great way for them to spend their free time.
It’s trendy and incredibly easy to use. Even better, they click and wind up on your site.
Pinterest allows you to:
- select numerous topics that your business focuses on
- divide them into project boards
- market visually to your followers
To get started:
- Select 8-10 main topics for your business
- Build boards for them
- Start pinning attractive images and linking back to your site
- Fill your boards with both your unique content and repins of other’s content
Remember to keep your boards visually pleasing and easy to understand.
If you’re looking to dive in deeper, this course is the most helpful resource out there!
Supercharge Your Pinterest Marketing
Once you’ve got Pinterest’s basics down, it’s time to make it work for you.
First:
Set up a Pinterest business profile for free to access Pinterest Analytics and other tools that help grow your professional presence on Pinterest.
A Pinterest business profile can be linked to your personal profile allowing you access to both with one log-in.
Plus, Pinterest Analytics helps you understand your overall presence on Pinterest. It shows you what content, both paid and organic, resonates most on Pinterest.
Then:
Every time you create a blog post create one or more Pinterest friendly images to go along with it.
Add these images to the correctly themed board, and always link back to your site.
Do These Two Crucial Things To Get The Best Results
1 – Think of Pinterest as Another Search Engine
People go to this social media site and use it to search for information like:
- How to do things
- Project Ideas
- Outfit ideas
- How to care for their pets
Keep this in mind to plan your posts. Then you can track your metrics accordingly and notice when you’re making progress.
2 – Drip-feed Your Pinterest Content Slowly Throughout the Day and Week
It’s vital to drip-feed your pins over time. This way, you don’t clog up your followers’ feeds with all of your content at once. Create the content in batches.
Rich Pins And SEO
According to Pinterest:
“Rich Pins are a type of organic Pin that automatically sync information from your website to your Pins. You can identify Rich Pins by the extra information above and below the image on closeup and the bold title in your feed.”
Rich pins aren’t just about the images that you select. They’re also about the keywords that you use and linking them back to your site.
Each pin winds up being a backlink to your blog. Every time it is shared, you’ll have the option to gain more traffic.
When you use rich pins, you’re creating visually friendly SEO posts.
That’s just part of the story, though…
Once you get your primary content up and running, you’ll need to populate the boards regularly on a schedule. This keeps your boards full of new exciting content.
If you cannot do this manually through the day, you’ll want to opt for a social media automation tool, such as Tailwind.
These tools will help keep the content flowing. Your social media can be more passive and still allow you to build an income.
These essential tips will go a long way towards getting you started on Pinterest.
Once you’ve got your boards set up and running, you’ll be able to start working on things like:
- automating content throughout the year
- joining group boards to promote your sites
- utilizing Pinterest to build an email list.
Lights, Camera, YouTube
Adding video is a great way to boost your social media following, too. It’s nowhere near as difficult as you might think.
You’ve already got a great head start on creating most of the content that you need to create high-quality YouTube videos that people will want to watch and share with others.
To start your YouTube game use the content you already have!
Start With Blog Posts That Already Get The Most Traffic
Select a header or two from each of your high traffic posts and make a list of the covered topics. Do some keyword research to make sure that you’ve got solid SEO for the content then, it’s time for you to start filming.
Opt for simple videos of you explaining the content. Or, use screencast videos if you prefer. Keep them simple and easy to understand.
The crucial thing to remember is that you already know what you’re going to say. You’ve already written about it.
All you’re doing is repurposing the content from your blog posts into another format for a different audience.
Is there more to YouTube than this?
Yes.
Finding a keyword and tags. Here’s the most efficient way to do that!
Now you have enough to start your YouTube channel! And you can’t grow something until you’ve started it.
So get going!
Passive Feed Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
The last three of the Big 5 are still part of the big 5! Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are HUGE social networks but each has several drawbacks.
Facebook:
- While you can create a page or group for your business and build a following, Facebook can opt to take your page or group down at any point. You could lose all the progress that you’ve made.
Twitter:
- Twitter gets 350,000 tweets sent per minute which adds to 500 million tweets per day. The likelihood that you will get buried in the avalanche of Tweets IS VERY HIGH.
Instagram:
- The unfollow rates on Instagram are very high and it is difficult to gain new followers. The algorithms for Instagram give advantage to short videos and to paid advertisers.
Those are some big hurdles to overcome. And they can be overcome, later. Right now, you want to focus and grow your social media and get the most bang for your buck.
Passive feed media MAY be worth the effort, once you’ve nailed down the active media.
Everytime You Create Content
To kill it on social media you have to take a new approach.
Make content for all three platforms at the same time!
Write your blog.
Your blog is now your script for YouTube.
Create a video for YouTube.
Post your video on Youtube AND Pinterest.
Add pictures to your blog and post it on Pinterest.
You just created content for three platforms at once!
Don’t forget:
Add your video to your blog post and get better ranked on SEO!
Killer Success Recipe
Create social media-friendly content by keeping this incredibly simple recipe for success in mind.
First, it’s social media, not sales media.
People use their social media accounts to hang out, share memes, and learn new things, not view advertising 24/7.
If you only post marketing content, you’ll get unfollowed fast.
Second, follow the magic formula of – Give, give, give, ask.
You should always be giving away great free content. You should post three great social media posts for every one that you ask someone to click a link or perform an action.
When you’re ready to get started with your social media marketing, it’s easy.
- Choose the first few blog posts that you’d like to promote.
- Start your Pinterest and YouTube accounts.
- Then work on pinning, making videos, and posting.
Social media is a wonderful way to share your content with others quickly and easily. You can drive traffic to your blog from numerous social media sites.
It’s easier than you’d imagine. Even better – it’s free to do!
Before you go –
Don’t get overwhelmed by the idea of creating your own videos or graphics and let that hold you back. If necessary, these services can be purchased inexpensively on sites like Fiverr.
Instead, make a plan and get marketing, today!
Harness the power of social media to drive traffic to your websites.
You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to dramatically increase visitors to your web properties.