building an effective social media strategy {part 5}
We’ve spent the past month exploring social media and answering questions about building an effective social media strategy. I hope you have been following along with us and finding the information encouraging and useful. Here is a quick recap of the previous posts:
Part 1: 3 biggest issues with social media {overwhelm, uncertainty, and usage}
Part 2: 3 keys to a strategy that works {schedule, specify, and specialize}
Part 3: 3 questions to help you identify the goals for your blog {and how social media is a part}
Part 4: 6 questions to help build your strategy
It takes discipline not to let social media steal your time.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit
Today, as we conclude this series, I want to offer you some ways to utilize several of the most popular social media platforms. Remember, you don’t have to use all of them. Choose the ones that best compliment your message, your audience, and your available time. There is not one right answer for social media strategy.
Twitter is a great way to join conversations and build relationships. Every one of my closest blogging friends I met through Twitter. Join those Twitter parties. Check out the “recommended for you” profiles. Engage in conversations. Use hashtags to connect with others. And, the best advice I can give about using Twitter effectively, learn to use lists.
Facebook is the largest social media platform. It’s hard to ignore. But it’s tricky! There is definitely not a one-size-fits-all strategy to using Facebook well. Be a student of Facebook so you can know what’s working and what isn’t. One of the best tips I can offer is to ask questions on your Facebook Page. People love questions! Learn how to understand the insights for your Page. Pay attention to what posts get the most response and when is the best time to post. Use groups to build a deeper community. Just remember this, your website is more important than your Facebook page!
Google+
Google+ is a fabulous platform and many bloggers are finding incredible success in using it. As with Twitter, use hashtags to connect. In addition, with Google+ you can specify the audience for your posts by using your circles. This is a great way to target specific posts to the people who are most likely to respond to them.
Pinterest has been my top referral source on my personal blog for the past year — by more than double any other social media platform. Images are king on Pinterest. Create great images with compelling text for all your posts. Join contributor boards. Create a schedule for pinning posts and include posts from your archive.
There are a few bloggers using Instagram very well. Be very careful with this one, though. As a general rule, I think people are more interested in your daily life than your daily blog posts. Use Instagram as a tool for connecting with your audience beyond your blog. I often reference my Instagram feed in my blog posts and invite my readers to see more about what my real life looks like there.
One last suggestion, give yourself time to develop your social media reach. It probably won’t happen overnight and there will likely be some things you try that don’t work or that take some time to see results. It’s okay! Make the investment and do the work. Social media is a great tool and has become necessary in our modern culture. You can do this!
Thank you, Teri Lynne, for sharing your success secrets in this wonderful series. BTW, I didn’t attend the Pinterest session by Ruth Soukup at She Speaks, but based on your advice I’m going to spend considerably more time there! Again, T H A N K S !!
You are most welcome! That session was great. I believe Pinterest can be a fabulous referral source for all types of bloggers. It just takes some time to figure out how to use it best.
Great series! Being active on social media has never been my strong point. Recently, I created a social media posting schedule for myself, and it has made a world of difference in keeping me social. I’ve found that I get the most traffic from Pinterest, so I’m working on getting to know that platform better in particular.
Tiffany, scheduling is such a great way to keep from feeling overwhelmed. Thank you for sharing with us.