Social Media Marketing
If you want to grow your traffic and be seen as an influencer, you need to be on social media. Social media is where you connect with readers and promote your content.
Now, there are a ton of social media networks out there. It can be overwhelming to decide which ones to be on. The good news is that you don’t need to be on all of them. Select at least two networks to master and build your audience. Then create a unique marketing plan for each network. What you share on Facebook should be different from Instagram. Give your followers a reason to follow you on different platforms.
The main networks that our influencers and brands use are:
Facebook is the most popular social media platform and just about everyone is on it. It’s fast, easy, and free to set up your Facebook Page. A Facebook Page is primarily for promoting your blog and building an audience. Facebook Groups are more for growing community among people with a common interest. They key to Facebook is sharing consistent content not only from your blog but from other pages too.
My Brown Newfies and Chronicles of Cardigan do a great job engaging with their Facebook fans.
Twitter a fast moving place to share news, but it is a highly successful platform to engage with your readers, let brands know you exist, connect in ways that could open doors, and attract new visitors to your blog.
Our weekly #BlogPawsChat is a great way to network, meet new people, catch up with familiar faces, and engage on Twitter. Watch this video to learn how.
Take a look at @Oz_TheTerrier
Instagram is one of the best ways to influence people with just a glance, and not many other social media properties can boast the same. Pets are an extremely popular niche on Instagram. In fact, there are tons of breed specific communities too. It’s a great way to find your audience and interact with other influencers.
Check out some of these influential pets on Instagram:
While Pinterest is considered social media it’s actually a visual search engine. Pinterest is a powerful tool to help grow your traffic. Pinterest has the potential to become your largest traffic driver.
Check out these helpful blog posts to learn more:
- How Bloggers Can Use Pinterest to Drive Blog Traffic
- Pinterest Tips for Better Blogging
- 5 Tips To Use Pinterest for Blog Traffic
Best Practices
Each social media network comes with its own best practices and strategies for success. We could create a course for each network as there is that much information! Since this is a quick start guide to starting your blog, here are some best practices across social media that you can begin implementing ASAP:
-Post consistently and stick to a posting schedule. This lets your readers know what to expect and it teaches the social media networks that you are a consistent user.
-NEVER spam people and start asking or begging people to follow you.
-Engage and connect with your readers and other influencers.
-Blurry pictures, pixelated images are a major no-no.
-Do start liking, commenting, and following other social media influencers.
-Don’t get your feelings hurt if pets do not follow you back. It is generally a best practice on Instagram to have more people following you than you actually follow OR at least be a pretty even ratio. If you follow 5,000 people and only 200 follow you back, your strategy is all wrong.
Action Plan
Which two social media networks are you going to focus on? What type of content will you create for each? How do each of these networks connect to your why and success goals?