5 Things Every Blogger Should Know About Social Media
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Social media can and should be a blogger's best friend. But when you're juggling a blog AND Instagram AND Twitter AND Facebook AND Pinterest AND Snapchat AND Periscope and...it can be a little overwhelming.
So today I want to share with you five things to remember about how to maximize the opportunity of social media as you grow your platform.
5 Things Every Blogger Should Know About Social Media
1. Your blog is your home base. Social media are your outposts. Facebook will change its algorithm. Instagram will add more and more advertising. The only platform you have complete control over is your own. So when in doubt, put your primary focus there. Followers on a Facebook page are much less important than subscribers to your blog.
2. The same content does not work on every platform. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just write something once and then copy/paste it to every other platform. While quality content stands the test of most any platform, we have to mold it to fit natively into each platform. Taking a screenshot of your blog or a status update and putting it on Instagram will not work. Pay attention to what works in each platform and adjust your content to fit that.
3. Every social network is not necessarily a good fit for you or worth your time. If there's a new up and coming social platform, for many bloggers, our first instinct is to jump right on. But it's better to give primary focus to two or three platforms. For this blog Facebook gets my primary attention. Secondary platforms are Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. I'm leaving Periscope and Snapchat alone (for now.) :-)
4. Trying new things is not only a good idea, it's a necessity. You have an important story to be told. It's easy to fall in love with a certain platform (like Wordpress or Squarespace or Youtube) but we need to remember that all this technology will change. The story is what's most important. So be open to trying new things. Where would TV be without Netflix? Where would radio be without podcasts? Be open!
5. Social media is an irreplaceable opportunity to build relationships. Your blog is the primary place where you build community. But social media gives you the opportunity to massage relationships and touch on lighter topics. Use Instagram to put a face to a name, use Facebook to share a helpful or humorous article. Ultimately the blogger/audience relationship is person to person.
As overwhelming as all the social media management can be, never before have people who have a passion to share a message been able to quickly share it with so many people. I encourage you to take time every so often to look at your overall blog and social media strategy and see what is working, what isn't and what you may want to change.
Which social platform have you seen be most helpful as you grow your readership? Where do you find community is being cultivated?