Blogging Tips: How to Use Social Media

TIP #3: SOCIAL MEDIA

This week on our blogging tips series - we are going to be talking about social media.  

Social media is one of those areas that I believe can really drive traffic and business to your blog; however, it is one of those areas that I struggle with, so I am especially excited to read everyone's ideas this week.

WHICH SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS WORK BEST

Pinterest  is probably the only social channel that I have found to drive business directly to my blog. Because of this, I have started to be more conscious of pinning my images to my Pinterest  boards.  (I even created a board for this series - on Blogging Tips).  I try to pin at  least one image from each post I publish.  I also signed up for a business Pinterest account, so that I can track which pins are getting the most traffic - and how engaged my audience is.  From my statistics, I can tell there is traffic on Pinterest, and my outfit collage pins seem to be the most popular.  This is my top pin so far.

Also, I make sure to check what searches are trending and are the most popular topics searched on Pinterest. This information is under the heading “Your Business”.

I have also tried prompted pins on Pinterest the last couple of weeks. I have found that I get more traffic to my blog this way. For a small cost, I am excited to get some engaged followers, rather than “ghost followers” through Instagram loops and other giveaways. One thing I have found with prompted pins is that I get the most engagement the first couple of days - so I have found that shorter duration promotions are better than longer ones.

HOW TO MANAGE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS

I once heard a speaker say that you can’t do it all with social media - and that you should pick two platforms to focus on. I think that is the best advice. In trying to create content for the blog - and engage with readers - and everything else that comes along with a blog (in addition to working another job) - I just can’t do it all. In addition to Pinterest, I split my time between my two other platforms - Instagram and Facebook.

In an effort to grow my Instagram following, I have tried different loop giveaways. They have grown my following each time; however, most of the numbers have been through “ghost followers” - the ones that just follow for the giveaways. After the giveaway ends, I typically see a drop in followers. Giveaways can be a great way to get your numbers up - but if you participate in a lot of them the cost can add up quickly.  I have heard good things bout Lynn Gabriel giveaways (however you typically need over 10K followers to join), and I have participated in one with Fierce Society.

I found this article which has some good ideas on how to grow a following on Instagram - 11 surefire ways to grow your Instagram and this post talks about 30 tips to get more instagram followers.

One of the most important things - is finding a way to engage with your followers - and find that niche audience. One of the tips is to have a "pretty" Instagram feed.  I have really worked at creating a more cohesive Instagram feed - by doing color themes on my blog each week.

SCHEDULING TOOLS LIKE HOOTSUITE

If you are having trouble keeping up with publishing to all the different social media channels - Hootsuite is a solution that helps manage this. I have yet to try it out - but I know others that use it and love it. Here is a quick start guide if you are interested in trying it out.

ICONOSQUARE AND ARCHIE

I have used iconosquare to track my followers and follow my engagement - when it was free. Now the stats are only available for the paying subscribers. The prices range from $28 per year for the Plus package and $149 for the Elite package. Iconosquare helps by tracking your most engaged times to post, best days, hashtag performance, etc. On June 1, Iconosquare plans to release a new product that will replace its existing one. This blog post helps to explain how to use Iconosquare from a blogger that uses it.

I tried the trial version of Archie - and I would be interested in trying it again. Archie works by engaging with those readers you have defined. Based on what your ideal customer is looking for - Archie goes out and finds those similar customers and brings them to your feed.

Hope these tips helped.

Next, be sure to "hop" over to Marta at Sweater, Stripes and Sweets to read her tips on social media.

Lastly, I will end with a funny - well, maybe not funny story, which is not related to my blogging tips.  So, last week we had to have our dryer repaired.  No big deal - just had to fix the obnoxious squealing our dryer was making - luckily, we had it fixed because they said if we had let it go - it would have been more costly.  Well, yesterday, I tried to wash clothes - and the washer stopped working.  I googled what the problem may be - and found out sometimes small objects get logged in the drain - small objects like underwear.  The repair guy is coming to the house and it is a small family business - where we know a few of the people.  The last thing (and embarrassing thing) I want is for the guy to pull out of the trap a pair of my underwear - oh my!  I'll keep you posted on what he finds...

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