Blogging 101 is a 10 part series where I share my tips and tricks for creating and growing a blog from scratch. This is the seventh installment in the series, and you can find more information on the topics of this series here.
Social media is one of those things that when it comes to blogging, is really just like real life. In real life as you probably already know, everyone is all about the Facebook and the Instagramming, and even your grandmother has a Twitter handle, so if you’re not signed up and actively using it, you’re missing out! It’s the same for bloggers! Of course, bloggers have the extra pressure of having to make sure their Tweets, Facebook Posts and Instagram pics are well thought out and put together, but luckily, I am here to give you some pointers so that posting and engaging in social media is a breeze!
One of the hardest parts of understanding and using social media to benefit your blog is knowing when to use Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to give you the biggest bang for your buck. This isn’t to say you won’t be using all three at one time, but how you use each of these outlets will be different! Now, I also am going to stick to talking about these three social media outlets only, because although there are plenty of others, I consider these the big 3!
Twitter is great because you can quickly push information and articles out to your followers and through the use of hashtags people will be able to find your tweets, locate your content and hopefully become a follower of yours and your blog. I mentioned before that I use a site called Twitter Feed to push out my blog posts to my Twitter automatically as my posts go live which saves me a lot of trouble, however, Twitter Feed can only do so much. Unfortunately, you can always tell my Twitter Feed posts from my others because they are automatically formatted and just plain bland. So, I like to go back and Tweet out my newest blog post in a more Twitter friendly way, usually by making a cute comment that relates to my blog post or by asking a question that my blog post helps to answer. For example, Twitter Feed posted the following tweet about a recent blog post I wrote on 25 Blog Post Ideas:
{Strange & Charmed} 25 Blog Post Ideas for Any Blogger!: In my opinion, one of the most difficult parts of sta… http://bit.ly/1e7Dj7k
As you can see, its formatted to show the name of my blog, the title of the post and then the first few words of the post itself with a link at the end that takes you to the post. Boring! So, instead, I would Tweet something like this:
Having trouble brainstorming some new blog posts? Try these! http://bit.ly/1e7Dj7k #blogger #blogpost
Which tweet are you more interested in learning more about? It’s not rocket science, but it’s about crafting content that works for the medium. Since you only get 140 characters for a tweet, you need to be short and sweet and use just one or two relevant hashtags to help people find your tweet!
Okay, now for Instagram, everyone’s latest addiction! Instagram is a little more useful now than it has been in the past because not only can you post pictures, but you can also post quick videos as well! So, how do you think you can make the most impact through this social media outlet? If you guessed through creating eye capturing pictures and a quick and simple video every now and again, YOU’RE RIGHT! There really is no secret to winning at Instagram, you really just need to make sure you are posting great pictures and tagging them properly with the hashtag system. As a blogger, images are super important and I have discussed my opinion on making sure you only use your own images on your blog, so if you are trying to use IG to promote your blog, all you need to do it post a great image from your latest blog post and write a quick, twitter like description that will help pull people in and want to know more. My rules for great IG pictures is to make sure they are well-lit (if you can’t get good natural lighting, use some photo editing software to brighten it up), well composed (study up on the rule of thirds and make sure to ask yourself if the image is visibly legible, meaning can you quickly understand what is going on, if not, don’t post it), and to make sure you are choosing the most effective hashtags you can (IG gives you more space than twitter, but try to stick to the most descriptive hashtags as possible).
Now, for Facebook! Facebook is interesting because you get a mix of images and words to choose from when you post. I suggest leading with a great picture, but also making sure you give a though provoking description. Since Facebook allows you to post multiple pictures, this is a great place to share blog posts that are picture heavy, especially if you include more than one image in your Facebook post. Hashtags really aren’t necessary here for search purposes so feel free to leave those out when crafting your posts. Focus more on making sure you “pitch” your blog post to your potential readers. If you don’t give them a reason to click on your post (like solving a problem, answering a question or giving them great advice) they won’t bother! Although you get nearly unlimited space in a Facebook post, don’t feel the need to write a novel here. Quick and light is more attractive than a post you have to scroll through.
Now, like I said, using social media to your advantage is all about knowing which medium is right for each post and occasion. You may not want to post all your blog links to all three sites. Stick to sharing the types of posts that work best in each medium. Twitter is great for luring readers in with a great tag line or by asking a question that provokes readers to click-through to your blog to get their answer. Instagram is great for posting beautiful pictures and a quick description that should incite followers to seek out your blog to see more, and Facebook is great for giving longer details and multiple images but be sure not to give too much away so that readers don’t need to click-through to your blog!
Using social media is definitely a balancing act and I would say that it’s all still so new that you really have room to experiment. I suggest researching your favorite bloggers and keeping an eye on their social media to see how they do it. If you see a post you like of theirs via social media, ask yourself what drew you in and see if you can implement that in your social media posts!
So, did you like this post and find it informative? Instead of leaving me a comment below, let’s try an exercise in social media, shall we? Use those social media buttons to share this post in your social media feeds. You can tweet it out, post it to Facebook or take a screen shot and post it to Instagram. Let’s see how creative you can get with it! Oh and make sure to tag me, @MissTrenchcoat so I can see your posts!