Blogging can be a great way to both have fun writing about your life or something you’re interested in, as well as a pretty nifty way to bring in some extra income. Of course, the latter is something you have to actively invest in, and a part of that is getting on social media to drive engagement your way.
But if you’re a blogger, running a social media account alongside is going to take some careful consideration. You’re going to need a winning strategy that’ll bring exactly the right amount of clicks back to your blog, and as we know, as many as possible is always best.
With that in mind, we’ve got some tips below for new bloggers to ensure your social media strategy works out. Don’t let the world of social media become too confusing and intimidating, and definitely don’t get disheartened by how difficult it might feel to get any meaningful engagement on your blog itself. Sometimes you’ve just got to tweak what you’re doing!
Have a Consistent Brand Across All Social Media
There’s no point coming up with a unique blog domain and name, only to then have a completely different name on your social media accounts. Even if your social media is your own name or something tangentially related to your blog, people are either going to find it hard to track you across every platform or they simply won’t recognise you.
As such, your ‘brand’ needs to be consistent across all social media. There needs to be the same name, colors, logo, and messaging – albeit maybe tweaked a little to suit each format. This is the basis of becoming a recognizable authority in your niche, and if people know exactly what username to type in when they tag you in content, you’re never going to miss the chance to prove you’re exactly the kind of creator people want to follow.
Don’t Get Bogged Down in the Numbers
Numbers are what a lot of online creators base their success off of. The amount of followers you have, the views a video gets, website traffic, new mailing list subscribers, etc., are all common stats for showcasing exactly how well you’re doing. But do they really give the whole story? Do they really show what you think they’re showing?
Not every time. It’s nice to see bigger numbers, but that doesn’t mean smaller numbers aren’t a great look either. In the blogging world, it’s the people who actually open your emails and read your new posts and check out the merch section you’ve just released on your website that make you a success.
And of course, the bigger your following, the more people there are to do these things. However, if someone has over 1000 mailing list subscribers, yet only 20 of them at max are opening the latest newsletter every single time, they’ve really only got an audience of those 20 people. If you’ve got a mailing list of 20 people, and 15 of them are reliably opening up your emails, you’ve got nearly the same audience number.
Your list is smaller, sure, and the other person may have more potential in their list, but right now your engagement rate is nearly neck and neck. The numbers might not show it at a glance, but dig down into the actual metric and you’ll see what’s really going on.
Create Posts That Show a Snapshot of the Full Blog
It’s unlikely that you’ll ever be able to share a full blog on social media, so the best thing to do is snapshot the content, highlight the important parts, and post those instead.
You can do this in a variety of ways, such as posing a question someone might be asking in their own life and then follow it up by saying you’ve got a post that could help. Sometimes you simply need to post quotes from the article you’ve put together and then direct people to where they can find out more.
Play around and find out what works. The more you experiment with these kinds of posts, the easier it’ll be to find the combination that actually does the job. Try out various fonts and colors in your posts as well.
Share on Reddit
You might not have thought of Reddit as a particularly important social media platform – you might not have even thought of it as social media! But there’s a very dedicated and active user base on the website. And if you take a look, you’ll notice that there are quite a few blogging subreddits to join!
Not only are these great forums to post your own blog in for a bit of exposure – there’s a prebuilt community you can join where you can all comment, critique, and uplift each other. If you want some advice, this is the perfect place to start. Or if you want some feedback on what your newest post sounds like, especially if you’re planning to share on social media and want to know if you’ve made a good enough snapshot, this is where to ask for opinions.
You don’t want to just post in subreddits revolving around blogging itself, however. You’ll want to post your new blogs on subreddits that directly relate to the topic you’re writing about. This is where you’ll be able to find the audience interested in the specific niche you’re blogging about, and you could very well spark a lengthy conversation and get plenty of new clicks all in one place.
If you’ve written something you’re particularly proud of, you can also invest in upvotes. Do this just after posting to help push your new blog toward the top of the subreddit for the day, week, or month, but remember that costs will vary and you’ll need to be mindful of your budget. One of the best things to do, just like on any other social media, is to title the post properly with something that appeals to that curious side we all have.
Make Video Content and Tap into Emotions Through it
Video content is all the rage at the moment, with every single social media site valuing the moving image over the static one. Indeed, video can feel a lot more interactive, and there’s a much better chance of providing entertainment through a post.
That’s where emotion comes into it. Video content makes it easier to invoke and pull at someone’s feelings. And even as a blogger, you can use this strategy to highlight just how valuable someone might find your blog, if they’d just come over and give it a read!
That’s why we recommend making video content that revolves around what your posts are about, maybe in the form of a funny skit or once again, talking about the question someone might have that brought them to your post in the first place. Both play on emotions people expect to feel when on social media: joy and curiosity.
For example, if you’re a blogger that likes to talk about blogging, you could highlight common frustrations every content creator has to go through. Writer’s block, or struggling to publish new posts on a regular schedule. Be relatable, talk about the issues, and make someone on a similar journey go ‘I’m so glad someone is talking about this!’
Encourage Sharing and Feedback
Sometimes you have to be upfront about what you want from your audience. If you’ve built a good following already and you’d like to see more from them, go ahead and ask for that.
It’s OK to just ask your followers if they’ll add your post to their story – really it is. Similarly, it’s OK to ask if they’d click the link in your bio to see the most recent blog post you’ve just written up.
It’s not begging and it doesn’t make you come across as desperate, if that’s what you’re worried about. It simply gives those who are engaged with your blog or your social media a direct call to action.
And the more you post interesting and engaging content to the audience, the less you’re going to need to use tactics like these. Many bloggers think that organic growth is the only way, but if your followers like what you write and you know they’d be up for sharing it, include the possibility in your caption.
New Blogger? Let’s Get Social Media Working For You
If you want a social media strategy that’ll achieve everything you’ve ever planned for your blog, you might be waiting a long time. However, there are plenty of ways to drive more traffic your way and get some loyal followers commenting on every post you publish.
Start with the look and tone of your ‘brand’, then make sure you’re putting out social media content that highlights the best parts of the blog you’ve made. And remember, it’s good to experiment with different types of content to see what really drives engagement and brings more interested followers your way.
