5 social media strategies for bloggers & writers
You are a blogger. Or a writer.
Rumors have it that some people exist who consider bloggers and writers one and the same.
That’s bulls**t, but that’s not the salt of this post.
Whatever you write, you want these writings to be popular and bring you both admirers and income. And what’s better than social media channels for building an author platform?
Yeah, it’s a win!
But here’s the kicker:
Social media are a tool. Let’s say, it’s a hammer. And when you decide to use social media channels with no idea how it all works and with no exact plan/strategy in your pocket, it will look like taking a hammer and running around to find what to build with it.
The ugly truth about social media for bloggers and writers:
- Social media will not grow your fame.
- Far from all followers will become your customers.
- Far from all followers see your social media posts. Speaking about Facebook, for example, it’s only 3-10% from the total number.
- Do you still put your faith in social media strategies that work better than those using by you, but you just don’t know about them yet? What a hope!
Good news concerning social media for bloggers and writers:
- Social media are a great way to build connections.
- When planned and used right, social media are a top tool to make a name and let the world know about your products or services.
Guy Kawasaki would not agree with many experts concerning social media strategy planning:
Well said, but still:
HOW can bloggers and writers succeed with social media marketing campaigns then?
1. Promote Yesterday
What do most green bloggers do? They write content, publish it, and then wait for the audience coming and sharing it. Well, the only audience they might expect in that case is their moms or, if they are lucky enough, 10-20 friends of theirs who know about this content and come to check it out of curiosity.
What do most average bloggers do? They write content, publish it, and then promote it on dozens of platforms. Some use 100+ ways of promotion! Go figure!
What do awesome bloggers do? They promote their content before publishing it.
“Start yesterday.” @GuyKawasaki – Tweet this.
How do they do that?
- They send content teasers to chats and forums of their audience interest.
- They send content previews to communities of their target audience interest.
- They send content to influencers, asking to review it and share with their followers after publishing.
THE STRATEGY: Plan your content promotion in advance. Promote it before publishing where possible. Continue promotion once your writing goes live.
2. Use Writing Tricks
Do you know who is who on social media?
The point is, every social network has its specific audience and mood.
Whether you are a blogger, a marketer interested in more customers, or a fiction writer seeking for social media techniques that would win readers, make sure you speak the same language with social media users.
- Facebook is a family. This network is for relatives, people you knew in college, and friends.
- Twitter is a party. It’s for perceptions and impersonal relations.
- Google+ is a club for like-minded people. This network is for passions you can’t share with your Facebook community, such as photography, for example.
Depending on people who interact at chosen social media, your posts needs writing tricks to hook them.
Your perfect post for Facebook:
- is up to 40 words with questions or clear CTA;
- has an image of at least 400 to 500 pixels wide, a gif, or videos from Vimeo or YouTube;
- has a link;
- is shared with relevant pages and groups.
Your perfect post for Twitter:
- has relevant #hashtags;
- has bright images;
- has verbs of action, questions, or CTA inviting users to click;
- has mentions embracing a wider audience.
Your perfect post for Google+:
- has a title despite its presence in embed links;
- is hashtaged accordingly;
- has visual elements;
- is posted to both your circles and relevant communities.
Need more?
THE STRATEGY: Don’t use all social networks for promotion. You simply don’t need it, and it’s impossible to manage Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr (you name it!) at the same time if you want to do it well.
There are just 24 hours in a day, after all!
Pick one or two social media networks and concentrate on them. Otherwise, you’ll never do well any of them.
3. Blog Less
Some bloggers still believe that the more often they write and publish content, the better.
Readers wait for my writings! Oh, my god, I haven’t been publishing anything for three days already! I should write something right now!
Consequences? Okay, here we go:
- Writer’s burnout.
- Sacrificing quality for quantity.
- Being sick and tired.
Does it sound like bad advice? Well, sorry then but blog less!
What to do?
- Create compelling content.
- Don’t let quantity beat quality.
- Update more, write less. (This checklist from Ana Hoffman can do wonders.)
- Focus on sharing, not selling.
- Steal content Not literally, of course. Learn how.
- A bone-lazy fellow? Outsource your writing task.
THE STRATEGY: Frequent replacing of content destroys your social proof; plus, everyday posting leaves you less time for planning, promoting, and creating assets for your business; the longer your writing stays latest, the more interaction it gets; so, don’t be in a hurry.
Moreover, it takes time – hours, days, or even weeks – to create something worth reading and sharing.
4. Use Tools
It’s challenging to manage social media accounts, especially when they develop all the time, providing marketers with more and more features for promotion.
Not to sink in this deep blue sea of opportunities, determine the particular features you need from each social network for your visibility and promotion, and use tools developed to ease your work with social channels.
Find superb content with Buzzsumo:
This tool will help you determine most shared content across all social networks, find influencers in your niche, share their content to extend your platform, or get some ideas for your future writings.
Save time and schedule posting with Buffer:
This tool will help you create social media content, schedule posting, and access the analytics to measure how your audience responds to the content you publish.
Create images for social media with Canva:
This tool will help you create beautiful images for social media content, cover photos for your profiles, infographics, and other graphics. No pro skills in design needed to use Canva.
Want to know them all? Check 20+ Must-Have Tools For Savvy Social Media Managers In 2016 or 50+ Awesome Tools To Run A Kick-Ass Blog.
5. Don’t Overplay
You are a genius writer if the majority of your clients is your social media followers! The thing is, people do not follow you for the purpose of buying your product, and they will never buy anything if you push them to do that.
What to do?
- Write as if you talk to one person.
- Let them see you are real.
- Hook them.
- Make them believe your service or product is exactly what they were looking.
- Make them want to learn more details.
- Teach them, solve a problem, entertain them.
- Respond accordingly.
THE STRATEGY: Promote your product or service in less than 10% of your social media posts. It’s fine just after launching, but make sure to generate educational and entertaining content after the first four weeks.
Books/blogs and social media are about making a genuine connection. Build relations – and your readers and customers will find you.
Your turn: What is your #1 social media strategy? Do you agree with the ones mentioned in this post? Share your thoughts in comments.