Are you active on social media? Most bloggers focus heavily on social media as part of their success template.
As you are likely aware, the big social networks right now are Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and Pinterest (although Pinterest is more like a search engine, but I digress).
Why Focus on Social Media
By building a strong social media following you can:
- Drive readers from social networks to your blog
- Leverage social media as its own income source
It’s important to remember that you are starting a business here. Yes, you want to get traffic to your blog, but it all ties in together.
Your ultimate goal is likely to:
-Make Money
-Help People
Your blog is just one catalyst for that. Social media can be another.
I like to think of social media as a way of building a community of loyal fans that love what you say and purchase all the great products you suggest.
The Best Social Networks for Traffic
Now, as I have mentioned before, the places where I can grab the best traffic for my blog are going to be different than the places where you can grab the best traffic.
It is really a niche and personality dependent thing.
For example, I work with a home decor blogger who does really well with getting traffic from Pinterest and Instagram.
Why?
Well, because people use these two social media platforms frequently for home decor inspiration.
I know a well known parenting blogger who does very well with getting traffic from Instagram and Facebook.
Why?
Because other moms (and maybe dads too) like to follow along with their family on Instagram. She started a mom Facebook group which is super active with tons of moms sharing their parenting questions, wins, fails etc.
One thing to remember, as always, you can’t do it all and you shouldn’t do it all. Please, don’t try to be super active on every social media network. It will overwhelm you.
Pick what works best for you and focus deeply on it.
That being said, let’s dive a little deeper into each network so you can get a better feel for what might be best for you and your blog niche.
I am only going to talk about Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Why?
Well, because I feel like Twitter is kind of dead as far as driving traffic for bloggers. I mean, maybe you’ll garner a following at Chrissy Teigen levels, but for most of us, Twitter isn’t worth the effort.
And I’m not discussing Tik Tok because I’m not Gen Z enough to be down on how to make a name for yourself on Tik Tok.
Facebook for Bloggers
With Facebook, you can create a page for your business and use this page to post updates on things going on in your niche. You are also able to share live videos with your page followers, which is a great tool for free mini webinars.
Another way bloggers use Facebook is by creating a group. This is a great way to build a community of your readers so they can share ideas with each other and easily get feedback from you.
One last way that you can use Facebook to grow your business is by joining relevant group boards and promoting yourself within them.
For example, I am a member of several travel group boards on Facebook. I check these on a regular basis and search for the term “Costa Rica.” I then try to respond to every question anyone posts in these groups pertaining to Costa Rica travel. It’s a great way to promote your content and people are thankful for an answer to their question/ comment.
Pros: One of the nice things with Facebook is that you can schedule all your Facebook posts ahead of time for free within Facebook’s own scheduling tool.
Cons: It can be a lot to keep up with Facebook posting, answering comments etc.
My Opinion: I suggest Facebook for blog topics that involve community. For example, if you write about weight loss, Facebook can be a great place to share tips and progress pictures. You could also create a group so people can share their questions, recipe ideas, progress pics, etc.
Instagram for Bloggers
On Instagram, you can post images on your wall or create Instagram stories which are little snapshots that your followers can view for only 24 hours (unless you save them in your highlights).
Pros: Instagram is great if you are frequently sharing things in a visual form. For example, lifestyle bloggers, fashion bloggers, travel bloggers, etc. do really well on Instagram.
Cons: It can take a lot of work to frequently post Instagram stories and create visually appealing images. Plus, if you want to play the whole follow/ unfollow game to increase your following, it becomes very time-consuming.
Also, a lot of Instagram followers might not necessarily also read your blog. This is fine if you then use your Instagram to directly sell products or get paid sponsorship opportunities.
My Opinion: At this time, I think everybody should have an Instagram for their blog. You don’t need to post on it every day, but having some Instagram presence indicates to your readers and companies that you may potentially want to work with that you are legit.
Pinterest for Bloggers
Pinterest is considered a social media network, but it really more like a search engine.
If you are new to Pinterest, it works by you creating visually appealing graphics that link back to a particular post or page on your blog. You then need to enter a title, a converting description, and share it with the Pinterest world.
Pros: It can potentially greatly increase your blog traffic without much work from you.
Cons: Pinterest traffic is not always the highest converting traffic. What I mean is, it may drive tons of traffic to your site but this is not always the audience that will buy something from you. However, if you make money from ad traffic and care about increasing your blog views overall, it really doesn’t matter.
You will need to learn how to create basic engaging graphics. However, this can easily be done on Canva. They even have ready-made layouts.
My Opinion: Personally, Pinterest drives about 60% of my blog traffic. I like it because it does involve work, but you don’t need to be concerned about always creating engaging content for your readers. Your blog posts are your engaging content on Pinterest.
Pro Tip: When you are ready to scale your blog, hiring someone to take care of your social media posts for you is one of the best ways to free up your time to take on more pressing business matters. There are tons of virtual assistants out there who can handle all your social media needs for fair rates.
Ads
You know when you scroll through your Insta or Facebook and you see ads for great products and services which relate to posts you tend to look at?
This type of ad is an awesome way to get your blog content seen by the right people.
However, I suggest putting off the whole ad thing until you feel a bit more comfortable with your blogging based business.
See, these ads are great if you have a specific product to sell. For example, I use Instagram and Facebook ads to promote my Spruced Up Blog layouts.
You can also use ads to upsell a product or service. For example, I’ve used Instagram ads to get people to sign up for my free email course. This course provides so much value to my readers but it also allows me to upsell some of my more high ticket products, services, and courses.
However:
- These ads are expensive
- They work best when you have a specific product or service to sell
- Having an already established social media presence helps a lot
- I suggest learning more about creating ads before you dive in. There are specific ways of wording things and targeting audiences that matters a lot in possible success.
So, which social media networks do you think will be best for you and our audience? Don’t stress too much about it. You will find your way and evolve with your social media strategy as your business evolves.
Tip: There is a nice printable social media calendar in my Success Library. Gain access by signing up below.
Summary:
- Every blogger should be active on social media, but every blogger will have a different success plan
- You can’t be crazy active on every social network. Don’t try to. You’ll become overwhelmed.
- The three networks I suggest looking into are Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest
- When you are ready to scale your blog, hiring a virtual assistant to handle social media for you is a great idea
- Social media ads are great for bloggers who are selling a product, but I suggest waiting until you establish yourself a bit.
