Smart Ways to Boost Your Social Media Efforts
Social media is fun but can be very time-consuming. Learning ways to maximize each of your social media efforts will make everything you do more successful. Keep in mind that everyone should create their own special social media cocktail that will help them meet their goals, reach their audience and have more fun!
Social media is not rocket science, however, there are a few tricks and tips that can make things really start to hum for you.
1. Livefyre blog commenting, “powering the world's conversations”
Share your comment via tweet or Facebook post with LiveFyre. This lets your followers and friends know that you just commented on something. People are curious and they might be interested too! This leads to more engagement.
My friend Rachel got a lot of social media bang for her buck here. She responded to a blog comment, shared it on Facebook and another follower liked the comment. Brilliant. Tweet them at @Livefyre.
2. Post on Facebook and include a call to action
Posting something fantastic with a call to action will encourage engagement and you will get positive results. Jodi recreated the ideal Facebook post here. Great content, added a photo, nice text, tagged two people and included a call to action.
3. ManageFilter
Great third-party app to manage and clean up your Twitter followers. Easy to use and practical.
4. Do Share
The the only way that I have found to schedule content for Google+. This Chrome extension has a wonderful interface with the ability to load a photo and if you have questions, just mention +TzafiarRehan on your Google+ post and he will respond.
5. Buffer App
Buffer says, “Buffer makes your life easier with a smarter way to schedule the great content you find. Fill up your Buffer at one time in the day and Buffer automagically posts them for you through the day. Simply keep that Buffer topped up to have a consistent social media presence all day round, all week long.”
I absolutely love Buffer and they also have a great blog with social media tips. Apps, extensions and extras: iPhone app, Buffer for Chrome extension, Twylah interface, Twitter and the list goes on.
The easiest way to use Buffer is to load the Chrome app and then each time you find great content, Buffer it. This will spread our all your content to the schedule that you choose.
6. Triberr
Triberr is a blogger's dream. You write amazing content, it's sent magically to Triberr from your blog to a network of tribe mates waiting to share your content. This is a community of experienced bloggers that you can bond with, learn from and enjoy.
Also, you get the benefit of having a huge variety of content delivered to you from your network. You manually approve each post that you feel like you want to share.
7. Scheduling via HootSuite or TweetDeck
Only have a little window of time on social media? Don't bombard your stream with comments and posts. Use the scheduling features to space out the thanks, comments and RT's. That's much friendlier and keeps your social media rocking.
8. Ditch it
If you are doing something that is getting zero RT's, comments, likes or +1’s, ditch it and do something else. You know that old saying, ‘the definition of crazy is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?’ Be smart.
9. Variety is the spice of life
Keep your social media fresh, interesting and engaging. This will keep you interested as well. And let's face it, if you aren’t interested in what you are sharing, no one else will be either.
10. Good old social skills
Don't forget the basics! Say hello, thank you and nice to meet you. Everyone appreciates good manners and this leads to further engagement.
11. Guest post
Writing guest posts helps you find a whole new audience for your message and gives you great content to repurpose on your own blog later. Double whammy of goodness!
12. Maximize your profile data
Help more awesome people find you. I see many people without complete bios and no links to their social media presence. You need to help people find you and make it easy for them to follow you.
Republished courtesy of 12 Most. Featured image courtesy of Thomas Hawk via Creative Commons.
Thanks a lot Peg for including me in your 12 smart ways to boost your social media efforts! Very much appreciated! ~ Juan
@JuanFlx You are a fantastic example of great social media! I was happy to include you.
@JuanFlx Me too! 🙂 (and hello, kind sir!)
@PaulBiedermann hello Paul! Feels good to be in such great company 🙂
Such an add number on this list, Peg? Wherever did that come from?
Good tips. Triberr has been terrific for me but I feel it slowing down as people seem to lazy/busy to tweet each other’s posts much of the time.
As for Livefyre, I love it and Disqus but the KEY is for YOU to comment! Often and regularly!
@BruceSallan I agree with Triberr slowing down. I have noticed a lot of the same as I go in everyday to approve posts although I typically only post once a week, sometimes twice. I think it may be time to do some tribe clean up as there are some who are posting and not sharing which is not cool.
And, of course, yes! Commenting and engagement are key. Finding time for all the platforms, writing, commenting, etc are always tough to balance. Thanks for your thoughts.
Great list. I’ve used all the tips except Triberr. That’s something that I want to use soon because it has been praised by many bloggers. Tips #9 and #10 are definitely the best – tools and platforms come and go, but nothing can replace being social, fun, and engaging!
@pavelnovel You should definitely give Triberr a shot!
Thanks for sharing, these are all good points. Buffer’s one of the best social media tools out there, I use it all the time! Also, I think that including a call to action in Facebook posts is one of the most underutilized techniques out there.
@PointComDotCom What are you using Facebook for now? Personal and corporate? What seems to be working for you to gain the most traction?
Thank YOU for reading and commenting.
@dbvickery Congrats on the upcoming guest blog, I hope that it does well.
Community engagement and involvement as great. Busiess2Community has been wonderful for me as well, they are getting amazing traffic these days!
So far, this is my post of the week! Confirming, informative, and downright useful!!! Thanks….claaaaassic Peg….
@Mick Haensler What a nice comment, thanks so much!
I really do need to check out ManageFilter and clean up my twitter followers. Triberr is a great thing for bloggers. Oh, and speaking of guest posts…I do need to work on a few more of those.
@reneedobbs You are a fantastic guest poster! The post published on my blog did very well. You should try ManageFlitter, it’s easy and works well.
Hello @PegFitzpatrick ,
A great post, thank you!
@cendrinemedia Thanks! So happy you liked it.
Is there any advantage of Livefyre as compared to Disqus?I usean love disqus, whay switch to Livefyre?
@priteshdesai I have used Discus as well and liked it. I use Livefyre because I like the option to post the comment to Twitter or Facebook. I also like the way that the tweet is structured when it is sent and I think that people are interested in posts that receive comments so they go check it out or retweet them. Discus tweets the comment and I think as a tweet they don’t always make sense out of context.
It also includes comments made via Twitter (if you choose to include them) which is showing a bigger picture of the conversation surrounding the post.
I hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions. 😀
LOVE HootSuite – what an INVENTION!! 😀
@CouponDivaOne I know, right? I am a big TweetDeck fan myself but HootSuite has very nice calendar features for scheduling,
@PegFitzpatrick i love it – HootSuite’s easy for me to work…. 😀
@CouponDivaOne And that is a good thing! Working with something that you love makes it so much more fun. I love the mascot for HootSuite too.
@PegFitzpatrick me too…. 😀
Another interesting piece of information which is useful. I like the points made about being featured in multiple locations, therefore having more of a web presence.