{"id":1057922,"date":"2021-08-12T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/?p=1057922"},"modified":"2021-08-12T22:08:41","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T12:08:41","slug":"optimize-your-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/problogger.com\/optimize-your-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimize Your Social Media For More Traffic and Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Optimize<\/span><\/p>\n

This post is based on episode 73<\/a> of the ProBlogger podcast.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For the past month or so I\u2019ve been talking a lot about email lists \u2013 how to grow them<\/a><\/span>, incentives you can use to grow them<\/a><\/span>, and even how to take advantage of them through autoresponders<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

But this week I want to talk about social media, and how you can use it to get even more traffic and engagement on your blog.<\/p>\n

The power of social media<\/span><\/h2>\n

As I keep saying, email is still the best way to connect with your readers. But if you\u2019ve set up your email list<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and are sending out newsletters regularly, it\u2019s worth turning your attention to social media. It\u2019s a great secondary point of connection, and can help you drive traffic to your blog and connect with your readers even more. (It also helps you connect with those readers who aren\u2019t interested in email.)<\/p>\n

But the social media space is constantly changing \u2013 not just in the platforms available but also in the way they work. I\u2019m sure Facebook changes its algorithms whenever the wind changes direction. And unless you\u2019re getting results, taking the time to create and publish social media can feel like a complete waste of time.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s worth taking a look at how you\u2019re using social and what you might need to change. Even if your results don\u2019t change, you might find a way to create and publish your posts more quickly. And as we all know, time is one of most precious resources.<\/p>\n

A change in direction<\/span><\/h2>\n

Back in 2014 I looked at how I was using social media and realized I needed to make some changes, particularly with my ProBlogger accounts.<\/p>\n

For a start, they were quite boring to look at. Back then the bulk of my tweets were about new jobs on our job board<\/a><\/span>\u00a0and the latest posts on the site. And I didn\u2019t include visuals with any of them.<\/p>\n

Another other problem was that I really wasn\u2019t offering much to my followers. Most of my posts were focused on selling. There were no links to evergreen content. I wasn\u2019t promoting my new content very well either, and I was posting quite sporadically.<\/p>\n

A big reason for all of this is that I was spending a lot of time managing the social media accounts for Digital Photography School (my main blog). I didn\u2019t have any systems or routines in place to feed any of my accounts, and so it came down to how much time I had and where I spent it.<\/p>\n

And even if I could <\/span>spend 10 or 15 minutes creating a visual to go with my post, it seemed like a waste of time. In a matter of minutes my post would disappear, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n

But by the following year I\u2019d completely changed my approach to social media. And based on the feedback I started getting from my readers and followers, I was getting the results I was hoping for. People would come up to me at conferences and say, \u201cHey, I\u2019ve noticed something\u2019s different about ProBlogger. It seems more professional. It seems like you\u2019re doing more stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what changed? Well, a lot. But rather than list everything I did in that 12 months, I\u2019m going to give you four questions that I want you answer.<\/p>\n

Why? Because answering these questions will give you a framework for auditing your social media \u2013 no matter what platform you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n

1. Where are my readers?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Do any of your readers hang out on social media? If so, where do they hang out?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no point in hanging out on Twitter if all your readers prefer using Facebook. Yes, you might be able to attract new readers there. But you won\u2019t be able to provide your current readers with any real value, because none of them will see your posts.<\/p>\n

So find out what social media platforms they use, and whether they prefer one over the others.<\/p>\n

How? By asking.<\/p>\n

Whenever you chat with a reader, ask what social media platforms they use. Add the question to your newsletter. Include a question like \u201cWhat social networks are you using?\u201d in your next survey. You could even ask other bloggers in your niche what social media platforms they tend to focus on.<\/p>\n

For platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, you might want to go a little deeper. Are there any particular groups they like hanging out in? And how do they feel about live streaming? Some of your readers might prefer to sit back and listen rather than having to read.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to my next question\u2026<\/p>\n

2. What type of content do my readers respond to?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Take a look at the posts that got lots or shares, retweets, comments, etc. Do they have anything in common \u2013 images, video, quotes, links \u2013 that your readers seem to prefer?<\/p>\n

When I analyzed my ProBlogger, I found my readers responded very positively to visual content. On our Twitter account, any tweet with a nice graphic or image got retweeted and shared five times as much as text-only content. And it was the same on our Facebook page.<\/p>\n

Live content also seemed to have a big impact on our readers. While those Twitter chats, Facebook Lives and webinars weren\u2019t shared a lot, the readers who joined me in those interactions became incredibly engaged. So much so that they became advocates for the blog.<\/p>\n

On Twitter, I found that any posts where I shared the slides from a talk I was giving did really well. These scored on two fronts \u2013 they were visual, and included good information.<\/p>\n

So take a look at the kind of content you (and others in your niche) get good responses from, and use it to help you decide what to post in future.<\/p>\n

3. How often (and at what times) do I want to post?<\/span><\/h3>\n

To answer this question you\u2019ll need to take a few things into account:<\/p>\n