Do you want to grow your blog by expanding your brand into the wild world of social media?
It can be difficult for bloggers to make the transition from text-based content to video-based content, but those who do are much more likely to survive through changes Google makes to its algorithm.
In this post, we share tips on how to build a loyal following on social media as a blogger.
1. Post where your audience is active
If you want your blog audience to follow you on social media, you need to be active on platforms they actually use.
There are a few different ways you can determine which social media platforms your readers use:
- Your web analytics. View your traffic sources to see which platforms you receive referrals from.
- Your mentions. Search for your brand on various platforms to see if your audience has talked about you there.
- Your audience. Poll your audience to see which platforms they use.
- Your niche. Search for topics related to your niche on various platforms. Take note of ones that have a lot of content versus ones that have very little.*
*This one’s a little tricky. Just because a social media platform doesn’t have a lot of content for your niche doesn’t necessarily mean no one on that platform is into it. Pay attention to the number of views, likes and shares this content gets instead. The higher the number of views and engagements content related to your niche gets on a certain platform, the more members of your audience are on that platform.
Use all of the data you collect to determine which social media platforms you should be posting to.
2. Get to know each social media platform
Posting to social media is a lot different from publishing blog posts.
For starters, you’re not in control on social media. Each platform has its own set of written and unwritten rules that determine which content gets traction and which content gets lost in the ether.
You can read a dozen guides on social media marketing, and you should, but the best way to learn about what works on social media is to actually use it.
Take the time to scroll through content, follow other creators, read and leave comments, and share content.
Follow creators you like, especially ones from your niche, and like content you’re interested in.
You’ll start to get to know the ins and outs of each platform over time. This will make it much easier for you to know how to create content for social media.
3. Be authentic on social media
Social media thrives on authenticity. More and more consumers are moving away from following traditional media and celebrities and more toward following influencers whom they determine to be “more real.”
The best piece of advice I can give you is to create social media content as if you were creating it for a friend.
While you should have good camera and audio quality, don’t be too professional in the way you present content.
Talk in a casual tone, share your accomplishments, struggles and mistakes, and above all, be honest with your audience.
Social media audiences want to learn and be entertained. As long as you remember that, you’ll have no problem with creating content.
4. Create original content for social media
A lot of bloggers use social media as a marketing tool for their blogs instead of an expansion to their brand’s entire marketing strategy.
Every post they create promotes a blog post. Even worse, they end each video with a “find out more on our blog” call to action (CTA).
In reality, you should be creating original social media content.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Tutorials and guides created with short-form videos
- Tutorials and guides created with carousel posts
- Reviews and product demonstrations
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Challenges
- Sketches
You can also create long-form videos (over three minutes) on YouTube.
This is something Trey Xavier did with the Gear Gods brand when he was primarily a writer for the website.
Gear Gods is a media website for metal musicians. They post reviews, lessons and other content, namely for electric guitars.
They (or Trey, to be exact) create the same type of content for their YouTube channel but optimize it for video. The channel (renamed to Trey Xavier after he bought the Gear Gods brand) has over 250,000 subscribers.
5. Create complementary content
Some parts of your audience prefer to read. Others need to be spoken to in order to pay attention. Some need visuals in order to completely understand the concepts you’re trying to teach.
This is partially why expanding into social media is worth it. It gives you new ways to engage your audience, especially those who truly want to hear what you have to say but aren’t that interested in reading.
So, find your best-performing blog posts, and figure out ways to turn them into social media content.
You can create long-form and short-form reviews for popular reviews you’ve written, condense a tutorial into a short video or carousel post, turn a list post into a short video, and so on and so forth.
6. Be consistent with your editorial calendar
Consistency is the key to success no matter what type of content you create. Algorithms and your audience both appreciate knowing when your next piece of content will be released.
Social media algorithms especially like when you create the same type of content again and again. That way, the algorithm is able to recommend more of that type of video to your audience when they scroll through their feeds.
When you publish content to a blog and social media, be more meticulous about your editorial calendar.
Decide which days of the week to publish new blog posts on as well as which days you want to post on social media.
Use a social media scheduling tool to manage your editorial calendar more efficiently. We prefer SocialBee here at Blogging Wizard.
When you choose a schedule, stick to it.
7. Display social media buttons on your website
Okay, now you know where to post social media content as well as what type of content to create for social media.
Now, let’s talk about how to get your blog audience to follow you on social media.
A simple way to do this is by subtly promoting your social media accounts on your website by featuring a small menu of social media buttons somewhere.
Gear Gods does this in the header of their website, but you can add yours to your sidebar or footer instead.
Basically, it should be a mini menu that features a clickable icon for every social media platform you publish to.
If you use WordPress, your theme likely came with this functionality built in. All you need to do is add it to a widget area, then add URLs to your social media profiles.
8. Create a link-in-bio page
This won’t necessarily get your blog audience to follow you on social media, but it can help you create synergy between your blog, social media accounts and any other segment of your brand, such as an online store.
A link-in-bio page is a simple web page that features nothing but button-based links as well as links to your social media profiles.
We usually recommend Shor for creators who are interested in creating link-in-bio pages as quickly as possible.
It will allow you to create a hub for your latest blog post links, social media posts and products.
This way, your blog audience can find your latest social media posts while your social media audience can find your latest blog content.
Note: Some all-in-one social media tools like Pallyy include this feature. Try it for free.
9. Embed your videos on web pages
This is one of the most effective ways to encourage your blog audience to consume your social media content.
If you create complementary content on social media for blog posts you’ve written, embed your videos on blog post pages that relate them.
That way, followers who prefer video content over text can access it quite easily.
Your readers can even click through to the platform it’s uploaded on and follow you.
10. Publish a regular newsletter
Email marketing is still a fantastic way to stay in touch with your blog audience.
Many blogs publish a newsletter on a regular basis, usually on a set schedule, such as once a week, every two weeks or once a month.
This newsletter typically contains a roundup of content the blog published since the last newsletter was sent. It may even include brand updates readers won’t find in blog posts.
If you publish a newsletter like this for your blog, consider sharing your social media content to it as well.
Not only does this let your readers know about useful content you’ve published recently, it lets them know that you’re also active on their favorite platforms.
Be sure to check out MailerLite if you’re in need of an email marketing service. They have one of the most feature-packed free plans that we’ve seen.
11. Host social media giveaways on your website
This is a popular growth technique marketers of all sizes use, and it’s pretty simple: you host a giveaway of a product, experience or event on your website and use social media-based engagements as entry requirements.
For instance, you can require participants to like a particular video on Instagram and follow you on the platform.
Use a tool like SweepWidget to host giveaways on your website.
It comes with its own giveaway box you can embed on any web page. All you need to do is configure the tool’s settings to suit the type of giveaway you’re operating and the entry requirements you want to implement.
It’s the entry requirements of giveaway apps like this that will help you grow your audience. You can use it to drive traffic and shares for all sorts of platforms. From the likes of TikTok and YouTube to Twitch and SoundCloud.
Try reaching out to brands for this campaign. They may be willing to collaborate with you by offering to provide the product you want to give away.
12. Engage with your audience
Hopefully, your blog comments are enabled and you have an easy way for readers to get in touch with you privately.
After all, if you don’t have an active, loyal following on your blog, you’re going to find it tougher to build a loyal following on social media.
Engage with your audience on and off social media.
Respond to their comments, and follow other creators in your niche. Like, share and comment on their content as well.
You can use tools like Instagram’s poll and question stickers for stories to get creative with how you increase the number of engagements you receive.
13. Share user-generated content
Whether you have a product people want to use, a technique people want to copy or have created a social media trend, you’re going to receive the odd video of your viewer participating as well.
This is called user-generated content (UGC).
If you share yourself reacting to the video with a duet or stitch on TikTok, you might inspire social media users to do the same.
This is better than simply reposting the content to your social media accounts.
14. Collaborate with social media influencers
Even if you have a decent following on your blog, you might not be able to transfer that following over to your social media accounts no matter what.
This is why you should always utilize another popular technique for social media marketing: collaborations.
It’s best to choose collaborators who are in your niche. That way, you can share each other’s audiences.
Review yours and your collaborator’s content to see what type of ideas would work if the two of you blended your content. Don’t be afraid to reach out to creators in adjacent niches if you want to collaborate by creating complementary content for each other’s respective niches.
When you collaborate with a creator, keep in touch with them so you can collaborate with one another on a regular basis.
15. Utilize social listening
Social listening allows you to monitor brand mentions you receive across various platforms.
Not only does this make it easy for you to engage with your followers, it also gives you quick access to negative comments made about your brand.
These comments are opportunities to market yourself by confronting bad press with good press.
These types of campaigns may get you noticed by your blog readers on social media.
Note: This isn’t a common feature that you’ll find in social media management software unfortunately. You’d typically need a more specialized tool such as Brand24. These tools are resource intensive so they’re not cheap. This is why we’d only recommend this for brands or content creators with a large audience.
Final thoughts
Building a loyal social media community around your blog isn’t easy and it won’t happen overnight.
But it’s worth the time and effort.
The most important thing is that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Don’t rely on a single social media platform. And don’t rely on social media in general.
The smart play is to funnel traffic into your email newsletter.
So, start a newsletter with MailerLite (it’s free to get started) and get as many of your followers signed up as possible.
This will make your brand more resilient to any future algorithm changes. Whether they’re changes to social media platforms or search engines.
Related reading:
- How To Monetize Your Social Media Presence
- How To Find Brand Collaborations: The Content Creator’s Guide
- Types Of Influencers You Need To Know (With Examples)
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