Social media presents incredible opportunities for blogs to expand their audiences and drive website traffic. But simply having accounts isn’t enough.
You need smart strategies and proven tactics that cut through the noise. In this comprehensive 2000 word guide, we’ll cover 23 highly effective tips and tricks for getting real results from your social media marketing. Let’s dive in!
Conduct Competitor Research
Examine what social strategies your competitors are using successfully. Look for gaps and untapped opportunities.
See what platforms direct competitors are active on. Analyze the types of content and engagement tactics they post.
Make note of which bloggers and influencers they collaborate and co-promote content with.
Use tools like BuzzSumo to discover their most shared and engaging social content. Determine any good ideas you can model while also differentiating.
Doing competitor research gives you insights for social media success in your space and helps you deliver unique value.
Establish Your Biggest Goals
Have clearly defined goals to guide your social strategies and benchmark success.
Big picture goals could include:
– Grow social followers by __% in 6 months
– Achieve ___% monthly increase in website referral traffic
– Gain __ new email subscribers per month from social efforts
– Receive __ comments per blog content post within 1 week of publishing
Quantifying goals makes it easier to tactical plan social initiatives and track performance against targets.
Audit Your Social Media Profiles
A social media audit helps identify profile improvements to build credibility.
Here’s how to audit your own profiles:
– Review profile photos/avatars – do they look professional? Is branding consistent?
– Analyze profile bios and descriptions – are they fully optimized with keywords?
– Test profile links – do they work and link to important pages like your blog content categories?
– Assess profile aesthetics – is the design appealing and on-brand?
– Check follower counts – are you seeing steady growth? How do they compare to competitors?
Refreshing your profiles boosts perceived authority and generates more engagement.
Determine Peak Engagement Times
Posting when your audience is most active online increases visibility.
Tools like Sprout Social make it easy to identify when your followers are online:
– Analyze historical posts to see when you receive the most likes, clicks, comments.
– Pay attention to higher response rates on comments and messages by time of day.
– If necessary, directly ask your audience when they are most likely to engage.
– Test posting at different times and days to determine what resonates best.
Aligning your posting schedule around peak times leads to better response.
Get Crystal Clear on Your Buyer Personas
Tailoring social content to your ideal reader demographics earns higher engagement.
Build out detailed buyer personas so you know exactly who you are creating content for.
Assess reader personas across metrics like:
– Location
– Gender
– Age range
– Occupations/industries
– Income levels
– Education levels
– Interests/hobbies
– Values
– Preferred content types
– Goals and challenges
Delivering social content that directly appeals to your core personas will continually attract and resonate with those high-potential individuals.
Implement a Social Media Content Calendar
A calendar keeps your social pipelines full and publishing consistent.
Plot out your content calendar in advance:
– Audit website content and surface evergreen posts for promotion
– Develop new social-first content like Q&As and listicles
– Schedule upcoming blog posts and lead magnets for promotion
– Identify key events, awareness days, and holidays to tie content themes to
– Prepare posts and visuals in templates for easy scheduling
Staying organized with a calendar results in sustained social visibility.
Give Followers a Behind-the-Scenes Look
Exclusive peeks at your brand build followership and loyalty.
Pull back the curtain by:
– Introducing team members by name and sharing what they do
– Posting videos showing how you brainstorm content ideas, ideate and outline blog posts
– Sharing in-progress graphics, images, and videos before they are completely finalized
– Polling followers for input on topics, guest contributors, and content initiatives
– Featuring reviews of products/tools your team uses and Q&As on their process
These “insider access” style posts make readers feel invested in your brand as they watch it unfold.
Go Live on Social Media
Live broadcasts boost engagement and are easy to distribute across platforms.
Host live Q&As, individual or co-hosted seminars, behind the scenes tours, rapid-fire tip sessions and more.
Promote your live streams in advance to drive viewership.
Keep replays available for those who missed it. Segment and repurpose snippets as new social content.
The real-time interaction of social live streaming fosters community and gives a raw connection that curated content alone can lack.
Spotlight Your Superfans
Showcasing highly engaged followers makes them feel special while encouraging others to interact more.
Tactics for the spotlight effect:
– Share user-generated content like reader photos featuring your products.
– Repost happy testimonials or reviews from buyers.
– Highlight followers who engage consistently by sharing their pictures or content.
– Feature social media fans in a blog series like “Follower of the Week”, interviewing their unique stories.
Recognizing top fans for their advocacy makes all followers aspire for their share of the limelight.
Partner with Microinfluencers
Microinfluencers have intensely engaged small followings that amplify your reach.
Work with microinfluencers by:
– Creating co-hosted contests and giveaways
– Having them guest author relevant blog posts
– Featuring their expert insights in your content
– Suggesting your content to promote to their followers when it offers unique value
– Collaborating on free instructional guides, templates, live workshops or webinars
– Promoting their lead magnets and offerings to your own audience in return
Affordable microinfluencer collaborations generate new audiences.
Refresh Evergreen Content
Reviving your evergreen content keeps it timely and circulating.
Techniques for refreshing content include:
– Adding new sections with updated information, stats, tips etc.
– Creating a new introduction tying the content to current events/trends
– Repackaging into a new blog post that incorporates the content as a section
– Turning it into an infographic, slideshow, or video if it was originally text
– Promoting it again as a “Throwback Read” or “Flashback Post”
– Redistributing it to email subscribers who may have missed it
Giving stale content new life drives re-shares and re-promotion.
Host Social Contests and Giveaways
Contests boost awareness, follows, shares, links, and overall reach.
Maximize contests by:
– Choosing desirable prizes like your products, gift cards, or high-value offline experiences
– Asking users to tag friends, share posts, subscribe, or visit your site to enter
– Using contest apps to collect and organize entries
– Promoting for 1-2 weeks before the entry deadline for maximum Entries
– Announcing winners publicly and featuring them on your pages
Well-run contests spur viral attention and subscriber growth.
Use Hashtags Strategically
Hashtags expand the visibility of your posts but be selective.
Follow these hashtag tips:
– Research relevant niche hashtags and join in conversations, don’t just promote yourself
– Create branded hashtags centered on your blog/business name readers can rally behind
– Monitor trending news hashtags and look for opportunities to provide your expertise
– Use no more than 2-3 hashtags per post to avoid looking spammy
– Assess hashtag performance and double down on those driving higher engagement
Strategic hashtags lead to discovery beyond just your existing followers.
Make Content Easy to Share
Removing friction from sharing increases propagation.
Simplify sharing by:
– Using sharing plugins so reposting content takes one click
– Shortening links with Bitly which looks cleaner in posts
– Pre-scheduling social content using tools like Hootsuite that include share buttons
– Adding large, simple share icons above/below blog posts and lead magnets
– Auto-populating email sharing body copy so recipients can forward seamlessly
When resharing is effortless, the visibility of your content grows exponentially.
Leverage User-Generated Content
User photos and videos feel authentic and relatable to viewers.
Source user content by:
– Featuring customers using your products in real life
– Sharing followers replicating recipes, crafts, DIY projects etc. from your content
– Reposting customers showcasing purchases, unboxing items, leaving reviews
– Embedding smiling testimonial videos from satisfied clients
– Showing readers submitting photos of themselves engaging with your brand
User-generated content outperforms brand created content for driving engagement.
Make Content Highly Visual
Harness the power of striking imagery.
Optimize visual social content by:
– Using large, bold graphics that stand out in feeds and draw eyes
– Incorporating explanatory text as overlays on informational graphics
– Splurging on professional photographs to give content a premium look
– Spending time editing visuals using design tools like Canva for maximum polish
– Posting natively as images versus links when permissible to avoid the “see link” preview
Feed-stopping visuals result in more engagement and clicks.
Run Retargeting Ads
Retargeting targets visitors after they’ve left your site to bring them back.
Effective retargeting tactics include:
– Serving ads on Facebook and Instagram to visitors who read a blog post but didn’t convert
– Offering pop-up or banner ads reminding exiters about items left in their cart
– Sharing a coupon code or exclusive deal for return visitors
– Advertising newly published content to recent site visitors
– Limiting retargeting ad frequency to avoid oversaturation
Strategic retargeting helps recapture audiences that have shown interest but didn’t fully engage.
Ask Questions to Spark Discussion
Pose questions to ignite commentary and conversation.
Smart ways to stimulate responses include:
– “Have you tried this before? How did it go?”
– “What’s your favorite platform for ____?”
– “Any questions for me about ______?”
– “Where are you tuning in from today?”
– “What topic should I cover next?”
– “What are your top tips for ______?”
Questions give followers an easy means to speak up and feel heard.
Run Social Only Giveaways
Giveaways exclusively for social audiences make them feel special.
Tactics to delight social fans:
– Free merchandise just for retweeting a post or posting a photo
– First 100 followers who react to a post score a gift card
– Comment for the chance to win a vacation or high-value prize
– Limited VIP discounts and coupons for loyal followers
Social-exclusive perks reward your community for their fandom.
Share Bloopers and Funny Moments
Humor and outtakes endear your brand to audiences.
Ways to show your funny side:
– Post behind the scenes photos catching team members in silly situations
– Narrate video outtakes reel of practice product demos gone wrong
– Open up about your biggest content or business flops
– Feature comical reviews from skeptics or playfully disagree with haters
Lighthearted social content makes you more relatable.
Apply This Social Media Marketing Knowledge
With these 23 tips for driving real social media marketing results, you have the blueprint to grow your brand’s reach and blog traffic dramatically.
Now the key is staying consistent, continually testing new tactics, responding rapidly to feedback and issues, and tracking your performance to double down on what works.
Social media moves fast, but you now have an expanded toolkit of proven strategies for cutting through the noise and connecting authentically.
