Social media has been a veritable powerhouse for content creators and businesses alike, with more than 5 billion people on at least one social platform, its effectiveness in engaging people.
Social media is a veritable Swiss Army Knife of possibilities. You can use it to promote, connect, and engage with people and other bloggers. We've got you covered if you want to grow your network and harness quality leads!
Here, we discuss why you should join the social media bandwagon to maximize your outreach.
Email marketing or outreach has existed since the first days of the Internet. It is one of the most common ways to cold-connect with people and establish a communication platform.
However, as time has passed, the number of spam emails has increased dramatically, causing people to become jaded about email outreach.
However, opting for social media outreach has changed the way companies approach messaging. Social outreach makes communication much more personal and dynamic. The follow-up process is also much more relaxed and, in some cases, quicker!
Most communication methods, such as email and phone, struggle to overcome their image as old-school platforms. The average modern blogger prefers alternative methods, which have been used for many years. Social media brings a much more modern outlook on messaging people.
The best part is that you don't need to message them directly to start a conversation.
Engaging with their blog post or contributing to their comment section can get the ball rolling. Subscribing to their social media channels or groups is another way to understand their concerns.
With the many popular social media platforms today, if you plan to reach out to bloggers, some research helps! Understand where they post and when they're active.
A good rule of thumb is that creators with a more visual style tend to be available on Instagram or Facebook.
For influencers who are more tech-savvy, X is the place where you want to be. LinkedIn is one of the most popular platforms for business bloggers and professionals. So, pick the one that most suits your brand (and blogger!) before you expand to other platforms.
Hashtags started on Twitter, now known as X, before becoming popular across social media platforms. Hashtags are a great way to mark and categorize your posts.
You should research which hashtags perform best for your niche or topic. Trending hashtags can help you get more out of your social media.
Including these trending hashtags on your profile can help you piggyback on their success, attracting new leads and attracting the attention of other bloggers. If you create content for companies, remember to include branded hashtags when sharing it on your feed.
One of the best ways for a blogger to supercharge their reach and following is to contact an influencer.
What are influencers? To loosely define them, influencers are people with many followers in a specific niche. They are categorized according to their number of followers.
So, bigger influencers are better, right?
The answer is - yes and no.
While bigger influencers can generate much buzz around your brand, their followers are not as 'focused.' Smaller influencers have a much more targeted audience and lower demands when you want to network with them.
One area that has seen significant development today is search tools. These tools are mostly incorporated into social media platforms, making it easy for first-timers to gain more insights.
When discussing the power of modern search tools, Instagram's Explore page and X's Advanced Search come to mind.
Standalone paid tools are also available for the more advanced user to deliver comprehensive results across several social media platforms.
Hootsuite and Sprout Social are good examples of social listening tools that can provide information on various aspects of social media. These tools have given people powerful insights into their brands.
While everyone talks about getting on social media, very few people mention that you need to optimize your profile. With billions of people vying for attention, social media is not a place for the faint-hearted!
First impressions are pivotal; your profile is the first thing anyone on social media sees.
Don't make the mistake of cramming huge amounts of information and links into your social media bio. This can be a huge turnoff, and people generally tend to click away from social handles that do this. Have a couple of links and include a clear bio that highlights what you do and your goals.
As a blogger, your content NEEDS to be top-notch. By this, we mean every post you make on your social feed should be well thought-out, researched, and relevant.
The biggest mistake you can make on social media is posting just for the sake of posting. This can become a death spiral for your brand, leading to dwindling engagement and followers.
While it might be tempting to create long posts, don't forget that crisp and concise content wins the day on social media. We are not asking you to completely do away with longer posts, but use them sparingly.
The world needs more events hosted or organized. Virtual webinars or live sessions can significantly attract more people to your writing.
Interactive Q&A sessions on important topics can be reshared on platforms like YouTube. These videos continue to attract viewers even after the session is over.
Organizing events can also allow you to collaborate with other bloggers in your niche. This can help create a bond between the parties and share members from both communities.
Once your virtual meetings are successful, you could go one step ahead and organize in-person networking events.
A popular adage in business is, 'It's easier to open a door than to keep it open.' This means that while it is easy to connect and establish rapport, it is tough to maintain it. Even as a blogger, you should be thinking like a business. Focus on creating solid long-term relationships rather than extravagant one-time shindigs. Many people make the mistake of reducing a partnership to monetary recompense. This couldn't be further from the truth. Your value should be more than money; consider it in terms of exposure and your time. Understand that you've done the hard work of getting a contract and must maintain it.
When creating your blogging network, there is no time for modesty! Trust is vital in a high-competition environment, and positive testimonials are worth their weight in gold.
Highlight positive feedback from people you've worked with. Putting it within one scroll of your website does wonders for your credibility.
Never force a client or fellow blogger to send you a testimonial—that will not end well. The best type of testimonial would be a video. Yes, this would take a bit more effort from both your and their sides, but it pays dividends!
Making it big in the blogosphere is like doing it in real life. To get ahead, you need to work with other people to make it happen!
Meaningfully engage with other bloggers on their content through likes or even comments. Sharing their posts also helps a great deal to encourage a positive bond.
Starting a friendly discussion in their comments or through a tagged post is a step forward to encourage interaction.
Before you start a collaborative post, be sure to let them know what you'll do and what your goals are for the post. This will avoid misunderstandings and mishaps.
Rather than using emails or phones, the best way to reach other bloggers is through their direct social media messages. But, and this is crucial, you need to respect their boundaries.
Don't walk into their DMs and start selling blog pitches right away. Your ideas will be turned down, and you might be blocked depending on your mood.
The first message should always be earnest and present a desire to connect. It also helps to reference their recent piece or work so they know you've been following them. Finally, being conversational with them helps rather than a formal tone.
One of the most important things a blogger can do is stay current with industry trends.
Social media can help! Join relevant groups on X, Facebook, and Reddit focusing on longer-form user-generated content to see what others say about a specific topic.
Online forums and discussions are great ways to stay informed about industry developments. Depending on your niche, this might take significant time, but it must be done nonetheless.
Remember not to be curt with replies that do not agree with your point of view; always be respectful even when you disagree.
Host a giveaway to generate buzz about your brand. This could be an excellent opportunity to collaborate with other bloggers in your industry and get maximum coverage for the promotion. Reach out to popular brands in your niche that are willing to participate.
Conducting giveaways can attract more people and other bloggers to your brand. However, to ensure its success, you must take care of a few things. The two vital aspects are that prizes should be relevant to your audience and that you ensure they are conducted transparently.
Modern tools provide a variety of insights when it comes to metrics, so you must track engagement. For blogging, engagement is possibly the most important metric for measuring success.
A successful blog post will have people interacting with the post, either through likes, comments, or shares.
The key is to identify patterns in these engagements and optimize them for future posts. Understand what types of content resonate with your audience and work towards incorporating those.
Engagement metrics also form a key part of negotiating with other bloggers for partnerships. The higher it is, the better your chances of attracting the top bloggers to collaborate with.
● Social media is a huge landscape of opportunities, but bloggers must understand it to navigate better.
● Keeping your engagement consistent across all social platforms is key to generating interest in your brand.
● Collaborating with other bloggers in your industry multiplies your effectiveness and benefits all parties.
● Choose the right social media platform to get the most out of your blogger outreach process.
● Ensure you always personalize outbound messages to fellow bloggers - generic messages will not move you forward.
● Regularly engage with other bloggers to keep interactions high and strengthen relationships.
● Showcase testimonials regarding services and collaborations to gain trust and credibility.
● Staying ahead of industry trends ensures your content is relevant to your audience.
● Building relationships takes genuine effort and patience - but the process is worth it!