A Beginning Blogger’s Guide to Social Media Strategies

Social media (like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, and more) can be a helpful resource for marketing your content, driving traffic to your blog and building your brand. Here are some tips and tricks I have learned as a new blogger.

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR BEGINNING BLOGGERS. Social media (like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more) can be a helpful resource for marketing your content, driving traffic to your blog and building your brand. Here are some tips and tricks I have learned as a new blogger.
Don’t forget to pin this post for future reference!

This post is updated frequently. It was last updated in November 2018.

Silly me! When I first started blogging, I thought I could simply write an interesting blog post and people would magically (and immediately) find my post and read it.

Alas! That is not how it works. In order to create a following, you need to get that material in front of people somehow. You need to market your blog posts.

Social media (like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, and more) can be a helpful resource for marketing your content. Additionally, social media can drive traffic to your blog and help build your brand.

I have been researching strategies, reading articles, watching tutorials and experimenting with social media. And, I have learned A LOT along the way.

As I learn more about how to effectively (and efficiently) use social media for blog marketing, I decided to use my notes to create a blog post. It is my intention to keep updating this post as I learn more over time.

This is a win-win. It is a great way for me to keep this information organized; this post will be a helpful resource for me to refer back to as needed. Also, it may help out other bloggers who are just starting out.

 

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an expert on blogging or social media, and the information provided should not be considered expert advice. These are just my personal thoughts and notes. I am learning as I go and have made these notes for myself as I go along. I will continue to update these notes as I learn more.

A Beginning Blogger’s Guide to Social Media

Table of Contents

For your convenience, this list is organized into sections. Use the links within this table of contents if you would like to jump ahead to a specific topic.

1 General Social Media Tips

2 Pinterest

3 Facebook

4 Twitter

5 Google Plus

6 Instagram

7 Other Forms of Social Media

Don’t forget to pin this post for future reference! And, be sure to check back often. As I learn more along my blogging journey, I will be making frequent updates to this guide.




1 | General Social Media Tips

The 80/20 Rule

Everything you read about social media marketing suggests that you try to follow an 80/20 rule. This means that you post your own blog’s content on your social media about 20% of the time. Post other stuff of interest for the other 80% of the time. Make sure that the other content you post is stuff that your readers may like.

Be Genuine

Let your personality show through on your social media posts. To gain a true following, let your readers and social media followers get to know the real you. Share some of your likes and dislikes. Show a genuine interest in your audience. Take a few moments to respond to comments on social media.

Earn Your Followers’ Trust

Don’t fill up your followers’ feeds with mindless dribble. Make sure that the posts you make are relevant to your audience. Make sure it is stuff they would find interesting. And, don’t spam them with a constant barrage of posts. Experiment with post frequency to find the right fit for you and your audience.

Don’t Worry About the (Un)Followers

So many bloggers whine about the “follow/unfollow” game… especially for Instagram and Twitter. This is out of your control so just don’t worry about it. You can’t make people follow you, and you can’t make people not unfollow you. Don’t let the unfollowers get you down.

Do you really want a bunch of fake followers who don’t care about your posts and are not going to engage with your content? I don’t.

Give and You Shall Receive

Interact with others on social media. This is a great way to develop relationships. Interact with other bloggers and share their posts. Pretty soon, you will find that they are reciprocating by sharing your material.

Respond to posts and comments made by your readers. You will find it strengthens your relationship with them, and in turn, they will become more dedicated followers.

Don’t Try to Do It All at Once

A lot of experts will tell you to focus growing one or two social media accounts at a time. If you try to do it all at once, you will quickly become overwhelmed, frustrated or burnt out.

Instead, keep your sanity by learning and growing one social medium at a time. Focus your energy on the one that will give you the most bang for your effort or the one you will enjoy most. Once you have mastered that one, you can try another.

Don’t Compare Numbers

Nothing can deflate a new blogger faster, and yet, we have all done this. You compare your number of social media followers to the numbers of a more established blogger, and then, feel discouraged.

Please try to keep in mind that we all started with only one follower (ourselves) in the beginning, and every blogger’s growth journey is different.

Give yourself time to grow. Celebrate in your successes – no matter how big or small they may seem.

In fact, I encourage you to create a spreadsheet in order to track certain metrics (like number of social media followers) on a monthly basis. Updating this spreadsheet can be a very rewarding experience. Sometimes, you don’t notice growth until you see the numbers side-by-side on a spreadsheet.

Also, try to only compare your numbers to your own previous numbers. Recently, I have begun to share my own modest numbers in a monthly Progress Report on the blog as a way to hold myself accountable and to show that not every blogger has 10,000 social media followers. Many of us are still stuck in the hundreds… and, that is okay.

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Pinterest for Beginning Bloggers: Social Media Strategies and Tips
Don’t forget to follow Minivan Adventures on Pinterest.

2 | Pinterest

Best Of Board

The very first board on your Pinterest profile should be called something like Best of [Your Blog]. This board will be filled with your content ONLY. If someone visits your Pinterest account, this board makes it super easy for them to find YOUR content. (Because remember, on all of the other boards, you will be pinning only 20% your content and 80% other content.)

When I publish a new blog post, I always pin the content first to a relevant board. Then, I repin it to my Best of Minivan Adventures board.

Pin Design and Descriptions

Make your pins pretty. Pinterest is an extremely visual medium, and that means people will gravitate to pretty pins. Use good images.

Most Pinterest users are pinning from their mobile devices. That means your pins will be small. Make sure that your text on the images really stands out. Make the text big and use fonts that are easy to read (avoid script fonts). Additionally, make sure that the text doesn’t blend in with the image.

Pay attention to your wording. The headline and text on your pin should grab the reader’s attention. Make sure it is solution-oriented. People are searching Pinterest for specific reasons so you want your text to specifically answer their needs. For instance, if someone is looking for a kid-friendly park, then a pin that says “our fun day at Cumberland Park” might get overlooked but a pin that says “Cumberland Park – the best park for families with small children” would probably get a repin… or better yet, it may get a click-through as well as a repin.

Descriptions are important. While you can enter a fairly long description for each pin, only the first couple of lines will show up when users are scrolling through feeds. So put the most important information first in your descriptions. For instance, in our kid-friendly park example from above, you could write something like “FAMILY-FRIENDLY CUMBERLAND PARK. This super fun Nashville park is perfect for children of all ages. Even adults love it! Multiple fun playgrounds, a splash pad, beautiful gardens, easy pedestrian trails, and beautiful views. #kidfriendly #familyfun #nashville #tennessee.” Just like the headlines, you will want to keep the descriptions solution-oriented. You will also want to make sure your keywords are in the description.

The use of hashtags within Pinterest is fairly new. At this time, I try to add 2-4 relevant hashtags at the end of each pin description.

Multiple Pins per Post

Ideally, you want to create a few different pins for each post. Use different images and different headlines. Different people will respond differently to various images and headlines. So you want to have a variety of pins for each post just in case the user isn’t drawn to the first pin about the post, they may be attracted to the next one.

Vary your images. While some of your audience may be drawn to pins with adorable pictures of children, others may not. Some may be drawn to bright, colorful pins. Some may be more drawn to pins with subdued, darker colors. Some may prefer pins with infographics, some may prefer pins with inspirational quotes, some may prefer image-only pins with no text at all.

Vary your pin headlines. If you have written a travel post, you might want a headline geared towards general travel and one geared towards family travel. If you have written a post about a party theme for a child’s birthday, one pin might focus on the food aspects of the theme, another pin might focus on the games, another one might focus on the decorations, and another may use a headline like “The COMPLETE GUIDE for Planning an Awesome MINECRAFT BIRTHDAY PARTY.” Do you see how each headline might attract a slightly different audience to the same exact post?

Pin Other Content of Interest

You are not going to have enough content for a long time to fill up all of your boards. Think of your Pinterest as a resource tool for your readers. Pin any other quality content that you feel may be helpful or interesting to your blog’s readers. Apply the 80/20 rule by pinning 20% your own content and 80% other content.

Pinterest is a Search Engine

Good descriptions are important. While it is thought of as a form of social media, Pinterest works more like a search engine. Pinterest users search for topics that interest them. Make sure that your pin descriptions have keywords in them and are pinned to relevant boards. This will help them to get found in searches.

Board Covers

Some people love to create beautiful board covers. In general, I don’t bother with board covers. As stated before, Pinterest is more search engine than social media. That means that, in most cases, users will find your pins without ever visiting your boards. Why waste the time making your boards pretty with covers then?

To contradict myself, I do make board covers for my group boards. I like them to look as professional as possible when I am looking for collaborators to join my group boards. I feel that a board cover might help make a better impression in that particular instance.

Group Boards

Group boards are a helpful way to get your pins in front of more people. It also gives you multiple relevant boards to pin your content to… which could help to get that pin more traction within Pinterest’s algorithm.

Find relevant group boards, join them, and repin your content to them often. Be careful to follow each group board’s rules so that you don’t get kicked out. Also, be kind and repin other’s content from those group boards from time to time.

Repin But Don’t Spam

You can repin your own pins multiple times. It helps to give those pins some longevity. The trick is to not spam boards. Before repinning an older pin to a board, open the board to view its most recent pins. If your pin doesn’t appear on the first screen of pins shown on that board, then you can safely repin it again without looking “spammy.”

Do you have a pin that is having some significant success? Make sure you are definitely repinning that one.

Pin Schedulers

There are pin schedulers available for you to use. Mainly Tailwind and Boardbooster. I don’t have any experience with those – partially because I am too cheap to pay for resources but also because I have heard from a couple sources that manual pinning is more effective.

Repin Threads in Facebook Groups

There are many Facebook groups for bloggers to share each other’s content on Pinterest. While time-consuming, the repinning threads in these groups can be a great way to launch a new pin on Pinterest. Read more about Facebook groups in the next section of this post.

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Facebook for Beginning Bloggers: Social Media Strategies and Tips
Don’t forget to follow Minivan Adventures on Facebook.

3| Facebook

Keep It Personal

I view Facebook as a more personal medium. Referrals to my blog posts that come from Facebook are good quality referrals. When someone clicks over from Facebook, they really want to read the material you have written and spend a great deal of time on my website. For this reason, I am VERY selective of the links I share on my blog’s Facebook page.

I only post relevant stuff to my blog’s Facebook page – only stuff that I truly believe my readers would enjoy or find interesting.

Don’t Post Too Often

Facebook is not as fast of a social medium as Twitter is. Your posts have a longer shelf life in Facebook than they do on some other forms of social media. It overwhelms my followers if I post too much on Facebook in one day, and inevitably, that results in someone unfollowing or “hiding” my posts from their feeds. Neither is a good thing.

I have found that sharing 1 to 3 times per day on my Facebook page seems to be the right fit for my blog at the moment. You will want to experiment with frequency and types of posts to see what is the right fit for your Facebook followers.

Don’t Spam Your Fam

Create a separate Facebook page for your blog. Don’t use your personal Facebook page to spam your family and friends with your blog posts. Many of us (myself included) did that when first starting our blogs. I love reading what other people write, and I assumed that all of my personal Facebook friends would, too. That is not necessarily true though. Many of your Facebook friends will be annoyed if they feel like they are being spammed.

There are also a lot of your friends and family who will love seeing each and every post of yours. Thank these people for their avid support and encourage them to like your blog’s Facebook page.

IT IS OKAY TO SHARE SOME OF YOUR CONTENT ON YOUR PERSONAL PAGE. Just be selective about what you share there. If you write something that is particularly meaningful and/or personal, then yes, you should definitely share that on your personal page if you want to. If you have a particular accomplishment that you are extra proud of, feel free to share that, too. Your friends and family will always be interested in hearing about things that truly matter to you.

Pin Your Own Content

If you are truly following the 80/20 rule mentioned in section 1 of this post, then your own content can sometimes get buried within your page’s feed. To combat this, I always pin a link to a recent Minivan Adventures blog post to the top of my feed.

You can pin a Facebook post to the top of your feed very easily. Simply open your Facebook page, scroll through the feed until you find the desired post, click on the three dots in the upper righthand corner of the post, and select “Pin to Top of Page.”

I always make sure to pin good quality posts to the top of my Facebook page. By good quality, I mean it features an interesting picture, a link to my blog’s website, and an engaging caption.

Encourage Interaction

Be sure to encourage interaction with your Facebook followers. I found two quick and easy ways to do this – ask questions and occasionally share engaging/popular posts from other Facebook pages.

Every couple of months, I sit down and brainstorm a list of questions to ask followers on my Facebook page. Then, I schedule posts that ask these questions. I ask about my followers’ favorite traditions/activities/trips, their best travel tips, places they dream of visiting, etc. Be sure to take the time to respond to your followers’ comments.

PRO TIP 1:  Create a graphic featuring your questions. I’ve heard from multiple sources that Facebook’s algorithm is more likely to widely share your post if it contains a graphic. (Personally, I have been too lazy to create graphics for questions… even though I should.)

PRO TIP 2:  Avoid asking your followers to like or share a Facebook post. Social media marketers say that Facebook is beginning to penalize such posts.

Asking questions (and responding to their comments) is particularly great because it helps you to better learn the likes/dislikes of your followers, and it builds more personal relationships with them. And ADDED BONUS, it is fun!

For instance, I recently asked followers about their experiences with train travel. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of comments it received. I learned more about my page’s followers while also engaging a few people who have never interacted with the Minivan Adventures Facebook page before.

Also I occasionally share engaging/popular posts from other Facebook pages. If I found something clever or amusing, then my followers usually will, too. So I will share it to my page… but only if it is on target with my niche.

For instance, the Minivan Adventures Facebook page focuses mostly on travel and family fun. I once shared a meme asking how people prefer their campfire-roasted marshmallows. Camping and bonding as a family over a campfire ties in well with my niche. It seemed like a good fit, and the post received a lot of engagement.

I don’t like to do this too often because I worry that it will make my page look spammy. And as mentioned before, I value the good quality referrals I receive from Facebook. Thus, I don’t want to risk losing followers by appearing too spammy. I am still working to find the right balance in this particular area.

Facebook Groups for Marketing/Promotion/Support

There are several groups for bloggers on Facebook. Whatever your niche is, there is a group that will benefit you. These are great resources for developing friendships with other bloggers and getting support/help when you run into a blogging issue.

Facebook groups are also a great place to promote/market your blog. Many groups will have sharing threads where everyone shares each other’s blog posts. This can get your blog content in front of readers who wouldn’t normally see your material.

I think Facebook Blogger Groups are especially helpful when you are first starting out. It gets your content out in front of a larger group of people before you have built a strong audience of your own yet. Also, groups specifically created for sharing pins on Pinterest are incredibly helpful to launch a new pin. You may also wish to participate in a few “Follow All” threads in these groups. This can help you to initially build a following in other social media platforms. (Again, as stated in the general tips in section 1, don’t get upset over the follow/unfollow game. You see a lot of follow/unfollow activity in these particular types of threads.)

To join a Facebook group, simply click on the “join” button and answer any questions the group administrators ask. Once you are in a group, be sure to read the group’s rules (usually found in their pinned post or announcements). Many Facebook groups have strict rules, and you don’t want to get kicked out for being non-compliant.

Creating Your Own Facebook Community

Facebook Groups are a big thing right now. You can take advantage of this by creating a group for your readers that are interested in a specific topic. This is an excellent way to form vested connections and engage with your blog’s readers. The trick is to niche down for a Facebook group so that you can really engage with your readers who share a particular interest.

For instance, I blog about travel, fun family activities, reading and blogging. If I was to create a Facebook group, I would select only one of those topics to focus the group around. Or, I would create separate groups for each topic – one for travel enthusiasts, one for readers, one for bloggers, etc. By narrowing the focus for your group, you create a strong community of people who are truly interested in the topic.

As a warning, I have heard that Facebook groups require a lot of attention. So be prepared to focus a lot of time and energy on your group if you decide to go that route. However, I have also heard that it is a fantastic way to truly engage with your readers.

By the way, I have created a new group for those who like to read and those who encourage children to read. Minivan Reads is a family-friendly community with a lot of discussion about books and reading. If this sounds like something you would enjoy, please join our group.

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Twitter for Beginning Bloggers: Social Media Strategies and Tips
Don’t forget to follow Minivan Adventures on Twitter.

4 | Twitter

Tweet Often

Twitter is very fast paced. That means your tweets have a pretty short shelf life before it is buried in the feeds. So tweet often to improve your odds of being seen. I once read a helpful article about growing Twitter accounts and one tip that was particularly helpful was to use a blog WordPress plugin called Revive Old Content. I use the free version of it to tweet out my blog posts on a consistent basis. This creates frequent activity on my account. In addition to these automated tweets, I log in personally once or twice a day; during those times, I will send out a couple of tweets, interact with others, and retweet things that I found interesting on my feed.

SIDE NOTE:  While the Revive Old Content plugin can also be used for Facebook account, I choose to only use it for Twitter at this time. I am always extra intentional about what I share on Facebook so that I don’t look spammy.

IMPORTANT! Due to recent changes on Twitter, it is best not to send out the same exact tweet too frequently. This would be easy to do while using Revive Old Post. To avoid this, I update my Revive Old Post posting frequency regularly. Every couple of months, I verify how many posts are on the blog and I divide that number by 30. And, that is how I determine how many posts should be tweeted automatically by Revive Old Post on a daily basis.

For example, if I have 90 active posts published on my blog, I would schedule three tweets per day. (90 divided by 30 equals 3.) To schedule three tweets per day, I set up Revive Old Post to tweet one post every 8 hours.

Additionally, I have created a free account on Buffer to schedule a couple more tweets each day. The tweets that I schedule through Buffer are a mix of fun questions, links to other internet content I find interesting and my own blog content.

Build Relationships                    

I consider Twitter to be a relationship-building tool. While I use the Revive Old Content plugin to promote my blog posts on Twitter, this social media does not send much traffic to my blog’s website. However, it does familiarize my followers with what types of topics I post about.

Instead of expecting a massive amount of traffic, I focus my Twitter energy on developing relationships and networking. I do this by replying to the tweets of others and sharing content from other bloggers.

PRO TIP:  Always tag other bloggers or businesses when you share their content on social media. In Twitter, you simply type @username to tag them. This will notify that blogger or business that you have shared their content. Quite often, this will result in a retweet or shout out from them. They might even reciprocate by sharing some of your content.

Buffer is a great tool to schedule tweets with content from other blogs.

Retweeting is Good, Quote Tweeting is Sometimes Better

As you see interesting tweets while scrolling through your feed, you can “like” them (by clicking the heart) or you can retweet them. Twitter users LOVE to have their stuff retweeted, and it is even more meaningful if you quote tweet it. By choosing quote tweet, you can share your own opinion or some praise with the retweeted material. When used properly, this can be an excellent relationship builder. It shows that you put thought and effort into the material you retweet.

Use Hashtags

Hashtags are a fantastic resource. Make sure you are using them. Hashtags can help your tweets get attention from people who may not be following you yet. When you start typing a hashtag, a box may popup with hashtag suggestions. Take advantage of any related popular hashtags. Also, be sure to tag any other Twitter accounts that may find your tweet interesting.

Jump In on Others’ Conversations

Twitter is not like real life. I would never eavesdrop on a stranger’s conversation on the street and then pipe in with my own comments. But I would do that on Twitter. And, I encourage you to do that, too.

Replying to the tweets of others (even individuals you don’t know personally) is a great way to build relationships on this particular social media.

Twitter Chats

Twitter chats are a fantastic way to build relationships and increase exposure to your intended audience. Early on, I learned a couple helpful tips regarding Twitter chats – don’t spam these chats with links to your blog posts, let your personality shine through, and use these opportunities to engage others in discussion.

A Twitter chat is a guided discussion led by one or more moderators on a particular subject. The moderator will ask questions, and you reply to these questions. Be sure to indicate the question number (type A1 in your response to question 1, A2 in response to question 2, etc.) and always include the appropriate hashtag in your responses.

Here are a few rules and guidelines to keep in mind for Twitter chats:

  • Always include the appropriate hashtag in your responses.
  • Don’t spam the group with links to your blog posts. This will quickly annoy others. If your response indicates that you have something interesting to say, other participants are likely to visit your Twitter profile page to follow you.
  • Always have a relevant blog post (or a recent blog post) pinned to the top of your Twitter feed. If other participant’s visit your profile page, you want them to see some of your best or more relevant blog content there.
  • Click on the hashtag to see the responses of others, and then comment on their responses. Ask relevant questions or show genuine interest. Feel free to retweet anything you found particularly helplful or interesting.
  • Be sure to follow other participants in the group if you enjoyed their responses.

If done well, you will gain followers after each Twitter chat you participate in. You will also discover Twitter accounts that you will want to follow.

Some of the best resources I have found regarding Twitter chat etiquette are these two articles:

Follow Fridays

On Fridays, you may see tweets with multiple accounts tagged that feature a hashtag of #FollowFriday or simply #FF. That tweeter is sharing a list of Twitter accounts they enjoy following and are recommending that you follow those accounts as well.

It’s a fun way to gain some followers and to share your love for other Twitter accounts. It can be helpful to add a fun gif or catchy caption in your Follow Friday tweets. This will draw more attention to it, and others will be more likely to reply or retweet it. Give it a try sometime.

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Google Plus for Beginning Bloggers: Social Media Strategies and Tips
Don’t forget to follow Minivan Adventures on Google Plus.

5 | Google Plus

Share Content to Google Plus

I have heard from multiple sources that Google likes material that is shared on Google Plus. It makes sense to me that Google might prefer content that has been shared on their own social media platform. And indeed, I have shared posts to Google Plus on occasion to see them really take off.

However, in general, I don’t receive a lot of referral traffic from Google Plus. So I make sure to share new posts on Google Plus once at the time of publication.

Currently, I am experimenting with sharing content on a more frequent basis using a social media scheduler called Buffer. I will be sure to let you know if I see any increase in referral traffic or organic search traffic from this experiment.

Create a “Best of” Collection

Google Plus allows you to create collections within your profile. At a bare minimum, I would encourage you to create a “Best of [your blog’s name]” collection and save each post to this collection.

If someone visits your Google Plus profile page, you want them to be able to quickly find your blog’s content. A “Best of” collection is an easy way to make your content accessible.

Google Plus Communities

I know a few bloggers who have created Google Plus communities for their blogs. I have not experimented with this at all. It is something to possibly keep in mind for the future though.

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Instagram for Beginning Bloggers: Social Media Strategies and Tips
Don’t forget to follow Minivan Adventures on Instagram.

6 | Instagram

Some people love Instagram. I am not one of those people. I think it is a lot of work, and I don’t receive many referrals to my website from it. However, I have learned how to grow a following and a few tips to encourage engagement.

Build a Following

I learned the secrets of how to quickly grow your number of followers from this helpful blog post. I applied only a couple of these helpful tips and grew my following from 400 to over 1000 in a couple of weeks.

Here are the few modified steps that I did to see such growth:

  • I posted decent quality pictures three times a day. Each time, I included several hashtags and a (somewhat) clever caption.
  • Using the profile of a blogger with a decent following, I would follow some of that blogger’s followers. But I don’t just follow them… I also liked about 10 of their pictures and commented on at least one picture. I did this for 10-30 Instagram accounts every morning. And then, I did it for yet another 10-30 Instagram accounts every evening. It was time intensive but resulted in many follow backs.
  • Every morning and every evening, I would take time to respond to each and every comment left on my own pictures. Additionally, I would take time to scroll through my feed and like pictures from those that I follow.

While this was time consuming, it did build my following fast. I’m currently happy with my number of followers so I have stopped investing much energy into Instagram, and my growth has dramatically slowed since then.

Post Interesting Pictures

Pay attention to what types of pictures you post that receive the most likes. Then, give your followers more of what they like. I get the most likes on pictures of roadside attractions and beautiful nature settings. I receive fewer likes on pictures of kid crafts or books. And while I still post pictures of all these things, I mostly post travel/nature pics now.

Ask a Question

Great captions encourage people to comment. It feels counterintuitive but if you want people to comment, start your caption with a question. Some people won’t read through an entire caption to get to the question at the end. So you need to lead with the question.

Also, don’t worry if the question is not particularly deep or insightful. Some of the simplest questions receive some of the most responses. I once shared a picture of a small mountain chain in North Carolina and asked if anyone had sisters in the caption. I received a surprising amount of engagement on this particular post.

Use Great Captions

If it is not the most exciting picture, then make sure that the caption is pretty clever. You can often salvage a so-so picture with a funny or insightful caption.

Comment and Like Others Posts

Share love to get love. If you are reacting and commenting on the pictures of others, most will return the love by reacting and commenting on your pictures.

Use Hashtags

Be sure to use hashtags. There are a lot of articles out there that tell you how to research the best hashtags to use. Currently, I do very little research.

I use the hashtags that represent various blogging groups I participate in. I also follow these hashtags. This allows our group of blogging friends to support one another easily.

I also make up my own hashtags. Some of these made-up hashtags, I will use just because I think they are clever or funny. Otherwise, I pay attention to how many times the hashtags have been used. As you type a hashtag into Instagram, it will suggest hashtags and show you how many times it has been used. I try to select hashtags that have been used 5,000 to 30,000 times – popular enough that someone might see my picture but not so popular that my picture would be completely buried in a feed for that hashtag.

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Social Media for Beginning Bloggers: Strategies and Tips

7 | Other Forms of Social Media

There are so many other forms of social media out there – SnapChat, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo and more. If your audience spends most of their time on these other forms of social media, then you will want to have a presence on those social media platforms.

When (and if) I delve into any of these other social media platforms, I will be sure to share my experiences with you.

 

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR BEGINNING BLOGGERS. New and experienced bloggers will benefit from these social media tips. Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more! #socialmediamarketingA Social Mdia Strategy Guide for Beginning Bloggers. Helpful tips for using Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (and more) to promote your blog!A Beginning Blogger's Thoughts on Social Media. How to use Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more to promote your blog.

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What social media tips would you share with new bloggers? Please share your tips and insights in the comments.

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