Are You Wasting Your Time Promoting at Social Media Sites?

By: | August 13, 2016 | Tags: , , , , , |

Social media helps bloggers get blog traffic #bloggingCan you think of any bloggers who don’t use social media?

I know one, but she is certainly the exception.

The norm is for anyone who wants to spread the word about their website, products, or business to use social media. Your growth depends on it.

Social media enables you to increase your connections with people off your blog.

Social media enables you to build credibility by allowing your readers to learn more about you away from your blog.

Social media enables you to increase your traffic by letting the users of the social media sites know about your blog.

According to SuccessPromotions, using social media even improves your blog’s chances of being found on search engines. Zac Grace, an SEO strategist, agrees that using social media will help your SEO.

If you are making an income from blogging, certainly social media will allow you to generate more income as a result of the trust and awareness that using social media brings you.

However, no one has time to focus your blog promotion at all these sites. One blogger wrote, “I do my thing, and socialize where I enjoy best, not trying to dance at every wedding (every social site) because there just isn’t enough time to do everything.”

Author Debby Kaye discusses the “madness of social media” and how she feels she is drowning in that sea.

In order to get a return on your time invested, Neil Patel recommends choosing two social media sites. Other bloggers recommend choosing three. How do you know which to pick?

CoSchedule explains you need a social media strategy. This post will enable you to make those choices based on a strategy.

This article contains a three-part action plan to save you time and enable you to get a greater return on your time invested at the sites you are currently using.

My post This Will Make You Get More Blog Traffic at These Social Media Sites explained how to network at eleven social media sites. However, no one has time to “do it all.” This post can help you narrow down your choices and decide which sites to pick.

DreamGrow.com agrees you need a social media strategy. However, according to CoSchedule, social media has changed. You should make an informed decision. This post will enable you to access that information.

Make a Plan for Social Media Promotion

Analyze Social Media Sites

Which social media should you use?

Four months ago, I posted updates to StumbleUpon. This post shared changes at other social media sites, how those changes affect your blog traffic, and how you can take advantages of those changes to still get blog traffic or increase your blog traffic from those sites.

The problem is that more and more social media sites keep changing the way they have always done things. As a result of these changing algorithms, you need to change too.

Free Social Networking Sites

Pinterest:

Pinterest’s February Smartfeed change is killing referral traffic. According to Pinterest expert Julie Syl Kalungi, if people engage with your pins, your pins will get traction and get on the Smartfeed.

I read a Pinterest expert wrote a letter to the powers-that-be at Pinterest asking them to return to their former traffic-inducing ways. However, I predict there will be no going back for Pinterest.

The site insists it is continuing to grow. Their proof is they are growing so wide internationally, they have changed the word “Pin” to “Save” out of concern foreigners would be confused if they were asked to “pin”.

Keeping up with Pinterest’s changes is possible so your traffic coming from the site doesn’t take too much of a hit. First, as Julie recommended, engage with other pinners.

Users of social media sites who engage with other users tend to be more successful there. I have seen my own Pinterest traffic rise seemingly within hours of my commenting on pins.

Viralwoot actually pays pinners in credits they can use like money to engage with other pinners.

Next, there seems to be a changing philosophy about using Pinterest’s Community Boards. According to many sources, Pinterest’s Community Boards don’t have the power they once did. Recommendations for adapting include putting your Community Boards at the bottom of your Pinterest account.

Also, pinning to boards with smaller numbers and active participants seem to work according to Pinterest experts. (Note: our blog’s Community Board has just over 200 active pinners. If you are subscribed to MostlyBlogging and would like to pin to our board, put your request in the comment section of this post.)

Twitter

Twitter celebrated ten years in March. They sent a “Thank You” Email to its users. Did you get one? I did.

They have millions of monthly users. Every minute Twitter users tweet 277,000 times.

Despite these impressive stats, in contrast to Pinterest, according to a March 2016 news story, Twitter’s growth rate is slowing down and has slowed down over the last year.

The social media site has taken steps to counteract this downward trend. According to TechCrunch, Twitter is relaxing its character limit. Photos and videos, for example, won’t take up character spaces anymore.

This should make it easier for you to promote on Twitter knowing you won’t have to care as much about character limitations.

StumbleUpon

Just like Pinterest and Twitter, the folks over at StumbleUpon want true engagement. Too many people go into StumbleUpon expecting instant mass traffic. According to OliviaDerby.com, by slowly browsing each article, the powers-that-be at StumbleUpon will be convinced that you are actually engaging with the article. Your chances of being rewarded with mega traffic will rise.

LinkedIn

According to the Social Media Examiner, putting an article that is always timely on LinkedIn is win-win. Your LinkedIn followers increase. Also, large forums often pick up the articles published there. You could get thousands of readers and new subscribers if this happens.

Google+

According to Kathleen Aherne, posting to Google+ will get you on the first page of Google the next day. That would certainly be a good return on your time invested.

I tested her theory and posted to Google+. Look who I found at the bottom of the first page of Google the next day, me!

#Bloggers can get on the first page of #Google

Kathleen explained you will find yourself on the first page of Google although it may not be the #1 spot. She was right. I am at the bottom of Page 1– twice!

Google+ started Collections. Instead of following a person, Collections allows you to follow a topic.

Facebook:

Facebook is continuing to grow. Its users number in the billions.  Every minute Facebook users post 2,460,000 pieces of content.

Facebook is starting to use videos and live streaming. Video use is increasing in popularity. This should make it easier for bloggers to capitalize on this growing trend at Facebook and places other than YouTube.

YouTube:

 According to studies of recent trends, YouTube will keep growing in 2016. These are strong indicators of traffic for bloggers that use video.

Analyze Your Data

Perhaps, instead of trying to ride the wave of changes occurring at social media sites, you want to play to your strengths and focus on the areas where you are already getting the highest return on your time investment.

  1. Go to Dashboard, Stats, Referrers, Summaries.

Since this post is reporting changes that occurred recently. pick the last quarter to see how effective your social media promotion strategy has been.

The best way to know where to focus your energies is by going to Google Analytics and seeing which social media sites are sending you traffic. Continue your efforts there. Play to your strengths.

2. In order  to know which traffic sources are actually driving people to your blog. go to Google Analytics. Make sure you have it set up for your blog. My method for seeing my traffic coming from social media sites is as follows: Click Acquisition (scroll down, look for the two arrows), Overview, All TrafficChannels, Social, Overview.

It will tell you how many visitors are coming from each one of the social media networks you’re investing in. This can help you decide if it is worth it to continue to spend your time at those sites.

My top four are consistently StumbleUpon, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Analyze Your Time Spent at Social Media Sites

Apply the 80/20 rule to know if you are getting a good return on your time invested. The 80/20 rule is a productivity tip.

The rule says for every 20 minutes you spend at those sites, you will get 80% return on your 20 minutes.

80% of what, you might ask. 80% of your goal. For example, let’s say I spend 20 minutes networking at a site. What is my goal? Is it to get 10 new blog subscribers? If I do, that would be a 100% return on my expectations. The  80/20 rule dictates I should be satisfied with 80% return on my time invested which would be 8 new blog subscribers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, whether you should try to focus on a limited number of social media sites or “try to do it all” is heavily debated.

Sara Titus recommends spreading yourself so thin that you are always promoting somewhere. SEOPressor agrees you should promote everywhere within the first 24 hours of publication.

Fran from Freeborboleta believes you should be on all of them. She maintains that contributed to her growing her blog “by leaps and bounds.”

Small Biz Trends frowns on a blogger putting all their eggs in one basket since the sites keep changing their algorithms.

However, if you did want to limit the number, there are many ways to save time and focus your energies on a few social media sites. You can analyze what you know about them and examine your stats in your blog’s dashboard and at Google Analytics.

CoSchedule‘s Ben Sailer explains that blogging is like sports. You need a strategy. The goal of this article was to give you the knowledge you need to form that strategy.

Bloggers, please share on your social media, so other bloggers can save time by making an informed decision before focusing their energies on social media sites.

Readers, what camp do you fall into? Do you believe bloggers should promote in as many places as possible, or form a strategy that allows you to focus on a few social media sites? If you fall into the latter group, what social media sites are your top referrers that you focus your strategy on? I look forward to your views in the comment section.

Related Posts and Pages

This is the Way to Stumble into Wonderful Blog Traffic

This Will Make You Get More Blog Traffic at These Social Media Sites

17 Reasons High Page Views Should Make You Panic

How to Still Get Massive Blog Traffic From Pinterest

23 New Pinterest Boards You Should Make Now and Why You Should

This is How Facebook Can Always Help You Blog Better

How to Use YouTube to Be a Better Blogger

Sources:

Let’s Talk Social UK

Cruise Control Inc

Success Promotions

WordPress.com

 

  1. Benjamin Carter-Riley

    Awesome post Janice,

    This post gives great valuable insights on the benefits of social media. You’ve already got me on stumbleupon. Everytime I publish a post, I make sure to use stumbleupon to increase blog traffic.

    And twitter is one of my favourite social media channels, because I find it easy to connect with others in my blogging niche.
    It is great for building relationships with influencers too.

    Thanks for the mention/backlink Janice.

    And speaking of social media, I will share this post straight away!

    Take care,

    Benjamin 🙂

  2. Janice Wald

    Hi Benjamin,
    Thank you for writing. It was my pleasure to link to you. Your article brought valuable insights to this topic. Thank you for sharing!
    Janice

  3. Alana

    As soon as I read this post (yes, I am sharing it on social media), I posted on Google Plus. I’ve posted there perhaps twice in the last three months. I am not a business or professional blogger, but I may post articles I enjoy more on LinkedIn. As for Twitter, I share a lot there because it is easy, but I don’t use it as much as I used to.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Alana,
      Thank you for writing. Explain to me where you post on LinkedIn. Is there a forum you can recommend?
      Thanks for the help. I may post there if I knew of one, and I may blog about forums.
      Janice

  4. Carol Cassara

    I am still on the fence about this. I am probably going to look at it more analytically when I start my business next year and will have a business site.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Carol,
      Thank you for writing. Businesses promote on social media. They are usually paid ads. Facebook seems the most popular but there are paid ads on Twitter and Pinterest I see all the time under the label “promoted”.
      Janice

    • Julie Syl Kalungi

      Hey Caroline,
      I suggest you get off the fence and start slowly engaging, sharing stuff that interests you on social media, create a buzz and when you launch your business you will be in. A position to attract the interest you deserve ?

      Janice you are a rockstar and thanks for the mention. I believe Pinteret is going through a transition that’s going to get things even better. So excited for what’s going on and have just added a chapter to my book. Ha perfectionism of what. Thanks for sharing at the Pit Stop as well.

  5. Bill Kasman

    I don’t earn a living blogging online but it’s nice when what we write is actually read by someone. It’s a fine line we tread and if we’re not careful we can find ourselves spending so much time interacting on social media that we forget to write something! Your four most consistent traffic sources are also mine with the addition of Google+ but I find that most of my traffic comes from Facebook.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Bill,
      Thank you for visiting me and commenting on my social media article on Saturday.
      You said you consistently get traffic from Google+. Any tips for doing so?
      Thank you.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Debby,
      I loved your quote about the madness. Thank you for helping to inspire my article. I fixed the link. Thanks for writing and bringing it by.
      Janice

  6. Lois Alter Mark

    I pretty much focus on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If I really added more, I would never have anything to promote!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Lois,
      Do you have any tips for getting blog traffic from Instagram? Thank you for writing.
      Janice

  7. Melinda Mitchell

    Hey BBFFJ, I still haven’t ever done the analytics thing. I can’t believe I just confessed that to you!
    I do FB by automatic posting. I need to do Pinterest automatically too, I know.
    And Stumbleupon and all else, just ain’t happening for a while.
    Just keeping up with posting is all I can do right now!!
    But, don’t stop telling me what I need to do! Someday I’ll be a big girl blogger like you!! 😉
    Your BBFFM

    • Janice Wald

      Hi BBFFM,
      Sorry I didn’t respond sooner. School resumed.
      I am proud at the many strides you’ve made since I met you.
      BBFFJ

  8. Ravi Chahar

    Hi Janice,

    In today’s era of social media, you should promote your blog post on the social networking platform to get the reach of more people.

    There are millions of people waiting for the right content to read and share. Though, it is recommended that you should build your online reputation which would tend to the positive output.

    People try to show their presence on every social networking website which isn’t that much good. You should try to focus on two platforms.

    Thanks for sharing with us.
    Have a great day.
    ~Ravi

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Ravi,
      Thank you for reaching out and writing last weekend. It sounds like you agree with Neil Patel that bloggers should focus on two platforms.
      I fall in the latter camp and try to cover all my bases.
      Janice

  9. GiGi Eats

    Facebook is my social media of choice, as is Instagram – Otherwise, I kind of just do the others for shits and giggles? LOL! I believe it’s more word of mouth than anything else?!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Gigi,
      1. By “word of mouth,” do you mean social sharing?
      2. How do you get blog traffic from Instagram? Any advice?
      Thanks and thanks for writing.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Handbagsgb,
      Thank you for writing me and visiting my blog. I am glad you enjoyed my social media article.
      Nice to meet you.
      Janice

  10. Lisa Sicard

    Hi Janice, I’ve cut way down on how many social sites I now use. According to my traffic Twitter and FB work the best so I always am sure to post there and of course network there. I do like visiting LinkedIn and Pinterest but they are not my must go to social networks.
    I still spend quite a bit of time on Twitter and FB though – hate to add up the hours. Great topic Janice! Have a great day.

  11. Nicole

    Great post. It’s really hard to try and balance everything. I tend to focus on Pinterest, Twitter, FB and SU. I also like Instagram but it doesn’t refer any blog posts so I use it more for fun. For me, LinkedIn is more for my “professional” life – not everyone on there even knows that I blog. #BloggersPitStop

  12. Michele

    My frustration with social media is that it is hit or miss. One day my traffic is best from Facebook, but on random days Stumbleupon is huge. Twitter is the most steady. I really should go back and analyze my data more carefully.

  13. Leanne

    Hi Janice – great post as always! I totally agree that you can’t be on every social media site and still have a life. I don’t blog for an income so I can pick and choose where I promote my posts. I use Facebook, Pinterest, G+, SU & Flipboard because they are all quick and easy. Belonging to a couple of engaging facebook groups also helps if you want to connect with other like minded bloggers. Twitter and IG have never been my “thing” and I’m not likely to start adding more now 🙂

  14. Dr.Amrita Basu

    It’s really very difficult to balance all social media .I am trying to focus on StumbleUpon ad Pinterest. It’s important to focus otherwise one feels mad.Great post as usual.

  15. Tanya

    I have not been consistent in social media lately and it’s been my biggest month traffic wise. Visitors are still coming from Pinterestfoe pins I pinned months ago so I think Pinterest is where I tend to focus and then I like IG too cause it’s fun! I cantbe everywhere at once though so have to pick and choose. Thanks for hosting Bloggers Out Stop, found you on SITS Blogging and hope you join our 2 link parties going on this weekend!

  16. Tlen

    Different Social channels have different type of audience and hence it is very important for a business to choose the right social media channel as per their targeted audience. For example – Linkedin is great choice for B2B businesses whereas Facebook and Pinterest is great for fashion ecommerce businesses.

  17. Mark

    Thanks for sharing a very informative post!

    I know I have definitely had the thought, is all this social
    media marketing activity, really worth all the effort?LOL!

    But after readind and digesting your excellent post,
    I know the correct answer, is definitely yes!

    Especially when I consider the affects of consistently posting
    on platforms like Google Plus.

    Thanks, now I know to stay the course!

  18. Omar Saady

    Thanks for sharing your nice post

    I think that The quality of your content always plays the important role of your social media marketing, that will help your content goes viral and get better chances to be ranked very well on search engines.

    Thanks so much
    All my best regards,
    Omar

  19. Renard Moreau

    [ Smiles ] We will never know if a particular social media is working for us until we really check out the data for ourselves.

    Lovely post!

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Renard,
      I haven’t “seen” you in a long time. How are you doing? Thanks for coming by today and commenting on my article. I agree with what you wrote. I check my dashboard all the time.
      Janice

  20. Domestic Diva

    Hi Janice
    I really needed to read something like this now that I am making a foray into social media sharing. Great tips.
    Thanks!

  21. Philip Verghese Ariel

    Hi Janice,
    Yet another debatable post.
    I do agree on some of the points you mentioned in this post.
    I disagree with the opinion of sticking to one or two or three
    platforms. In my opinion, we need to be present as much as we
    can on other platforms too, of course, the major one should not
    skip, As someone said, spending more time on social platforms
    will surely increasse our boundary and many may come to know
    aobut our activities, Unless we tell about us and about our activities
    how will others know.
    In my opinion a ratio of 80:20 should be our criteria. I mean for content
    creation 20% time and Promotion 80% this is a good ratio to get a good
    level/status in our ranking.
    Sorry if i differ from some top bloggers,
    THanks for sharing
    Best
    ~Philip
    PS:
    Hey Janice your pop up is giving a lot of trouble to read the content and
    type comment, its blocking the page and not moving at all that is why my
    comment too i a typing this way to the left side, I can’t see the other end
    since the popup is admant to move LOL Pl fix it
    Thanks
    Philip

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Philip,
      Thanks for your thoughtful comment and the nice birthday wishes today. I am as many places as possible promoting as long as I see some result of my efforts.
      Regarding the pop up problem, I’ll tell my tech helper and see what she can do. When I have these problems on other people’s sites, sometimes zooming out helps. However, I will tell her regardless.
      Janice

  22. Philip

    Hi Janice,
    It’s indeed a great pleasure to join you in wishing on this happy occasion.
    Hope you enjoyed the day.
    May you have a many more years ahead to share and spare your life experiences.
    Keep it up my friend.
    Hey now the pop up problem is almost solved.
    With my iPad I could close the Britton, but while using my Laptop it is completely closed and the close button is not visible at all.
    You need to have an enquiry with others if they are able to see the full screen or not.
    Anyways thanks a lot your quick response,
    Best regards
    ~ Philip

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Philip,
      Thanks for coming by to wish me well on my birthday. I am indeed having a nice day. I would also like to know you for years to come. I will tell my tech helper what you wrote. She’s already said she’d look into the matter.
      Janice

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