NU
Using Social Media to Expand Your Reach and Connect with Readers as a Lifestyle Blogger
You might've started blogging as a hobby, but as your audience grew, you started entertaining the idea of turning this into a business. You've poured all your efforts into nailing your niche and creating engaging posts, but if your promotions need more work, you must find a great place to attract more readers.
What's great about promoting a blog on social media is the connection you gain with your audience at no cost to you. It's free, everyone's already there, and many visit social media sites to look for products or reviews.
As a bonus, social media do affect a website's online presence. Whether you're just starting out in this lifestyle blogging business or you're a pro, every post gets more traction online if you promote your blog on social media.
Marketing Tips for Growing an Online Presence on Social Media
There are certain practices to ensure your promotion efforts generate great results on social media. Here are some marketing tips to attract and connect with your readers on social media.
Start with a Google-Friendly Website
A Google-friendly hosting service is a must if you want to reach out to more people on social media. For blogging, we suggest Showit and WordPress. Both sites are praised for being truly search-engine friendly.
What's great about these hosting services is the ease of use and the plugins that'll boost the functionality of your blog even more. Regarding design and user-friendliness, Showit trumps WordPress because the designs are beautiful and so easy to set up – no coding required. Showit also offers SEO-friendly backend and analytics. The integration with other apps is also smooth as butter.
Choose the Right Platform
It's a must to figure out the platforms most popular among your target audience. If you choose the right platform, you might save time and effort on promotions. The best way to determine the social media platforms your followers frequent is to check data from Google Analytics and your website's analytics.
If most of your followers are on Instagram, focus your marketing efforts on this platform. Different social media sites have different guidelines for publishing content, and for Instagram, the quality and dimension of the images matter the most. Sticking to these guidelines will help improve the quality of your content and encourage more interactions with followers.
Feature Beautiful (and Original) Images
Beautiful images will attract readers effortlessly. This goes especially if you're building a name for yourself as a lifestyle guru. The lifestyle niche is very design-centric, and on social media, people will only stop and look at attractive images.
Ideally, you should create original images. You don't need expensive photography gear and software for the shoot. Just use your camera, find a nice background, and shoot away. If you must use stock photos, be sure to get them from a royalty-free source. You can also encourage readers to send in user-generated content, which you can use for future marketing efforts.
Don't forget to compress and optimise every photo you upload on your blog site to maintain snappy loading times. You can use original images on social media to spark conversation and promote specific posts. You can also post social media updates using these images.
Interact in the Comments Section
An engaging post or a relatable shoutout typically gets a lot of attention online, such as styling tips and GRWM tutorials. If your posts are getting comments from followers, go ahead and interact with them. Answer questions, give tips, share your insights, and let the conversation flow. The more comments you get, the wider the reach.
Connecting with your followers consistently gives you an idea of what makes content they like the most. This information will be helpful as you plan your content strategy.
Go for Variety
Feel free to experiment with different content. Look for valuable sources online and share these with your followers. You can also post an infographic, a meme, or a video you've created. You can also host giveaways or contests to acquire user-generated content and excite followers.
If you're sharing posts from other sources, stick to relevant content your followers will find helpful. Avoid posts that are too controversial or downright disturbing content for shock value because these will turn people off.
Experiment with Publishing Schedules
How many times should you post about your blog on social media? A single post may not be enough to attract readers, but posting too many times in a day could also put off readers.
Don't be afraid to experiment with different post frequencies to find the sweet spot. Check the analytics and see how users respond to twice or thrice-per-day posts. If you have more than 10K followers, shoot between 30-60 posts per month.
Boost Posts for Higher Traffic
Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram let users boost posts to gain a wider viewership and generate more traffic. Boosting a post is easy; click the “Boost” button on a post, customise the target audience via the Ads Manager, and you're done. When targeting specific groups, be clear about your ideal client's persona to make every ad count.
Boosting a post is a great way to attract followers, but don't depend on it all the time. Be selective in the posts you want to boost, set aside a budget, and study the data once a campaign is over to find ways to make every ad even more impactful.
Leveraging social media as a lifestyle blogger can be a game-changer for expanding your reach and connecting with readers. It offers a dynamic platform to showcase your content, engage with your audience, and build a community around your niche.
By consistently sharing valuable, authentic, and relatable content, staying active, and fostering genuine connections, you can create a vibrant online presence that boosts your blog's visibility and deepens your connection with your audience. So, don't underestimate the power of social media in your journey as a lifestyle blogger – it's a tool that can help you thrive and flourish in the digital world.
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW