Several months ago, I started a new personal blog. Now when you start a new site, there are a few ways you can go to build traffic: do keyword research and write content targeted for search traffic and link building, network with other high traffic sites in your niche and link building, pay for traffic, or promote your site through social media.
Most people do a combination of all of the above, along with a focus on building their own email list.
I know how to do all that and I do that on other site, but on this sites, I just didn’t want to write with keywords in mind. I want to write what I want to write about. Also, some of the topics I write about on this site are things a lot of people would be interested in, but they aren’t searching for.
Since I nixed two legs of a standard traffic building strategy, I had to focus on building an audience through social media sites. There are a variety of ways I’ve been doing this, but the primary focus has been consistent updates using images.
And it’s worked.
You Only Have Their Attention for a Second
It’s a statement of fact in a culture where a large percentage of the population’s primary form of communication is texts full of abbreviations and hashtags that you only have a few seconds to catch their attention.
You can write awesome content, and you should, but people are probably just going to read the headline. How many times have you seen a friend share an article on Facebook and by their comment, it is very obvious that they didn’t even read it.
What percentage of shares on your newsfeeds are images? It may vary depending on the demographics of your friends and fans, but I would put a bet on it being a high percentage.
Show then Tell
Everyone likes show and tell time, even as adults we do. We want to see it, rather than just hear it and have to create a mental picture in our minds.
That translates into social media marketing.
If you have a message, you need to show them first and then tell. Have a visual image that conveys your message, and then tell them what it is.
Those snapshots are the posts and updates that are shared most frequently by your followers . . . and some of them may actually read them.
The Fickleness of Facebook
-A couple of years ago when Facebook implemented Edgerank, I wrote a post explaining why businesses can’t rely on Facebook for promotion. Edgerank throttles the number of page fans that actually see your status update in their news feed.
Since I wrote that article, it’s actually gotten worse. Worse for the business owner that is. It’s better for Facebook because it almost forces the average page owner to pay for post exposure.
If you want to be depressed, look at the page insights for each post and see how many people actually saw your update.
A Simple Explanation of Edgerank
The algorithm for Edgerank, like Google’s search engine algorithm, is constantly changing. However, the basic principle is, the more people engage with your update, the more of your fans Facebook will show it to.
For example, say your business Fan page has 2,000 fans. When your post is first post, it may only display in the newsfeeds of 100 of your fans. If people interact with it, either by liking, commenting, or sharing, Facebook will display it to more of your fans.
The next status you post will start out with a greater reach than the one before.
Consistency is Key
However, the opposite is also true. If you post sporadic or inconsistent updates, the number of fans your post is exposed to will drop dramatically.
It is important to be consistent.
Use Images to Build Engagement
One of the things that I’ve done on the fan page for the site I mentioned above is use creative quote graphics in daily updates. For that page, those types of updates get the best engagement, even above video.
The interaction from those updates builds up the overall engagement for the page so that when new updates from the blog are published on the Facebook page, the post gets a broader exposure than it would have normally.
Researchers at MIT have discovered the same thing:
Whatever type of image you use, it’s a fact that posts with images get more responses — more likes, comments and shares. Hatch recently tallied a month of posts on the MIT Facebook page, ranked from most- to least-talked about. Of the top 20 posts, 70 percent had photos. Similarly, on Facebook, the engagement rate is 37% higher for posts with images.
Social Media Creativity Made Easy
If you don’t currently have someone managing your social media campaign, you may be thinking, “I’m not creative.” That’s okay. There are options, and here is one of them. We’ve put together social media image sets that incorporate inspiring quotes to encourage interaction from your followers. When you purchase a set, each image is watermarked with your brand so that regardless of where it is shared, your business or website name is mentioned.
It is social media marketing made easier. We can’t make it any easier unless we do it for you (which we can do that too.)
