Social Media Marketing - Are you afraid of it?
As you know, at least you should know from the training here at WA, that in order to make money with your website you need to get traffic coming to it. Without the traffic of legitimate people coming to your website, you have a very slim chance of making a sale.
THE 2 BEST WAYS TO GET TRAFFIC
Though there are several ways to get traffic coming to your website, there are really only two that will do the best job. Both proper SEO, so you can rank well in the search engines, and SMM will yield the best results. Why is that? Because both will attract your target audience if done right.
I have seen people ask about various ways to get traffic, with many considering on buying traffic. PLEASE DO NOT BUY TRAFFIC. Just think about that for a minute. Do you really think that the traffic you buy are going to be people interested in what you are promoting, or even real people and not some bot?
The tried and true way to increase traffic is to increase your SEO and to engage in SMM, Social Media Marketing. Whereas SEO will get you traffic in the long run once you are ranking high, SMM will get you traffic a lot sooner if you are doing it correctly.
MY APPROACH TO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING
Like most members here at Wealthy Affiliate, I followed the training and joined Google+ and started my SMM there. It was a logical choice, even beyond what we learn in the training. Google has many free tools and resources for all who have their own website. When you use these, Google can look a little more favorable towards you.
Though it has been said that posting your website content on Google+ will help your rankings, I believe it does but only when the content is new and noteworthy. But regardless of this I started my Social Media Marketing here, even though I already had a Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
I learned back then to set up my Circles and did so by separating followers into specific circles. I had followers in my WA circle, my Natural Health circle, my Video Games circle, my ecommerce/eBay circle, and my Internet Marketing circle. You might be wondering why I had so many circles?
Because it was easier to manage having 3-4 different niche websites under 1 Google+ account. This is why when I see WA members ask if they should have a different Google+ account for each niche website, I answer No, it is not necessary. I just share the appropriate links with the niche specific circle or a Google+ Community.
DO NOT WAIT FOR YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE - GO TO THEM
When using both Google+ and Facebook, I do not post links to my content that often on my FB Profile, nor do I use a FB Page. Instead of waiting for my target audience to find me, I go to them and present them with my website links. It is the quickest way to get people to see your links. Joining niche specific Facebook Groups and Google+ Communities works the quickest.
How I Use Facebook for Social Media Marketing
When using Twitter you need to use niche specific hashtags within your tweets in order to attract quality traffic. When the majority of people search Twitter for something specific they will use a hashtag. For example, if someone was looking for tweets about the iPhone 6s they would search for #iPhone6s. Hashtags attract your target audience.
How to Use Twitter for Social Media Marketing Part 1
It is important that you tweet using a picture because this will more than double your chances of being seen. Unfortunately you can only Tweet with a picture by doing your tweeting from within Twitter. Using the social share buttons on your website will not give you the picture option.
How to Use Twitter for Social Media Marketing Part 2
Pinterest is sort of similar to the Google+ circles except now you are using niche specific Pin Boards. Make sure you have captivating images in your content that are not too small in size. You want to stand out and make people want to click on your Pin Board. A large and clear enough image will help to accomplish that.
How to Use Pinterest to Promote your Website Business
A majority of people like Pinterest mainly because it is a Visually Motivating social media network. People love to look at pictures and videos more than just plain content. With Pinterest you can offer your visitors not just links to your website but also other interesting things they might want to share.
Another interesting thing about Pinterest that the other social media networks cannot claim is that the majority of members are women. This means that if you have a niche that a majority of women would be interested in, Pinterest is the social media network you should use the most.
DO NOT BE AFRAID TO USE SMM
Sometimes I wonder why people are afraid to use social media for the marketing of their website content? I can understand that a lot that is on social media is garbage, things you don't care about, political B.S., and the like. But you do not have to deal with that crap unless you allow yourself to get caught up in it.
Some people I think are afraid because they do not want to learn it and think it is hard to use. This is actually ridiculous, especially for WA members. Why do I say that? If you can master using the WA website, posting links, writing blogs and such, then you should have no problems with social media.
You could say that WA is like a social media network, just without the various distractions. When you use SMM you just need to go to the network of your choice, post a few sentences about the link you are sharing, upload a relevant picture if needed, and post it. What is so hard about that?
So if you have completed your WA training on social media and you have not yet started using social media for the marketing of your website, I have just one question for you. What are you afraid of?
Recent Comments
66
I not afraid just curious about SMM that real work.
Wait for the audience to read my article that so BORE.
After reading the article, I find more interesting to attract more traffic to your website via social media marketing.
Thank you for open my eye.
Hi Robert, well it's funny really but there is a fear attached to SMM - partly but not limited to not wanting to spam people or get it wrong by posting on the wrong platform...or just getting no interest at all... It isn't a particularly logical fear...
I share my links easily enough on Google + and on my facebook page, but I haven't mastered pasting links on groups yet and twitter just doesn't interest me at all so it's hard to get into ithat when I'm already prejudiced against it. How on earth did twitter manage to become a success I'll never understand! Oh but that's by the way, just waffle.
Back to the fear, WA is an excellent place to get rid of fear because everyone here's so supportive but the nerves for other platforms can still lurk in the corners! I suspect fear is just a part of what holds us bad-at-SMM-people-back. It's a kind of paralysis. I take it from your post that you've got pretty good as it. Maybe soon I'll say the same - but time will tell...!
Thanks for the interesting post! :-)
You are welcome Soraya. It sounds like your fear is getting the better of you.
If you have no problems posting your links on your Google+ and Facebook profiles, then you should have no problems posting them in Groups and Communities.
It is exactly the same thing as posting on your profile but it is on another screen. Think of it as another profile screen and do the exact same thing you do on your profile. Just only post once per day when first starting out.
Well, maybe it sounds like the fear is beating me but it isn't - this is nothing, I'm much better than before ;-) . It's just a learning curve and one part that hasn't yet been accomplished because there's so much else to do. Do you simply post your link or do you invest time in becoming a chatty member of the group first? If you post the link, how to you check that the group won't object to it? Thank you.
Great article Robert. Full of information and written so a newby can understand it.
one quick question: did you mean to put Twitter in the sentence "How I use Facebook for Social Media Marketing"?
Hi Robert,
Great post. Here is a story about how SMM can work well and quickly.
My wife recently started working at a Tax Accountant/Bookkeeping office owned by a long-time friend. First thing Sharon suggested was that Facebook marketing needs to be resurrected. She began an authorized editor of the Facebook page, put up a new post with a link on Instagram and within 24 hours, two new clients. They both live overseas but need a new Tax Accountant.
One of my window washing clients, a hair and beauty salon, use Facebook extensively to post specials and take bookings through Facebook Messenger.
Social media marketing has to be a key pillar in our marketing strategies.
Thanks for the great reminders,
Cheers,
Duncan
You are welcome Duncan. That is a great story and one that I have seen first hand when helping others. SEO is important for future success, but SMM is perfect for those who want faster results. All it takes is some work to build up a profile and following. Then just start sharing your information and links.
About 10 minutes after I wrote the above comment, I received a quote request through my window washing site (built thanks to WA education). When I asked how the lady found my site, she said she saw the link on Facebook. I had spent a few dollars promoting a post and it worked.
SMM is a key platform. Thanks for your help, Robert.
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Awesome Info!
Thank you, glad you liked it.