We went searching for the top social media tips from experts, via over 40 case studies that were put out about social media platforms such as:
Here’s what we found.
Quora
Start A Blog On Quora
Did you know you can start a blog on Quora? Starting a blog on Quora is one way to develop social engagement with other Quora users/members, which is the key to thriving in the community. You can have your content seen and discussed here in order to build traffic to your website. Be careful though, your content must be relevant and must not be focused on advertising your blog or website, or the mods will take you down! — fatbit.com
Get Involved In The Quora Community
Engagement on Quora is key to building up your profile, as is the case for any community. Do not shy from upvoting any valuable comment and query. This activity shows that you are appreciating other users’ content too, not just your own. Keep adding answers to topics that are being followed by large number of users. It shows the popularity of query, and then will get you additional exposure and views because the topic is heavily trafficked. — opposableplanets.com
Plan Your Actions When Posting Questions or Answers (Quora)
Did you want to get 100 new subscribers on making use of social media websites such as Quora? How do you propose you should do it? It is important to always come up with a plan, without a plan you are just executing, but not strategically. Target the most viewed posts in Quora to get your engagement in front of a lot of people. — makerstool.com
Listen To What Other People Are Talking About (Quora)
Remember how your significant other always tells you that you need to listen more? Get involved in Quora and research popular topics in order to have a different perspective. This is a great way to see how and why popular social media posts work and how you can learn from them. Listening is the key before engaging! — boostblogtraffic.com
Learn What Gamification Is And Put It Into Perspective
Gamification is the concept of applying game elements into into non-game context. This is one of the main reasons why Quora works really well as a social media engagement platform. You get to have some credits you can use to answer questions that you think you can answer and in a way, this brings a lot of people to have some sort of achievement by earning and spending credits. Is there a way you can apply gamification to your business? — technologyadvice.com
Triberr
Build Influence
Building an influence on social media plays a huge factor in the success of any startups. The more influence you can build for your brand, the more followers you will get. This brings you to the next step which is to convert from those followers brought about by your influencers. Remember, you can leverage the influencer you have in one platform to get opportunities in another, such as guest posts on blogs. — diyblogger.net
Get to Know Other Bloggers
So how do you build influencer? Start with bloggers, who control the spread of influencer in the online world. Read them, follow them, and build a good relationship with them. Share posts that are relevant to your niche or business and they likely will do the same for you. This is basically blogger etiquette, and it works. — kikolani.com
Extend Your Reach On Facebook
Utilize your business’ Facebook Page. Facebook insights are incredibly powerful in determining how you can promote your brand. Look at your posts and compare which got more hits and shares and focus on that for your future posts; wash, rinse, repeat. — smartinsights.com
Leverage Facebook Ads (Even On A Budget)
Facebook Ad campaigns may cost a bit, but if you have got the budget for it, I would recommend that you try it. Facebook Ads can target the right audience for your brand and it is sure to give you good results most, if not all, of the time (with proper optimization). Of course, getting more followers does not equate to selling more directly, but its a start, and will help your content spread further after it is posted. — webmarketingtoday.com
Pay Attention To What People Are Talking About (Seriously!)
Let’s revisit the listening strategy. There is too much talking in social media and not enough listening. Knowing what people think can help you shape the brand you are trying to promote. It is always best to listen to what people say about you or your brand and make the necessary changes in order to give your brand just the right fit for the market that you have. This is why you need to monitor your reputation across social channels. — slideshare.net
Use Engaging Images (And The Rule Of Three)
On Facebook, pictures can get hundreds or even thousands of shares if it really stimulates the audience. Of course, this doesn’t really apply to all brands, but in this case, you really have to think outside the box of what you can share to your audience that would make them say, “I should share this too.” This is essentially how things go viral. There’s also another way of getting them to look at the pictures you’re posting. The secret is to upload 3 or more pictures at the same time so that your post looks like thumbnails in an album, which makes people curious to see more…— convinceandconvert.com
Learn What Facebook Has Done And Can Do For You
Marketing your business online is no easy task, but consider all of the tools you’re not leveraging. Facebook has been here for over a decade and is constantly evolving, giving people (individuals and businesses alike) tons of new features that they can take advantage of (are you taking advantage of them?). Over a billion people use Facebook and your market is just a tiny fraction of that (but still huge). Your market is out there, you should be utilizing what Facebook can do for you via their insights and demographic targeting! — nielsen.com
Sign Up On Twitter And Start: Following, Tweeting and Retweeting
Twitter can hugely impact your brand/business. By gaining follower, you gain trust, influencer, and authority. Now, why is that important? Trust on social platforms is what gets your content seen and shared. Build up a follower count by engaging with others and following them, they will follow you back. — adweek.com
If You Value Blogging, Do Micro Blogging As Well
From simply updating your brand’s status to promoting relevant content, Twitter as a micro blogging community can help shape your brand’s future. Think of engaging on Twitter as a form of microblogging, on a platform that gets millions of views a week. — slideshare.net
Start With Twitter If You Think You Can’t Do It All At Once
If I had to recommend a social media platform to start with; it’s Twitter. I think it’s the easiest to get started with, because the functionality and concept is so simple (which is why it has grown so much). It’s true that the advertising is not quite as robust as Facebook, but the quick ability to follow and engage with people can help you build a presence fast. — chrisg.com
Use Twitter for B2C AND B2B
Okay, let’s face it, Twitter is not going to be productive with every website, but if your site is a B2C and B2B site, do not ignore Twitter. Twitter is not just a place for consumers but many businesses are quite active and responsive on their accounts. You can certainly use it to engage with your target business market. — sugarrae.com
Strategize Your Twitter Use (Don’t Waste Time!)
Remember that thing I told you earlier about blogger’s rule of thumb? This works on Twitter as well but with a slightly different twist. Tweeting your post could get you followers, yes, but more importantly, retweeting popular posts can get you even more followers because people will notice you more by doing that. Go to Twitter with a strategy, otherwise you are walking a fine line between simply wasting time. — jonochsblog.com
Pin It On Pinterest And Measure The Results
Again, each social media is different. So how can you utilize Pinterest if this was bound to work for your business or niche? Well, that’s simple, get on Pinterest and start pinning, see what happens. Who engages with you? Do they go to your website? Do they convert? — allrecipes.com
Use Pinterest For Your Inbound Marketing Campaign
If your product or brand is highly visual (wallpapers, weightloss, food for example), I’d recommend that you start an inbound marketing campaign on Pinterest. Sure you can do that on Facebook as well but remember, this is a different social media platform, some people who might not have seen you on Facebook may see you here. So, what’s in it for you: new site traffic. — marketingsherpa.com
Make Your Website Pinterest Friendly
Pinterest can do a lot of things for your brand, yes, but if you’re not sure why or how it would work, it wouldn’t hurt to make your website Pinterest-friendly. Remember that this platform has the power to drive people’s interest and it will definitely help build your brand. What do we mean by Pinterest friendly? Make sure you have the proper Pin It buttons for each post, and a highly attractive image. — socialmediaexaminer.com
Develop Media Impressions Through Pinterest
Case studies of huge brands benefitting from Pinterest are nothing new, but it’s not simply because they’re a large brand that it worked for them. Often, it had more to do with their product and their execution, meaning it can work for you as well. — aiga.org
Use Pinterest To Generate Engagement Via A Content
One way to get the right engagement on Pinterest is to promote a contest. An example of this is Walmart’s, Walmart Goes Green – The Contest Theme, in which they hosted a contest and generated great amounts of engagement plus traffic. There are many plugins and apps that will help you promote a contest, if you’re interested. — pinnablebusiness.com
Sign Up On Reddit
Redditors hate marketers. Well, what they hate are posts that are TOO promotional. So, as simple as it sounds, sign up, personally, for Reddit. Start engaging in the community (like Quora), and then you won’t come across as a spammer. Always follow “reddiquette”. — slideshare.net
Provoke Relevant Discussion For The Community Via A Contest
Remember “Use Pinterest To Generate Engagement”? Ask people to post something; it could be a photo, a clever comment, an answer to a question and choose a winner then give out a reward. Effectively, run a small contest on reddit. — thepowertoprovoke.com
Be Creative On Reddit
“Be human, be transparent, no corporate mumbo-jumbo.” Didn’t I mention that reddit hates marketers? The bigger you are, the more likely they won’t like you. People who are creative are rewarded on Reddit. This means creative images, lines, and discussion. — cargocollective.com
Experiment On Reddit
Let’s face it, reddit is one of the weirdest online communities out there and requires experimentation. No one gets it right on their first try. Try different sub-forums, and thread approaches and see what people respond to. Again, remember, do not sound too promotional! — econsultancy.com
Use Reddit To Boost Your Content Exposure
By this point, you already know that whatever your post on reddit, your tone should NEVER sound too promotional. This is another tactic for your content marketing, all you need to do before starting this campaign is to find the right community (subreddit), and go after it with a value adding post. Content is a good way to add value without being overly promotional. — fastwebmedia.com
Think Before You Post Or Interact – Read The Guidelines
Reddit is known to be a thinking community which values transparency. If you want to get your point accross, make sure that it is relevant to the community. Each sub-forum has guidelines, which you must read in order to know what’s appropriate. — wordpress.com
Google+
Use Google+ For Your Social SEO
First, what is social SEO? There’s SEO and there’s social media, the intersection between the two is what social SEO is. Google+ plays a roll in this because content that is shared on Google+ can rank in the SERPs. . — plusyourbusiness.com
Create Your Google+ Profile And Get Into A Community
Did you know that G+ has communities as well? And communities are really the heart of engaging in a social platform. The community needs to be relevant to your brand/business. Join, and start adding relevant people to your circle. — in2itivesearch.com
Engage With The Google+ Community
One thing that’s different about being on Google+ is Google itself. It offers a variety of different tools that you can use to improve your website and business like SEO tools and so on. For example, you can use Google Hangouts where you can chat with people for free – use that as a way to get a stronger footing in a community. — www.krishna.me
Reach Out To Influences By Tagging Them
Influencer marketing focuses on key individuals to market your content for you. You have to reach out to these influencers by posting relevant topics and content to your Google+ page. The more influences you can get, the more circle you’ll be added into. When you post something on G+ tag a few people who might benefit from it, and they will get a notification, and perhaps share it too. — www.circled.us
Take Advantage Of Google+ For SEO
Google+ is very similar to Facebook, but if you take a closer look, Google+’s potential in social media marketing is far better compared to Facebook simply because of the other resources it can offer you. Aside from all these, Google+ gives you an advantage to your SEO strategy, the more +’s you get, the higher you’ll rank on search results. How crazy is that? — reelmarketer.com
Be Seen On Instagram
Pinterest and Instagram have a lot of similarities. Take for example, Ikea’s case when they started using Instagram to market their products. They’ve adapted to their customer’s lifestyle and provided a fun and engaging way of shopping online, and used a lot of images to get exposure. — digitalfidelity.info
Make A Photo Campaign
You can gain more followers on this platform if you start with making a photo campaign. Invest in great photos and you will see the rewards. — sumall.com
Never Stop Experimenting
How do you know if Instagram is going to work for you? Well, you can’t, but you can look at competitors and see where they are having success. If they are getting traction on Instagram, you should try it as well. — garyhyman.com
Use Instagram To Stimulate Engagement
Travel brands have found quite a lot of success in using Instagram to promote themselves because of the number of engaging comments and interaction from their followers. It pays to give it a try and see if the same could work on your brand. If you’re in the travel, food, or DIY niche this is the platform for you. — linkhumans.com
Think Outside The Box When Starting A Campaign
Social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are largely beneficial to businesses and brands that can promote themselves through pictures and images. A good example for a well thought-out campaign on Instagram is Ezra & Eli’s “10k followers sale”. Check out their case study. — business2community.com
Build A Relationship With Other Professionals On LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the perfect place for B2B marketing, which is often done through networking/relationships. The more people you know on this platform, the more people you will get exposed to, and eventually your connections will grow. “LinkedIn Groups are one of the most powerful ways to learn, discuss and network – and even potentially develop business.” — maximizesocialbusiness.com
Create An Outstanding Professional Profile
Your LinkedIn profile has a lot to say about how successful you’ll be in getting the right leads on this platform. There’s no better way of explaining this than quoting from one case study I’ve read: “People don’t care about you or me, they care about how we can help them and if the profile doesn’t convey that message, it won’t be very effective.” — topdogsocialmedia.com
Follow An Influencer In Your Area Of Interest
Liking, commenting and sharing content are a good way to build an identity on LinkedIn. Not to mention, you can also join active groups where you can participate in discussions and such. From there, meet people and build relationships. — sharonhh.com
Youtube
Get On Youtube
You don’t really need to be an expert in making videos nor need to hire a specialist to do this for you. What you need are sets of ideas relevant to your brand or business, like how-to videos or 10-easy-steps-to something videos, those sort that will make your business stand out. You want to have the material out there, not necessarily to promote, but to help. — jeffbullas.com
Put A Video Out There
It doesn’t matter if you have 100 views or even 100,000 views on a video that you put up a few months ago on Youtube because you don’t know what’s coming later. A perfect example for this is ReelSEO’s case study of Dynomighty Design’s Youtube marketing. The first two years of a particular video they posted gained only 400k views, but when the hype came up in the third year and it went up to 750k views in just 3 months. — reelseo.com
Make Explanation Videos Instead Of Interview Videos
I’ve mentioned making “how-to” videos earlier, that’s the same as explanation video. Sometimes, when people want to get a point accross, they interview experts and let the audience learn from them. But incidentally, it turned out that actual “explanation” video yielded better results compared to “live interview” video. So in this respect, “how-to’s” and “guides-to” may be better in terms of getting the idea from point A to point B. — sayitvisually.com
Reach Out To A Vlogger For Additional Exposure
Reaching out to a Vlogger (video blogger) is a good idea if you want to market your brand visually via Youtube. These Vloggers have subscribers to their channel and it is a good way to market your brand to them. This works the same as a TV product endorsement. — vocalcom.com
Use Youtube To Your Brand’s Advantage
Put your brand or company logo on all your Youtube videos. Make your company website visible on the video description as well some other contact information. Use the background for color theme and customize according to your brand colors. Show off what your brand can do but don’t look too promotional when doing this. Most importantly, create an engaging comment section by responding to people commenting on your videos. — impression-marketing.com
Learn From The Big Brands
Learn from big brands and absorb all that is applicable to your business. Kellogg’s, a globally recognizable breakfast cereal brand conducted a social media campaign before and succeded in two ways. Firstly they got a ton of exposure. Secondly, they were able to collate and analyze that data, which was used to strategize for future campaigns. — brandwatch.com
