Social Media in 2019: 3 Tips to Stand out and Grow – Heather Heuman

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Today’s guest is none other than Heather Heuman from Sweet Tea Social Marketing, and she’s here to try and boil down what has CHANGED in the world of blog social media marketing–and provide was some updated strategies that can bring you followers, traffic, and true fans in 2018, 2019, and beyond. Be sure to grab her Facebook Marketing Checklist here! #SweetFreebies

Social media is easy, right?

  • publish stuff
  • connect to Buffer, SmarterQueue, Hootsuite
  • automate sharing
  • clicks and traffic roll in

Only one problem…

That strategy was most effective years ago–when there was only a handful (comparatively speaking) of bloggers in any niche.

No longer.

Social media HAS to be utilized differently these days, if you’re seeking to amass a loyal and ginormous following.

Let’s dig into HOW to make that happen.

Listen to my episode with Heather from Sweet Tea Social Marketing

or listen on Apple Podcasts \ Google Podcasts \ Spotify

Let’s break down some of the big takeaways from the episode:

1 – “Don’t Outsource the Voice of Your Brand”

And by “outsource,” I don’t just mean to another human being (VA, assistant, etc).

This also applies to any social media management or automation tool.

It is no longer enough to just plug your blog posts into these tools–and assume it will grow you a healthy and profitable following (and traffic).

Get it?

These “outsourced” social media interactions are NOT enough to be an influencer. (and in turn launch $100k products, land media features, get on podcasts, etc)

The answer? Use social media platforms the way they were intended to be used.

Facebook and Twitter were NOT meant to drive traffic to your blog.

In fact, most social channels are starting to crush organic reach–going “pay to play” by forcing you to use paid advertising for traffic/leads, etc.

Engage.

Have a real presence. As in “literally YOU typing out posts and sharing stuff.”

It’s 2018, and we can all see straight through “heavily-automated-only-sharing-this-for-clicks” content. You have to do more.

So what the heck does “more” mean?

This…

2 – the Answer To “Ok, so what do I DO” to Stand Out: Produce Content for the Platform.

Think about this.

The core purpose of Twitter was to have short and meaningful interactions with people.

Not just recycle content.

Facebook was originally built to quickly share with your “friends” what you’re up to (hence the words “status update.”)

Not just recycle content.

Instagram was built to share multi-media content without extended explanations and story.

Not just recycle content.

See a trend here?

Social media platforms do NOT have it in their best interest to drive people to your blog. It’s not in mission statements.

So what can you do? (aside from SmarterQueue-ing your blog posts over and over again).

Hop on the social channels and literally do what the platforms were built for.

  • Instagram = share images (doesn’t have to relate to your blog topic necessarily!) BUILDS A BRAND.
  • Facebook = create groups (encourage back-and-forth dialog that keeps people on Facebook) BUILD A COMMUNITY.
  • Twitter = follow people you care about (and engage w/ GIFs).

Pro Tip for Twitter: You don’t have to only follow people you care about. You can create separate Twitter “lists” to check-in on the people you want to engage with.

This might even mean creating content for a social media channel that DOES NOT include a link back to your blog!

*gasps

Remember, your goal is not to drive traffic.

“Driving traffic” is simply a strategy to get you closer to your real goals of $$$$$$$ or influence (or both).

If using social media in a non-driving-traffic way can also help you to those goals in some way–THAT’S how you should be spending your time on social media.

This advice also goes all the way to literally formatting your content for the specific channel.

Sometimes you can exactly re-purpose content from one channel to the next. Sometimes you can’t!

Even if this means “slightly changing” the content you share on Facebook so it’ll adapt well to LinkedIn–then do it.

This will help you stand out, simply due to the fact that so many dang bloggers AREN’T doing this. (or brands, either).

3 – Small Pro Tip: What Are Your Top-5 Authority Builders?

Let’s say you blog about parenting.

There are loads of parent bloggers on Twitter, Facebook, etc, and they all have their strengths.

However, there are likely some sub-topics (or sub-sub-topics) that YOU can speak on better than 99.5% of other parent bloggers. What are those?

Play to your strengths.

If you search through the Do You Even Blog Blog (snickers) archives, you’ll note than 100% of my Pinterest-related articles are other people talking about Pinterest.

Why?

It’s not one of my top-5 authority builders.

  1. Making money through digital products
  2. teaching people through technical content
  3. relationship building
  4. community building
  5. standing out by being more than slightly odd

These are some of the things I do better than other meta-bloggers.

What are your top 5?

Identify them and write them on a sticky note. Highlight these across your entire brand–including social channels (Facebook lives? Twitter conversations? etc)

Be honest. How much of your “social media activity” is 100% automated, and how much of your voice and authority is actually broadcast on any given week?

Let me know in the comments 🙂

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Related reading for new bloggers: A Complete Blogging guide for your first 12 months.

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