As we wrap up this week’s series, How To Use Social Media Like a Jedi, I’m going to share what’s working for me by sharing what I believe are social media jedi power tools.
First let me share what isn’t: Twitter. I suck at it and it’s not drawing any traffic to speak of. So if you have any tips, please let me know.
Social Media Jedi Power Tool #1: Pinterest
I get more hits from a well made Pin on Pinterest than any other source. More than search engines, more than the almighty Facebook. The beautiful thing about Pinterest pins is, people can rediscover them and re-pin them, which gives them a second, third, and fourth life.
I create an image for every blog post and pin every image on Pinterest right from my blog, so every click on that image from Pinterest brings them back to my website. It’s gold when it works, and when it doesn’t, you learn something you can improve for next time. My social sharing buttons (compliments of Social Sharing Toolkit) include a “pin it” option which is also gold.
Social Media Jedi Power Tool #2: Facebook Comments
I use Facebook Comments by Fat Panda for my blog commenting client. The layout isn’t as pretty as say, Disqus, but it looks like Facebook and people seem to like that. It’s also set so that if people comment on my blog, that comment will appear in their news feed back on Facebook. If I respond to their comment, that appears there too. Which creates a powerful visibility tool. People can opt out from their comment appearing this way, but most leave it be. Gold.
Social Media Jedi Power Tool #3: WordPress SEO
I can’t afford to use Scribe SEO services, so I installed the WordPress SEO plugin by Yoast. It helps you craft a post using keywords and Google optimized formatting so that you are far more likely to rank for the post you’re sharing with the world. A week or two after the Hobbit came out I blogged a personal review (using this plugin) that was found on page three of Google for several weeks, even though far bigger fish were blogging about it. Gold.
Social Media Jedi Power Tool #4: Facebook Training
A few months ago I dropped about a hundred bucks on an online Facebook training Course by Brian Moran. Amy Porterfield also has some great stuff online. The fact is, there are people out there who are power users and understand how to leverage Facebook in amazing ways. I highly recommend investing in some basic training if you want to take things to the next level and build a bigger tribe online.
Social Media Jedi Power Tool #5: Facebook Ads
A week ago I decided to flush sixty bucks down the toilet and buy a few Facebook Ads. The first flush was $10 for a “promoted post” that didn’t get much mileage. The second was a $50 investment in a Facebook Ad that’s helped my Geek Faith Tribe fan page jump a hundred fans in just over a week and extend my social reach exponentially. I’ll definitely do this again. The cool part is that you can set a budget and stick to it.
Well, that’s what I’m big on right now. But what’s working for you? Let’s talk, comment below: