How to Use Brand Strategies for Growing Your Blog and Social Media

Promote your brand in a compelling and consistent way! Learn how to craft the content on your blog, choose the right social media channels, and correctly automate your content. Acquire the skills to find your niche audience that will read and share your message.

Presented at WordCamp Riverside 2017 // November 4, 2017

Transcript

1. HOW TO USE BRAND STRATEGIES FOR GROWING YOUR BLOG AND SOCIAL MEDIA
2. 20/80 RULE
3. 20% on content creation 80% on promotion
4. COMMUNICATION • Always ask: “Does this work for my brand?” • Communicate your authority • Be consistent on all channels • Use an editorial calendar • Video: Get in front of the camera!
5. BLOGGING TIPS • Write the way you talk. Use short words, sentences, & paragraphs. Good writing has 
 a purpose. • Know your SEO • Add social sharing buttons • Find other blogs in your niche & comment 
 on their posts
6. BLOGGING TIPS • Yes, you should blog, but only if you have something to say on a regular basis • Create a separate, pinnable image for your blog post (tall & long works best) for Pinterest • Use Yoast SEO or other plugin to customize 
 your headline & image for sharing to Facebook 
 & Twitter
7. SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS • Choose your social media channels • Provide value • Use the same social profile photo across 
 all social media channels • Respect each social media channel • Share content from other sources • 90/10 rule: 90% business-related, 10% personal
8. SOCIAL MEDIA
9. TWITTER • Popular “watering hole” • 36% of 18-29 year olds use Twitter • To get news and share their opinion • Works well for live events
10. TWITTER TIPS • Use #hashtags (2-3) in your tweet • Repeat tweets throughout the day • Post images & videos natively • Search hashtags to find your audience and engage
11. FACEBOOK • 79% of internet users still log into Facebook • Ability to target users based on their 
 actual interests • Supports a wide variety of posts • Detailed analytics
12. FACEBOOK TIPS • Keep your copy short; use images & videos 
 (post natively) • Use Facebook Live to demo products, 
 answer questions, live events • Create a business fan page for ads & analytics • Use business.facebook.com
13. INSTAGRAM • 59% of 18–29 year olds
 33% of 30–49 year olds • Instagram has 800 million monthly & 
 500 million daily active users • Instagram users are 58 times more likely to share an Instagram post than one from Facebook and 120 times more likely than a Twitter post.
14. INSTAGRAM TIPS • Only clickable link is in your bio - put your latest blog link there • Go crazy with #hashtags • After posting a photo, go search the same hashtags and like their photos • Use Instagram Stories & add hashtags, 
 location, polls • Switch to a business profile to run ads & get analytics
15. PINTEREST • 35% of 18–49 year olds • 68% users are women • Pinterest has 200 million users, which 90% have made purchases based on what they’ve found on the platform
16. PINTEREST TIPS • Pinterest is all about aspiration or utility • People are shopping on Pinterest • Infographics work well • Switch to a business profile
17. LINKEDIN • 33.5% of 18–49 year olds • Good channel for B2B marketing
18. LINKEDIN TIPS • Keep your profile updated regularly • Provide value by posting articles or updates regularly • Connect via LinkedIn Groups or create one • If you have a company, create a LinkedIn 
 company page • Empower your employees to connect with your company’s LinkedIn Page
19. SNAPCHAT • 56% of 18–29 year olds • Growth has slowed, but it’s still popular with people under 30
20. SNAPCHAT TIPS • Keep your content candid • Make it a conversation - encourage replies and reply back • Create a custom geofilter for live events
21. AUTOMATION
22. BLOG AUTOMATION • Automate with care! • Schedule future blog posts • Use Jetpack Publicize or other plugin to share your posts automatically when published • Use Revive Old Post or other plugin to automatically share older posts
23. SOCIAL AUTOMATION • Automate with care! • Use Hootsuite, Buffer, Zapier, IFTTT, or other service to schedule your social media content
24. ADVERTISING
25. ADVERTISING • Do it! • Prices are cheap now, but they will go up 
 in the future • Facebook & Instagram provide micro-targeting • Avoid cheesy stock photos • Write good copy
26. RESOURCES Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story 
 in a Noisy Social World
 Gary Vaynerchuk The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Users
 Guy Kawasaki & Peg Fitzpatrick Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
 Chris Brogan & Julien Smith
27. RESOURCES Sprout Social
 sproutsocial.com/insights Hootsuite
 blog.hootsuite.com Buffer
 blog.bufferapp.com
28. ANY QUESTIONS?