Tag: Social Media Management

  • Step by Step Guide To Schedule Social Media Updates Using Buffer App

    Step by Step Guide To Schedule Social Media Updates Using Buffer App

    Over 1 million users are using Buffer for their daily social media campaigns and the numbers are growing rapidly by the day.

    The biggest question is probably “What makes Buffer so damn famous?”

    Buffer is designed to offer you a more efficient way to handle all your social media accounts and campaigns. Basically, it makes scheduling social media updates as easy as A, B and C.

    For those who don’t know me, I am pretty much a social media freak. I am constantly on mobile and social media. Yes, welcome to the 21st century!

    With over 11 social media accounts to handle, it is really time consuming to handle all. Also with my hectic schedule, it is a no brainer that I need the right social media management tool to turn my social media woes into something … really pleasant.

    As for the record, I had used HootSuite, Socialoomph and a dozen more social media management tool until date. Honestly speaking, nothing really come close to Buffer.

    So, why should I be using Buffer?

    For starters, Buffer is a free tool which makes life much easier and I was pretty skeptical about its ability before this. Yup, I thought that it was hard to use and I didn’t really bother learning.

    So for those who are wondering how you can REALLY use Buffer for your social media campaigns, keep reading on as I will share with you how to use Buffer … the right way.

    I uses it because it has a very detailed social media analytics tool.

    Let’s be real honest here. Buffer and any other social media management tools are closely equivalent when it comes to the scheduling features etc.

    However, what distinguished Buffer from the rest are the reports it generates and of course, the lovely support team who never complains about all my rants.

    Okay, I admit it. I am a tough customer to handle 🙂

    It doesn’t matter if you are a blogger or thinking of using it for your business; Buffer app could be the right choice for you.

    And here’s the link to the 9 Buffer’s Values.

    The pricing factors

    Buffer offers both free and premium plans for bloggers

    Buffer is free for all and you can create your account simply by clicking here. On a free account, you can easily manage one Twitter, Facebook (page or profile), and LinkedIn account with up to 10 updates in your buffer, aka scheduler. This means that you can schedule up to 10 updates on free account.

    If you are a heavy scheduler like me, you can easily signup for Buffer Awesome plan at $10 per month to manage 12 social profiles, have unlimited posts in your buffer, and even add two team members to help manage it all.

    For any bigger business plans, you would need to contact the support team and discuss on the rates.

    How do you schedule an update on Buffer?

    Scheduling social media updates using Buffer is easy

    It is a very powerful social media management tool if you know how to use it correctly. There are two very important factors which you need to consider which are:

    1. Determine the social media platforms to share the updates
    2. Time of sharing the updates

    If you are keen of reading on this (which I highly recommend), check out my latest write up on 3 steps to kick start social media automation.

    Remember that with proper planning, you are going to skyrocket your social media campaigns and ROI. Don’t forget that if done correctly, you can also increase your referral traffic too.

    It only takes you two steps to start buffering your updates. Yes, only two for Christ’s sake!

    1. You need to setup a schedule time for Buffer to work

    Step by step guide in creating a schedule on Buffer App

    Here, you need to set up the specific time to share the update for every social media accounts you have. And scheduling a time on Buffer is easy.

    • You basically click on the Schedule tab (#1)
    • Set the day of your choice such as daily or specific days (#2)
    • Select a time for that Buffer to work (#3)

    For those who are managing more than one social media accounts, it is best NOT to schedule the same updates at a specific time.

    Also, it is always great to select Shuffle for every completed social media scheduled updates to avoid duplication between accounts.

    This is a great way to avoid having labelled as spam.

    2. Scheduling a social media update on Buffer

    Scheduling a social media update using Buffer is really easy. All you need to do are these three simple steps:

    • Input your update
    • Select the social media accounts you want to schedule that update
    • Choose Share Now or Buffer

    Yes! That’s all. pretty simple right?

    Refer the below image for easier understanding:

    Buffer makes social media sharing easy

    Analyzing your social media reach using Buffer analytics

    Personally, I am in love with the analytics and it is simply because it makes social networking so darn easy!

    Buffer analytics will provide you details such as the number of clicks, comments, likes and reach to name a few. What makes this social media tool better is that for each time the update is reshared by others, your number of reach will be updated instantly.

    This is very useful since you would have an idea on how far your social media had reached out to others and what others do with it in terms of resharing and clicking on the link provided.

    Buffer is one of the best social media analytics tool

    Buffer makes sharing … even easier!

    At this point, I am sure you are pretty tempted to use Buffer but there’s more.

    Do you remember the Buffer’s philosophy to makes sharing easier?

    You can easily integrate Buffer with over a dozen apps and extensions. Imagine  using Buffer on Chrome, Firefox, smartphones and various social media platforms.

    And my favorite are:

    • Buffer extension in Chrome
    • Integration with Feedly
    • Integration with Pocket app

    I was using Buffer so much until a few of my close blogging buddies asked if I am online 24 hours a day, 7 times a week!

    Thank you Buffer!

    For me, it is more than just a tool when it comes to social media automation and campaigns. It has proven its worth even though I had used it less than a month now. With the rate Buffer is expanding, I am having high hopes that Buffer is going to the leading social media management tool for all.

    Video guide: How to make scheduling work for you on Buffer app

     

    Are you using Buffer for social media automation?

    This social media automation tool had shown its capabilities to compete with some of the finest social media management tools out there.

    It is no doubt that it offers tons of benefits and is absolutely no surprise that many bloggers and businesses are already looking into the ‘Buffer solution’.

    Here are a few question for you (and feel free to hit the Reply button below):

    1. Are you using Buffer?
    2. If yes, what do you like about it?
    3. If no, what can Buffer team do to convince you use it?
    4. What do you hope to see in Buffer in the future?

    Don’t be shy and tell me what you think! Or, sign up right now for a free Buffer account today!

  • 7 Most Influential Social Media Platforms For Bloggers

    7 Most Influential Social Media Platforms For Bloggers

    Since the previous Google algorithm update, social media isn’t just an option. Instead, social media had transformed into a necessity which will impact your website traffic and SEO ranking.

    And this is no secret either. The right social media platforms will help you build authority and web traffic to your site.

    I had written an article on why social engagement is more important than SEO and if you have yet to read it, I suggest you do it right now.

    There are more than 30 social media sites that you can choose from nowadays and you don’t have the time to find the best ones.

    I get it … totally.

    That’s why I have compiled the top 7 platforms for social media that will not only increase your blog traffic, but as well as assist you in terms of building authority as a blogger.

    Note: Thanks to Adam, I would like to emphasize that the criteria used to determine the standings is no other than the number of users it has. Yes, I am fully aware it is debatable but I believe this could be a good guideline for bloggers to determine which social media platform is the best for them. 

    Before you start reading, here’s a quick video recap on this topic. I hope you liked it and please share it! *p/s Do accept my apologies for the ‘loss of words’ towards the end of the video.

    The countdown for the top 7 social media platforms

    Social media plays a huge role in terms of web traffic and link building strategy.
    Focusing on the right social media platforms will increase the chances of gaining web traffic

    There are probably so many social media sites that you can choose from but the trick here is to ensure that every involvement or social engagement done have a high chance of success. Some call it ‘Return Of Investment’ aka ROI.

    You know, taking into consideration of the time spend and the traffic gained.

    An important tip I would like to share is that each social media platform works in a very different way. Therefore, you need to have the proper game plan in order to really stand out from the crowd.

    Here, I would highly recommend you to have a look at what Dave Kerpen wrote on Likeable Social Media which gained over 300 satisfied readers on Amazon itself.

    The 7th most influential social media platform: Pinterest

    Bloggers can increase blog traffic by using Pinterest
    Alike Tumblr, Pinterest is extremely popular with its ‘pins’ and ‘boards’.

    With over 70 millions users world wide, Pinterest has proved to be a great competitor to Tumblr especially in the photography world.

    How to do build web traffic through Pinterest?

    Alike Tumblr, Pinterest is a great social media tool for everyone if you uses it correctly.

    Pinterest works in very similar ways when it comes to attracting readers.

    Here’s a simple example: The hottest girl in the class will always get the most attention from boys. 

    Does this makes any sense to you?

    You have to remember that Pinterest is another social media tool that could deem very useful. Before you can actually earn some traffic and money from Pinterest, you got to practice the right techniques to display your ‘artworks’ like what Maddie Alexander said.

    The 6th most influential social media platform: Tumblr

     Increase web traffic using Tumblr by sharing beautiful images
    The right social media strategy need to be practised in order to gain traffic from Tumblr

    Tumblr as we all know is a great social media platform in terms of photography and images.

    It is doing extremely well especially by having more than 216.3 million visitors a month and 108.9 million blogs on the site.

    If you want to generate enough web traffic from Tumblr, you need to change your social media game plan … completely (almost).

    Tumblr is rich with images … and images only. You could do well in terms of text but the results wouldn’t be (at most times) that great.

    If you are looking for a trick or the ultimate Tumblr guide, you definitely came to the right place.

    Here’s the trick: There … isn’t … any trick!

    What?!

    Before you grab your 12-gauge shotgun and take an aim on me, spare me a moment to think. Tumblr is all about images and does that make sense that you need to focus on that (just) one thing?

    And yes, you are most welcome.

    Take a look at some of Tumblr’s popular blogs. You will see that they have great images and basically, that’s it!

    So the social media lesson here is —> If you want to gain traffic from Tumblr, start focusing in marketing your images. Ensure that these images are on high resolution and there’s a link back to your website.

    Again, remember that majority of the readers are looking for great images and NOT text. So, play the right social media game correctly and you will see a steady flow of traffic.

    The 5th most influential social media platform: LinkedIn

    LinkedIn provides a good social media platform especially for corporate users
    LinkedIn could be very social media tool if you are targeting corporate users

    Until date, there are about 238 million active users and this makes LinkedIn, the top 5 social media site in the world.

    I don’t use LinkedIn that much and I got to admit that.

    Depending on your niche, investing time into building a social authority with this social media platform could be a complete waste of time.

    What?!

    LinkedIn is great if you are running a business but if you are just a blogger or anything else that doesn’t really relate to business and the corporate world, you will probably not get much return from this.

    In order to benefit most out of LinkedIn, you got to know:

    • How your product could attract others?
    • What makes them (potential readers) to click on your link?

    As you can see above, you can’t just do the usual ‘social media techniques’ that never fails with LinkedIn.

    In order to ‘sell’ on LinkedIn, you need to think like a corporate user. Bear in mind that you are going to reach out to many corporate members.

    That’s why you got to change the tone and the approach methods in order to gain promising results.

    LinkedIn has quite an upper hand advantage especially when it comes to social media authority and traffic. Since the platform evolves around the corporate world, each social shares are taken seriously by others.

    Does this ring any bells?

    You are bound to get more authority and potential traffic if you are able to get social shares from large organizations. And you can probably find most of them ‘lurking’ away in LinkedIn.

    Facing problems with managing multiple social media accounts? Try Socialoomph for free today!

    The 4th most influential social media platform: Google+

    Google+ is very famous when it comes to link building
    Google+ brought social networking to a whole new level

    Google+ is trailing closely behind Twitter with 343 million users and this makes everything more interesting.

    Some people say Facebook and Twitter are for the masses while Google+ is for specific audience. Personally, I got to agree with that.

    So, what makes Google+ so different from the rest?

    Unlike Twitter and Facebook, Google+ brings social media to the next level. There are Google+ communities where you can join and these are very specific community.

    Let’s take this community for as an example:

    Google Community offers a chance for targeted traffic in social media
    Sharing related article or blog post in the right community will guarantee a good chance of traffic

    Sharing a related blog post or article here could mean having over 900 of targeted traffic

    You might be wondering right now that 900 plus active users isn’t going to make the cut right? Think again.

    What you have here is 900 plus of active users who are (and possibly) very interested with the related topic you are going to share.

    Does this makes any sense to you?

    There you go; Google+ is a social media platform where you are able to target very specific audience for your blogs, business, niche and probably, anything else you can think of.

    Related read: Get Traffic From Google Plus

    The 3rd most influential social media platform: Twitter

    Twitter is one of the best social media tools for bloggers
    Share information with thousands of readers with just 140 characters

    This is my favorite social media platform … ever. For the record, Twitter is the third largest community for social networking with over 500 million users.

    Sending out a highly optimized tweet could easily reach hundreds if not thousands. And, we have not even count on the total number of retweets and favorites.

    Twitter is a great social media tool if you are looking for:

    • High possibility of huge traffic (quantity over quality)
    • Wide range of recipients
    • Word of mouth (thanks to retweets)

    You see, Twitter is for the masses. The goal is to reach out (not send out) to as many readers as possible with the hopes of reaching the right audience.

    Generally speaking, you can’t really specify who you are reaching out due to the above factors. This is definitely something you must consider if you are trying to make an epic appearance on Twitter.

    For me, Twitter isn’t a very good source if you are looking for specific traffic (as I call) but with the right tune up and social media plan, you can turn that weakness into a huge marketing success.

    Social media management techniques for Twitter are rather easy and straight forward. You got to:

    • Compose a tweet that is highly optimized
    • Within 140 characters only
    • Possibly with one #hashtag

    Now tell me. Are you doing the above?

    The 2nd most influential social media platform: Youtube

    Youtube is the best media platform if you have lots of videos to share
    A video goes viral on Youtube will drive thousands of traffic to your website

    Let’s take a look at the stats. 1 billion users and over 4 billions views a day <– Oh wow! That’s epic!

    I would be speechless if the stats aren’t able to say anything for themselves.

    Honestly, I had just involved myself in this Youtube business recently. Until date. I had only filmed and published less than 5 videos which you can find the list of videos here.

    Doesn’t seem like a world record to you right?

    The biggest question is, “Can we classify Youtube as a social media platform?”. Probably yes and no but for me, my answer would be a definite yes (hint: watch the numbers).

    People talk about how to get a Youtube video go viral or how to make a video that attracts. Truth is, there isn’t any logical way to achieve that since it depends solely on us (readers and viewers).

    Now, how do you make Youtube works for you?

    There’s a few ways I could think of which are:

    • Create a good quality video
    • Make sure the audio is clear
    • Provide annotation if possible
    • A killer title
    • Video descriptions with a link back to your site

    I am very curious here. Are you using Youtube as a social media platform?

    The MOST influential social media platform: Facebook

    Facebook is one of the leading social media sites in the world
    Facebook is an excellent platform for both leisure and business matters

    Facebook is the world’s leading social media platform with over 1.15 billions users world wide.

    Oh Lord, I really hate Facebook! It all started out with by facing problems accessing my account etc and … okay I’ll stop it now. 🙂

    Regardless how much I hate Facebook, it is still an extremely important social media tool for bloggers.

    Look at the stats again, kid. Over 1 billion users and counting … yes there are 9 zeros at the back.

    Do you see the potential that lies within it?

    You should use Facebook if you want to build a strong authority in social media and with the number of users using Facebook, I don’t think I would need to explain it’s advantages.

    Social media technique for Facebook is not that straightforward because:

    • You need to know who your target market (audience) is
    • What to promote and when to promote

    If you think that Facebook marketing is all about composing a message, placing a link and press the submit button, you are absolutely wrong!

    There isn’t any point sharing information to readers who aren’t interested with the topic. Therefore, make sure every shared information are craved exactly to and for the targeted audience.

    Over to you

    Out of these 7 social media platforms, which are your favorite(s) and are you using any of them?

    Tell me what you think simply by replying using the comment form and could you please share it for me using the red button below?