Social Media for traffic generation - how to?

No matter if you have a video site, you are a pics, gifs and other visual content creator and distributor, an e-commerce owner, or  your business depends on the regular traffic to your site, for some other reason –  you simply need to maximize your results from all meaningful channels!

Need speed? Get CDN!

In Universal CDN we have the unique opportunity to gather feedback from all kinds of digital businesses and their successful methods of gaining traffic for their digital properties.

With this guide, we want to give you some useful tips and help you become even more successful and achieve steady traffic increase. It won’t be just another “how-to of social networks”, but more of a “what-we-saw-our-clients-do-successfully-to-drive-traffic” kind of article.

So what’s their secret? Well, nowadays the strongest methods for generating traffic seems to be social media.

That said, there are some things to consider when choosing the right social channels for your traffic generation efforts.

Different social networks provide different benefits for different types of content. You should think about what kind of content suits your brand the most and commit to social networks, suited for such types of content the most. Think of it like that – Instagram and Pinterest are quite good for visual posts, short clips, and local businesses;

Facebook, on the other hand, is better for multiple visuals posts, longer clips, longer texts, and not-so-serious contexts;

If you need more serious environment – LinkedIn is your place… and if you don’t have the needs or the wants to make long and complicated posts – you can just go Twitter.

Overall – the mentioned above social networks are the most popular ones, and – except for some very specific fields – are the best possible way to drive traffic to your sites.

That’s why those are the ones we are going to explore in depth. We will go through some tweaks for  your accounts in, how to  shape your posts, when to post, how to use hashtags, how and why to give as much as you get, how to get maximum visibility for your accounts, and what strategical steps to implement in order to stay relevant for the long term.

Please take under consideration, that we are not going to talk about specific sizings of images and text longevity since social networks have the tendency to change those from time to time. We are keeping it strictly strategical.

So, here we go:

profile shaping

  • Make sure you have indicated the exact type of business your company represents when creating the page. If not – fix that later through the menu. Some searches depend entirely on that!
  • Make sure you’ve claimed a great vanity URL. A catchy URL will be more enticing and much easier to remember. (You can do this from your account menus)
  • In the About section of your personal profile, link to your Facebook page as your place of employment.
  • In the About text field state who you are and what’s your interests; well written, with relevant keywords.
  • Make sure your page’s branding and design are professional and consistent. When people come to your page, it only takes them a split second to decide whether to like it or not; Make sure your page accurately conveys your Brand’s voice and image. (that includes posts, heading image, profile picture, videos and blog images used to promote content via your facebook pages, etc.)
  • Input your business address and contacts since this makes it easier for potential clients to find you.
  • Input your working hours when you are open for business (and/or availability for support).
  • Input each of your services with details (but not too deep).
  • If you can – provide offers (from the offers tab) which could be available just for the Facebook audience or for anyone.
  • If you have a brand story – use it in the specific section for that part – it is always a good thing to see that a company has roots, or believe in something greater.
  • Make sure to include your contact information, since you want people to get in touch with you if they want to purchase or have questions.
  • If you have something to brag about – use it – there is a field called “awards” in the about section, just for that.
  • Use Facebook chat features to make the most out of your page visitors
  • You should start by making sure your company’s profile is public and not private. After all – visibility is your goal.
  • Next is your @username (i.e. your Handle) – make sure it’s recognizable and searchable – like your brand name for example. If your business name is already taken as a username, make it such that will make people search more likely to come across your account.
  • Make sure to add your full business name to the “name” section of your profile. The profile picture should be your brand (logo). Period!
  • Use your bio/description to let people know what you’re about and give them a reason to follow you. Ideally, it should be an “Elevators Pitch” of your business with a link to your website. Use the space provided by the platform wisely!
  • Check your “Options” settings to make sure notifications are enabled so you can see when people share or comment on your photos. This’ll let you engage with them more quickly and easily, just like a lot of companies do on Twitter.
  • High-quality photos are a huge part of an optimized Instagram profile. When people visit your profile, chances are, the first thing they’ll do is scroll through the first ten or so photos in your feed. The quality of those photos will be a big factor in whether or not that person follows you or not.
  • Make sure you are using a business profile (if not – fix that)
  • Activate (claim) your site from your account settings menu.
  • Make sure that your boards have their own description, well-suited for the entire universe that this board will present in the future.
  • If you have different products portfolios, it could be a good idea to put each under a different board
  • Use your full business name as your page name. Make it as easy as possible for people to find your page when searching for it using Google or on-site search.
  • Make sure your company profile is complete. LinkedIn shows a preference for complete bios in on-site search, so make sure yours is 100% complete.
  • Ensure that the first 156 characters of your page description are optimized for search and for click-throughs, as this is what will be displayed for your page in the search engine results.
  • If you have some interesting publications, articles or anything else to brag with, you should put it there.

You should make a complete profile, with everything the channel offers:

  • Profile name – If you are a brand – put it there, if not – best – use your name or most famous alias.
  • Avatar – either picture of you OR logo; If it is your personal picture – make it widely smiled.
  • Information / Bio – who you are and what’s your interests;  Well written, with relevant keywords.
  • Heading image – pick something that suits your brand needs and supports your brands’ visual identity.
  • Link to website – yes, it needs to be in the information/bio section.

posting

  • You can post multiple images. Some research suggests posting albums (as opposed to single images) may lead to increased reach.
  • Keep your promotional content to a minimum. Some experts suggest 80/20 – Posting non-promotional content 80% of the time and promotional content 20% of the time. This number will vary depending on your business, so see what works best with your audience.
  • Target Facebook ads to users by interest. One of the most effective ways to use Facebook ads is to target users who already like pages in your niche. Using Facebook’s Graph Search, find out which pages your existing fans like by typing in, “Pages liked by people who like my page”. Target your ads to users who have liked these pages, as they’re likely to be interested in your page as well. “
  • Keep your posts visual identity the same as your brand’s one.
  • Regularly visit your Facebook Insights to find out which content is working with your audience. Find the posts that have received the most engagement and highest reach, and share these types of content more often.
  • Create and share your own infographics. Infographics are one of the most shared types of images. Create your own using a tool like Infogr.am.
  • On Facebook, videos now outperform photos in terms of reach. Now is the time to start incorporating video into your social content strategy.
  • Your posts must consist of 3 things – An interesting and relevant subject, a well framed and well-shot photo, and a solid editing job.
  • Every post you make should be created with your customer persona in mind. After all – it’s for them!
  • Add to that your Brand’s identity – in today’s world visual is (almost) everything. Use your Brand’s visual elements!
  • Humor is always a good way to get some more likes and reshares.
  • When a person scrolls through your posts history he or she must feel the consistency over time. If a post looks “out of place” on your wall, then it probably is…

 

  • When you create new Pins, start from your audience’s perspective. Why do they use Pinterest? What kinds of ideas are they looking for? How can you help them make decisions?
  • Pinterest Boards are where you save your Pins. As a brand or business, havе a collection of boards to organize and categorize your Pins so your followers can easily search, find and follow the boards that interest them.
  • The world of Pinterest revolves around high-quality images called Pins. You can create a pin without linking to a website, but it’s strongly recommended that you link it back to your website if you’re using Pinterest for business.
  • Put a logo on every Pin you make, but keep it subtle. Avoid the lower right corner.
  • Your Pins should help people understand why your product or idea is the right fit for them. Pick images that show context and bring your topic to life. Clearly show how someone might use your product, try your project, etc.
  • Think of adding Text overlay – the copy that goes on your Pin image. It makes your Pins stand out, adds context and enhances your message. Keep text concise so it’s easy for people to read on their phones.
  • If you’re running the same campaign in multiple countries, make sure to create separate Pins for each country so you can translate text overlay into the local language.
  • Every Pin can link back to the website it was sourced from, like an online store, magazine, blog or company website. For that reason, having eye-catching Pins with informative captions is the best way to generate a strong following for your business on Pinterest!
  • You should use your own branded images but keep in mind – your brand has a visual identity – stay close to it. Whether it’s the fonts you use, or color palette, making sure your Pinterest account follows a similar style and design pattern to your brand is an easy way to reach out to your target audience.
  • One of the easiest ways to start building a uniform style across your Pinterest account is to create Pinterest board covers. Similar to Instagram templates, these are individually designed images to suit Pinterest’s board dimensions that are uniform in style and design to match your business branding.
  • Avoid descriptions that focus on timely promotional information.
  • Use buyable pins – they lead directly to products u sell.
  • If you go the video or gifs, make sure to keep it short, hook viewers within the first few seconds, and optimize it to play without sound. Also make sure your logo appears at the beginning or throughout the entirety of your video, so people know what they’re watching—and who it comes from.
  •  Create multiple Pins for each product. Try out different image shots, photo angles, styles or Pin descriptions. While multiple identical Pins wouldn’t work, creating different Buyable Pins for each product increases the chances of your Pins showing up in more places.
  • Direct to the right link. Your Buyable Pin will be rejected if it does not lead to the specific web page for the featured product. You can’t just add your website’s URL, a category page, a redirect, or a shortened URL in place of the exact product page.
  • Directing to the right link is important with all pins – not only buyable – just imagine, your pin gets in front of someone, and he expects to get at a specific location by clicking it… what will be this person’s impression of your brand, if the location he lands is somehow not relevant to the image he saw and clicked…?
  • Rearrange your boards and change your board cover images from time to time (you could use popular holidays and occasions to stay relevant)
  • Monitor your LinkedIn analytics to see what kinds of posts are resonating with your audience. Post more of this type of content to increase shares and follows.
  • Regularly share useful content with your followers. Without a steady stream of content, your page is unlikely to grow. Give users a reason to follow your page!
  • Use images in all your page posts. Images tend to attract more attention to your posts, meaning more engagement and increased visibility.
  • Ask your employees to consistently share your page posts for maximum visibility.
  • 60% of members say they’re on LinkedIn for the industry-related insights. Post that

 

  • Interesting, funny, thought-provoking;
  • Add variety instead of talking about the same thing;
  • Be interesting, transparent/honest, provocative;
  • Always use links!
  • Post interesting links – use buzz-worthy stories to tweet about;
  • Use pix, videos, and sounds;
  • Tweet motivational or inspirational quotes. These are great for getting retweets;
  • Pin an eye-catching tweet to the top of your stream. When people check out your profile, show them the best-of-the-best to entice them to follow you;
  • Do a search for your Twitter name and observe which of your updates get the most replies and retweets. Then repeat those updates a few times roughly 8-12 hours apart; Don’t do it often! Not more than once a week;
  • Offer true value. If you’re posting content that fills a gap or meets a need for your fans, your posts will get liked and shared; and this increased engagement will naturally lead to increased likes for your page.
  • Pay attention to conversations happening in your industry, and offer unique insights and commentary that add something to the discussion.

timing

  • Depending on your field it’s ok to post anywhere between 1 and 6 posts per day
  • Take into consideration if your main audience is specifically located in a concrete area. Focus there – by country, by time zone.
  • Take into consideration your audience’s interests.
  • Always try to provide value at least as much as you are trying to gain.
  • Fun, smart and moderately provocative is working great.
  • Use keywords relevant to your field
  • Create offers, contests, quizzes, ask questions.
  • You should study your specific audience and when is the best time to post for them, but as rule of thumbs – Mondays and Thursdays at any time except between 3:00–4:00 p.m. for the time zone of your target persona will work great.
  • Create a regular pinning schedule – consistency is important. – On Pinterest, quality trumps quantity, however, it’s still important to build a regular schedule so that your audience will always find new and fresh content on your boards.
  • Monday to Friday, morning or midday.
  • Remain consistent with your posts scheduled.
  • Create between one (non-advertising.) and two posts/day – use before work, lunch, after work hours.
  • Take under consideration that most Twitter users are from the US, so tailor your tweets to either East coast or West coast.
  • Weekends posts usually get more exposure;
  • Don’t post in bursts – just a single post at a time.

hashtags

  • Use # for the important keywords from your field.
  • Use explanatory thematically connected # (for example: #CDN = #Content #Delivery #Network)
  • Use up to 9 hashtags
  • Use popular hashtags when posting about breaking news or other trending topics.
  • Up to 30 hashtags in a post and up to 10 in stories
  • If you’ve made the switch to an Instagram business profile, you have access to post insights which tell you how many impressions you received from hashtags.
  • Use hashtags in Instagram stories too
  • Use hashtags in your bio
  • It is always good to keep an eye on competitors and what hashtags are they using
  • On Pinterest, hashtags function as search terms, and people use them to find trending topics. Unlike on other platforms, Pinterest hashtags aren’t used for jokes, memes or commentary. So for a fashion brand, something like #springfashion would work well—but #ilookterribleinhats wouldn’t.
  • If you’re not sure which hashtags to use, try searching for your topic on Pinterest, and use the autocomplete suggestions as guidance.
  • People often ask if they should go back and add hashtags to older Pins. You can, but it won’t help your content show up at the top of hashtag feeds. Newer Pins with that hashtag will appear first.
  • LinkedIn is a professionally oriented social network, so hashtags should obey those rules too
  • Use industry-specific keywords to hashtag
  • Use trending hashtags along with  those that specify your business the best
  • Not more than 8 hashtags
  • Use # for the important keywords from your field.
  • Create tweets based on popular # (you can see the trends on the left side of twitter homepage)
  • In twitter use not more than 3 hashtags
  • Use popular hashtags when posting about breaking news or other trending topics.

RECIPROCITY

  • Facebook “code” does not demand you to follow back people that are following your company page. It could be quite useful if you could check their profiles though, and make contact to those, who have related area of expertise, are potential clients and/or are interesting with something else to your business or you.
  • Be open, friendly, and if you do not face the same positiveness, just let them be, don’t get vindictive.
  • Asking questions and asking for help/assistance could be a  nice approach to start a conversation
  • Being a professional social network, the formal rules for communication should apply here too.
  • Once your company page was approached, you should think of looking the person up and if potentially interesting – why not make him your own contact.
  • Lead an honest, well-mannered communication. Start with a  question about a person’s interests. Who knows what could come from that.
  • Don’t forget – You have a company profile here, but all the great opportunities and contacts come from personal contact.

 

  • Start following other account and businesses’ boards and start liking, Pinning and commenting on their posts that inspire or relate to your business. Create a group board and invite your followers to pin posts to your board to build a community and grow your audience.  
  • Collaborate with other brands to create a shared board. 
  • Pinterest is a social network, not a billboard. If you want people to engage with your Pins, you’ll need to be engaged yourself. Follow boards or accounts from relevant but non-competitive brands in your industry, and make sure to actively, like and engage with Pins related to your niche. You can also get employees and brand evangelists involved in your Pinterest network by inviting them to contribute to group boards.
  • Follow other complementary businesses in your industry, and engage with and share their posts. Many will be likely to return the favor.
  • Keep relation formal until the other part became friendly enough
  • LinkedIn is a great place to nurture long-term business relationships. Don’t think in short terms
  • Follow everyone who follows you.
  • The more you retweet, the more likely you are to be retweeted, and the more followers you’re likely to attract
  • Add questions in your retweets (if possible) to increase engagement and visibility.
  • Engage in communication with the other party if you find common interests
  • When followed back, or you follow back someone, ask them to help you gain exposure – ask him to re-tweet your newest / most-valuable tweet;
  • You can automize this by putting “Please Re-Tweet” at the end of your post (but not all the time, only to some posts);
  • @mention users in your tweets, asking them for input. It’s hard to resist responding to a question when you’re asked by name; Always reply to questions. Not only is this just good etiquette, but it sends the signal that you actually notice and care about your followers and that you’re worth following;
U

VISIBILITY

  • Include a ‘Like us on Facebook’ link on the ‘thank you’ page of your site. Customers are more apt to like you when they’ve just made a purchase they’re excited about.
  • Join industry Facebook groups and offer thoughtful advice and insights. If people like what you have to say, there’s a good chance they’ll hover over your name to find out more about you. This is one reason why having your business name and Facebook page URL in your About section are so important!
  • It seems like nearly everyone is taking advantage of popup boxes on their websites these days. Join the club, and set yours up so that it cycles between asking visitors to join your email list and like your Facebook page.
  • Add a link to your Facebook page in your email signature. It never hurts to let your connections know about another way they can connect with you.
  • Embed your Facebook video posts onto your website or blog. This is a great way to promote your Facebook page to your website visitors. 
  • Ask your employees to like your page. The more likes your page accumulates, the more powerful your social proof.
  • Upload photos from live events, and ask your fans to tag themselves. This gets your photos in front of your fans’ friends, extending your visibility and reach.
  • Connect with group admins. Getting on the radar of the admins and moderators of popular Facebook groups can be invaluable. If they see you as an authoritative source of information in their industry, they may share your page with their members.
  • Ask your fans to share photos on your page. These will appear in their friends’ feeds, increasing your visibility. Include a link to your Facebook page in the author bio of your guest posts. Include a “Connect with us on Facebook” link on your website’s contact or help page to drive traffic to your Facebook page.
  • Tag other pages in your posts. When you tag other pages, your posts appear on their wall and may spark the interest of those pages’ owners and fans.
  • Engage with other pages in your niche. Regularly leave thoughtful comments in response to other people’s posts. Make sure you’re commenting as your page rather than from your personal profile.
  •  Visually showcase your brands’ talents
  • Make content that people would want to re-share
  • Implement the needed functionalities to your web properties so that all the nice visuals you used there are easily shareable via Instagram
  • Instagram is all about hashtags! use them at max! Even print then at any offline materials to promote them
  • Participate in massively popular conversations
  • Make the most out of your bio’s URL
  • Make a habit of storytelling in your posts descriptions
  • Influencer marketing is at it’s max on Instagram – go ALl In!
  • You should control what photos and posts you get tagged in (yes – there is an option for this in menus)
  • Instagram popularity could often be strongly connected to locations – use that.
  • Try to always use a call to actions
  • Try to encourage engagement from your readers/visitors

 

  • Instead of thinking of Pinterest as a social network, think of it as a search engine for images. For example, a Pinterest user could search for “black leather sandals” and thousands of Pins from fashion brands, online retailers, influencers, fashion magazines, and other Pinterest users will show up. If you’re a shoe brand, you’ll want to make sure that your images will appear in this search. 
  • Adding the Pinterest “Save” button to your website is one of the best and easiest ways for your business to be discovered on Pinterest! If a customer is browsing your website and sees an image of something they like, they can hit the Save button and add it to their Pinterest account or boards, which means even more people can find your products on Pinterest.
  • Enable Rich Pins for your Pinterest for a business account – they add extra details to Pins from your website. Currently, there are four types of Rich Pins you can start using: product, article, app, and recipe.
    • Product Pins: For any online retailer, having Product Pins makes shopping for your customers easier through Pinterest. A Rich Pin for a product includes real-time pricing, availability, and information on where to buy your product.
    • Recipe Pins: Rich Pins for recipes are perfect if your business is in food or cookery. A Recipe Pin will give a snapshot of your recipe’s ingredients, cooking time and serving size all in the one post!
    • Article Pins: For online publishers and bloggers, Rich Pins can help your followers easily save and share your articles and posts that interest them. Each Article Pin highlights the headline, author and story description underneath the Pin image.
    • App Pins: These Pins are great if you have an app for your business and want to reach new audiences on Pinterest. The App Pin shows an “install button” so users can download your app without ever leaving Pinterest! Note: App Pins are only compatible with iOS apps.
  • Creating Rich Pins require a bit of technical work so you might need to contact your website developers or your website hosting platform to get it all up and running.
  • Just like on Instagram, having high-quality imagery is important if you want to grow on Pinterest. – use high-quality photos, portraits, keep the text short.
  • Write search-friendly captions for your pins – The most important way to make sure your Pins are showing up in your audience’s search results is by creating captions that are carefully crafted to include your key search terms. For example, if your business was a florist, specializing in wedding bouquets and arrangements, you’ll want to create captions that include key search terms for your business, like ‘wedding florists in Santa Barbara’ or ‘Summer wedding floral arrangements’. Spend some time analyzing the keywords for your business, or the products that your Pinning and start including that term, or terms, in your Pin captions. It will really help you rank higher in search results!
  • When someone clicks on your Pin, they want to learn more about it. You can link Pins to your site, blog or any other website. Make sure to pick a landing page that feels like a natural progression from the Pin, to your site. For example, Pins that feature a product should link to a page where people can buy that product. If your Pin features a DIY, it should link to the article on your site with full instructions.
  • Google LOVES Pinterest! Focus on the keywords that matter most for your brand, align this with what you know about how your audience searches (and what they are searching for) and incorporate them into your board titles and pin descriptions.
  • Pinterest is a great opportunity to reach all the segments of your audience. Create boards and pin items that appeal to every segment of your consumer base!
  • Add the Pinterest tag. This tracks your website conversions and provides important insight into how Pinterest users interact with your site. The tag also helps with future audience targeting thanks to the data it gathers.

  • Optimize your content for optimal amplification. According to LinkedIn, “best-of” lists get almost 40% more amplification than regular company posts.
  • Use the LinkedIn company follow plugin to put a follow button on your website or blog. Share YouTube videos with your followers. According to LinkedIn, followers who engage with videos on LinkedIn take twice as many “amplification actions” (shares, comments, etc.) as they do on non-video posts. Optimize your LinkedIn page for search engines. Include relevant keywords in your description and in your posts (especially longer, content-heavy posts that tend to do well in search).
  • Participate in industry-related groups, sharing your thoughts and insights. As people get to know and trust you, they’ll check out your profile and page.
  • Share company news on your page. 53% of professionals say getting access to company news is why they joined LinkedIn in the first place.
  • Promote your LinkedIn page via your other marketing channels: Facebook, Twitter, your email list, etc.
  • Create multiple LinkedIn Showcase pages to highlight different departments, product categories or company initiatives. These pages work alongside LinkedIn pages, giving you more opportunities to grow your brand and engage with your customers.
  • Add the LinkedIn share button next to all your website content.
  • Include a link to your company page in the bio of your guest blog posts.
  • Add great content to your page (before you even ask for the follow). Your page should be enticing from the get-go, which means you need to have it populated with valuable content before you even work at growing your follower count.
  • Add a link to your company page in your email signature.
  • Include a call to action at the end of your blog posts, asking your visitors to follow your company page (e.g., “Be sure to follow my LinkedIn page, where I share breaking news and information”.)
  • Limit the self-promotion. As with any social media platform, keep the promotional content to a minimum. A good rule of thumb is 80/20: 80% relevant industry-related info, 20% promotional content. Test this out in your own niche – you may even find 20% is too high.
  • Create an industry-related LinkedIn group. Share valuable information and facilitate interesting discussions, establishing your group as a hub for those in your industry. Periodically share relevant page content with group members to supplement current discussions.
  • Leverage your existing LinkedIn connections to grow your page. Ask your network to follow your page, and to share it with their connections.
  • Connect with top content-consuming LinkedIn members to dramatically increase content sharing. 
  • Ask (professional) questions of your page followers. Questions are great for getting engagement, and for generating lively conversations; in fact, questions on LinkedIn get 50% more comments than posts without questions.
  • Be sure to include links in many of your page posts. LinkedIn posts with links tend to generate 45% higher engagement than those without.
  • Share your LinkedIn posts on Facebook and Twitter. This can increase engagement on your posts, as well as help build up your LinkedIn follower count. Being all about professionalism – what better way to shine than showing your expertise.
    • Find popular discussions, groups, and conversations/posts from your field and actively engage, by providing value to others (give honest advice, answer questions, refer to people, share resources etc.)
    • Make sure to refer your company page to anyone who was truly interested in what you have to say. Create personal relations.
  • Create “follow me on Twitter” link in your blog, email, or other social profiles across the web;
  • Use graphics such as a button or counter to catch attention and get followers (for ex.: “tweet to UCDN” button);
  • Use a follow button ( publish.twitter.com/# ) on your website or blog and make it as easy as possible for your website visitors to find you;
  • Embed tweets in your website content.
  • Display particularly interesting or popular tweets in a blog post to entice your website visitors to follow you on Twitter. (help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/how-to-embed-a-tweet );
  • Help others rather than just pushing your own stuff. Twitter is about helping, making connections and providing great content, not about selling your stuff.
  • Become known as someone who puts the needs of others first, and your follower count will grow organically.
  • Participate in Follow Friday (#FF). Regularly add new followers and suggest users others should follow. Getting connected and being a connector are both key to increasing your follower count.
  • Get celebrities or famous people to follow you (this will increase the chances of them re-tweeting). You can get their attention by sending them a @message (you can send it to anyone no matter if you are following them or not);
  • Pick the right celebrity for your goals/field (or someone with a ton of followers) and send an @message – it will appear on your profile page to be visible from everyone; If lucky – the celebrity will replay to the message, and then you can retweet it and follow-back;
  • Remember – only quality (fun, value, originality) will bring you success; Do it every day to different influencer – not more than once a month to the same one; Retweet influencers and give valuable feedback – but remember – always in a positive manner;
  • Follow people with similar interests, then follow their followers. Look for users with similar interests to your own, but who have way more followers. Then all you need to do is follow that user and their followers; If it is clear from your info and your bio that your interests are the same as theirs, it is quite possible they follow you back;
  • Reference users in your tweets. When replying to or mentioning other users, be sure @mention them;
  • Respond publically when your response would be useful to others. Instead of direct messaging responses to public questions, share your knowledge publically, @mentioning the person who asked;

account promotion

  • Create a topical Facebook group. Facebook groups can be a great way to reach prospects who are wary of liking a brand’s page.
  • Create an industry-related group that your target market may be looking for, and then use it to build relationships and trust. While a group may not give you the “one to all” voice a page does, the level of engagement you can achieve in a group can be much higher than on a page.
  • Suggest your page to your email contacts. Send a brief email inviting your contacts to connect with your business on Facebook
  • Add a Facebook icon in your email signature
  • Use Facebook’s Page Plugin (formerly Like Box) on your website or blog.
  • A like button next to your blog posts is great for getting your content shared, but the Page Plugin will help you boost your page likes. (developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/page-plugin);
  • Contests are still a great way to entice people to like your page. Promote your contest on your site and to your email list, and make liking your page a contest requirement.
  • Reference your Facebook page on your blog.
  • Draw attention to an interesting discussion happening on your Facebook page by mentioning it in a blog post. Offer an exclusive discount just for your Facebook fans. This is a great incentive to like your page; in fact, 42% of people say they like a brand page for the coupons and discounts.
  • Offer flash freebies on your page. Word gets around…if you regularly offer ‘flash freebies’ (e.g., “The first 5 people to message me will receive a $20 gift card”) you can bet your page likes will increase!
  • Make sure your cover photo includes a call to action to like your page.
  • Periodically include an invitation to “connect with us on Facebook” in the P.S. of your email newsletters. Your P.S. can be an incredibly powerful place to put a call to action.
  • Use Facebook and Instagram paid posts to promote your Instagram account and invite people to like it.
  • Engage with influencers and try to provide value to them. Ask them to return the favour 😉
  • A Promoted Pin is the easiest way to get your product in front of the right audience! If you’re looking to build brand awareness, increase in-store or online sales, and drive online traffic back to your site, setting up Promoted Pins could be great for your business.
  • If your employees are on LinkedIn, ask them to add your page as their workplace. When they do this, they will automatically become followers of your page.
  • Use professional groups for a trampoline of your business page visibility (share articles from there)
  • Consider promoting your Twitter account on all your marketing materials. (business cards, brochures, signs and of course, your website.)
  • Promote your account on your other social media accounts – entice people by mentioning interesting discussions you’re engaged with on Twitter.
  • Include a link to your @username in the author bio of your guest posts.
  • Listen in on relevant conversations: Using a tool like (socialmention.com), find out what other Twitter users are saying about your brand, products or industry.
  • Respond or answer questions where appropriate;
  • Participate in Twitter chats -Follow those you meet in the chat, and they’re likely to follow you back;
  • Regularly offer your followers exclusive coupons. 94% of Twitter users follow brands for the discounts and promos;
  • Make sure you have a tweet button next to each and every post on your blog;
  • Use Twitter cards ( https://developer.twitter.com/en/docs/tweets/optimize-with-cards/guides/getting-started ) to increase visibility and engagement.
  • Add some simple code to your site, and anytime someone tweets your content, the rich media you’ve included (images, videos, etc.) will show alongside their tweet.
  • Add a twitter icon in your email signature

strategical steps

  • Create a topical Facebook group.
  • Facebook groups can be a great way to reach prospects who are wary of liking a brand’s page.
  • Create an industry-related group that your target market may be looking for, and then use it to build relationships and trust.
  • While a group may not give you the “one to all” voice a page does, the level of engagement you can achieve in a group can be much higher than on a page.
  • Suggest your page to your email contacts. Send a brief email inviting your contacts to connect with your business on Facebook.
  • Superior visuals are one way to succeed in Instagram
  • Be friendly, honest, and keep your brand identity consistently
  • Taking a look at your Pinterest Analytics is a good way to learn what’s working for your audience and can help you optimize your Pinterest marketing strategy. With a Pinterest for Business account, you have access to all in-app analytics associated with your profile. You can easily view how many impressions your profile and Pins get each month, which content is performing best, and how much traffic your driving to your website.
  • When it comes to maximizing content on Pinterest we recommend partnering with a brand that has a similar demographic but offers a different angle on content (that still appeals to your audience).
  • Ensure that images on your site have great ‘Alt’ text and description, because that is the default information picked up by Pinterest when a visitor pins from your site. They may not change the description, to ensure that you have the right keywords to describe your product.
  • The Pinterest blog is, therefore, a fantastic resource for all the latest updates, news and information. It’s also full of lots of fantastic inspiration too.
  • Share your job postings on your page. Popular job postings often lead to an increase in page followers.
  • Track your company’s LinkedIn content marketing score. This score will tell you what percentage of your LinkedIn audience you’re actually reaching with your content. It can also show you how your reach compares to others in your industry, allowing you to strategize how you can improve your content.
  • Communicate, comment, ask and tell, be the pro-active part without being a stalker.
  • Showcase your work – at your profile and at your business page
  • Get rid of the waste – Regularly unfollow people that have no value for you: That does not follow you back; That are not active in your field, or are not posting interesting stuff for you; That had never made any action towards you;
  • Be advised that once you reach 2000 people you follow, you won’t be able to follow more until you reach 2000 followers for yourself; There are services like Twidium and FriendorFollow which can clean up your list for you, once it gets too time-consuming;
  • Use Followerwonk to find new people to connect with, and to find out which activities typically drive the newest followers to your account.
  • Twitter users with huge numbers of following and followers are also likely to follow you back automatically. You’ll stumble upon such accounts during your Twitter travels (e.g. when they are retweeted by someone you’re following), but you can also do an Internet search for “most popular Twitter accounts” or “popular Tweeters”; (remember, only follow those from your fields of interest)
  • People who follow spammers are likely to be auto-followers. Wait until a spam follower follows you. Spam followers will have 1,000+ people they are following, but only 5 to 150 followers in return – then follow everyone who follows the spam follower. Those are likely to be people who are following in return in order to boost their own follower count.
  • Search for tweets with keywords related to your topics of interest;
  • Look for people who mention your favorite topic. Reply to their tweets and then follow them. Your response will show them that you have something in common, and make it more likely that they’ll follow you back; Better yet, retweet them if the content is good. Not only are you forming connections with other Twitter users, but you’re also bringing good content to your followers.

Please be advised that there is most definitely no way you can nor should you use all of the above at once! Some of the mentioned methods won’t be the right for your business or Brand. Make decisions that will suit your Brand and Marketing Needs.

Another important thing – no matter how great profile and strategic approach you have – if you don’t spend on marketing to showcase those gorgeous social media profiles – it won’t matter!

To wrap things up – just an important disclaimer – take under consideration, that if you get the desired traffic but you can’t provide the needed speed, it will be all for nothing. Yes, we are talking about getting a Content Delivery Network for your digital content.

We hope those were helpful and you use them wisely to get more traffic to your digital properties.

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