ALONG COMES MARY

Something I often encounter when collaborating with clients who are new to social media is the idea that they need to be on all of the networks. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, Snapchat, Google Plus, Tumblr, even Meetup. While I do have accounts with all of them for blog purposes, that doesn’t mean I am very active on each account.

Ask any of my followers, and I bet they would vote between Twitter, Instagram and Facebook that I mostly use for Along Comes Mary. Twitter is hands down my favorite to interact with friends and readers, share what I am up to, support others by retweeting their tweets and so on. Instagram….whats not to love? As someone who takes a lot of photos of my dogs, I have to be careful not to post on there throughout the day (to utilize those filters, if anything). As far as Facebook, I probably only post 3 times a day tops on my blog page. While my personal page, I sometimes will do more if its a busy week or we are on a fun trip, or there are too many good wine memes I see.

Since I have been asked what makes each of these platforms unique, I thought for Social Media Monday I would break down a few for you!

TWITTER

The birth of a hashtag was easily born with Twitter. Twitter enables its users to post 140 or less characters in their posts (But, coming soon, rumor is there will be no character limit on Twitter. I have mixed thoughts on that). You can “tag” users (Like my tweet below to Graceland) and by using popular hashtags, you will be apart of searches for said hashtags.

I think Twitter can be great for ANYONE, but, especially small businesses. Custom hashtags, giveaways, announcements, connections, are all great marketing tools available by using Twitter.

INSTAGRAM

Another platform that thrives on hashtags, Instagram has become quite the teacher’s pet since it got popular about 5 years ago. They do one thing, and they do it right: Your photography. While some may argue that Instagram has made us all think we are photographers, its a pretty great app and even better if photography is your trade.

Take a picture on your phone, or even in the Instagram app, frame it, select from 23 awesome cool, various filters, write your caption, throw in some hashtags (30 or less), and voila, you have a masterpiece. This would be perfect for a boutique, shop, medical office….ANYONE could really customize and make their Instagram page fun. Show off your employees, new stock in your store, or, if you’re like me, I love using mine to promote my blog posts. Like this:

PINTEREST

I love the idea of Pinterest, but, personally? Its a bit more time consuming. But, when I use it more? I get great results back to my blog and traffic. Pinterest thrives on great pictures to “pin” onto a board on your account. If, say, you want to save a bunch of great “Gluten-Free Pancakes” recipes, you would put them onto that board. If you are a business that does not post original content or blog articles to your web-site, Pinterest may not be for you.

If you ARE a blogger, DIY-er or have great content to promote, Pinterest is awaiting for you. Most bloggers will tell you its their best source for traffic.

Snapchat, Stumble Upon, Linkedin–Say what?

I admit: I have become a Snapchat whore. I love this app that enables you to take a picture or video, add filters to it, send to “Your Story” for all to see, or just select certain friends, then, ut it goes for the world to see. Once they see it? Unless you save it, it goes bye bye bye forever. Anything you add to “My Story” automatically deletes in 24 hours, whether or not your followers have viewed it.

Stumble Upon has been uh-may-ZING for my traffic to Along Comes Mary. I simply add a link to my article, stumble it, stumble 50-100 pages of categorized content after and that increases my chance of more ‘stumblers’ seeing my content, going to my blog and then stumbling the page for more to see. It sounds time consuming, but its super simple and beneficial. I also utilize Stumble Upon for travel articles I add to the IFWTWA Facebook….or my own.

Linkedin has become far more than the professional’s Facebook. There are amazing groups, business pages and several ways to connect with colleagues and potential clients. Something I highly recommend is creating a business page on LinkedIn. Example: I am in the works to make a LinkedIn page for Along Comes Mary that I will be able to ‘tag’ on my Mary Lansing page so anyone interested to learn more about myself and my services can click from my personal page.

I hope this is helpful for you! As always, I am available for consulting and social media managing. Email me anytime at [email protected] 🙂