At first thought it sounds easy, right? Throw up a bunch of posts on your favorite social media sites and watch the traffic flow to your website.
Wrong.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind when posting to social media sites to keep your posts from turning into white noise. It does take some work to make it focused in order to get your blog read. Here are five social media sites to market your travel blog.
Facebook. Arguably the most popular social media sites of our generation, Facebook allows users to post updates pictures and video on their timeline. This is fabulous for travel blog because whomever is friends are on the feed can see these posts. Therefore, it’s easy for them to click and go straight to the website. It’s also relatively easy to create a page specifically for your travel blog on Facebook, separate from your profile page.
Google +. I am still new to this method. Truthfully, I don’t use it very much but it is gaining traction among users. It definitely doesn’t hurt to create a profile and include it when you’re posting other social media sites.
Instagram. I love Instagram, because like Facebook, it posts pictures and video. You are also allowed to write captions underneath which can look like update posts. However, the primary focus is on the images. This makes it very easy to scroll through. It also makes it easy to follow people. You can get a lot of followers through Instagram, if you take good pictures and post them. For a travel blog where pictures are a strong lure to traffic, Instagram is fabulous.
Pinterest. This is my go to site for everything and anything that I would like to dream about. It allows you to post any website link or picture and arrange it by categories. You can view other people’s posts or set your own. Each blog post can be bookmarked on Pinterest using an image. This makes it very easy for people to find you.
Twitter. Twitter feeds allow you to post updates in 140 characters or less. You can also attach links to photos and videos. People who enjoy Twitter will respond positively if you post on here. Like Facebook, Twitter seems to be just as popular.
Regardless of what method you use, take this tip and internalize it. Use it every time you think about marketing your travel blog. No one is going to care what you post if they can’t use it or apply it to their own lives. Grab their attention with something that can help them and then share with them your experiences.
This is the best kept secret to making sure that each post is focused on your target audience. For example, the title “My Summer Vacation in the Florida Keys” will be less impressive to people than “The Florida Keys: 5 Reasons You Need to Drop What You Are Doing and Get Down Here Now” or “Five Ways A Trip to The Florida Keys Will Save Your Marriage.”
The second and third examples are far more compelling than the first. Start each blog post with your target audience’s needs in mind and you can never go wrong with quality content.
I recommend using all of these social media sites as much as possible. It multiplies your chances of reaching more people.
Source: Personal experience
