As we continue to create a blog to sustain travel, we’ve had many realizations about how to use social media to reach a larger audience. Seeing that we are just two months into our journey, and since we’ve learned so much already, we wanted to introduce you to our first edition of Quick and Easy Social Media Tips. The world of social media can be intimidating, so this post is the first of MANY that we’ll be sharing with you all on the subject.
1) Visually Inspire your followers.
People LOVE visuals and people LOVE inspiration. Throughout your journey, you will be taking some of the most unimaginably beautiful photos. And I am sure you have certain travel quotes that have encouraged you to pursue your dream. Why not combine the two? Choose a favorite picture, type in your most inspirational quote, add your logo at the bottom and voilà! You have now created a way to visually inspire and engage your followers. Post it to Instagram, Twitter, Facebook – EVERYWHERE. These are what people share, retweet, regram. And when they do, others will see where the picture came from – increasing your social media reach and getting your story out there to a larger audience. Give it a shot, and you will encourage not only others, but the #1 most important person to inspire – YOU!
EXTRA awesome tip: Check out www.Canva.com to make photo-shopping EASY! Seriously, you can make anything on this site for all social media platforms – Instagram, Facebook profile pic, Facebook cover photo, Blog graphics, twitter posts, etc etc. They even have all dimensions preloaded!! You’ll be able to create professional looking graphics even if you aren’t necessarily a Photoshop professional = GENIUS!
2) Immerse yourself in social media.
Comment on everything that evokes emotion. Follow fellow nomads on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter who are on a similar journey. Like statuses that inspire you. Compliment others and encourage them publicly. It all seems quite simple, but this is the #1 way to get connected to the right people and get the exposure you need, with the audience you want. The more engaged you are, the more interested others will be in your story. Soon enough, you will have created a network of people that are more than willing to help you achieve your dreams. The travel community is the most encouraging community to immerse yourself in, so go for it! No ones judging you based on how many you Instagram accounts you follow or how many statuses you like. Leave any hesitation behind and get fully involved in the social media world of travel.
EXTRA awesome Tip: Download the app called Crowdfire (http://www.crowdfireapp.com) This app connects to your Instagram and Twitter and keeps track of all new followers and recent unfollowers for both accounts. You can also copy followers from other accounts similar to yours to increase your exposure with their readers or fans. Crowdfire is extremely helpful in your social media reach.
3) Have no doubt – Klout, Klout, KLOUT!
This website is absolutely 100% one of the most important parts of your social media efforts. Not only does it connect all social media platforms on one website, it provides you with direct suggestions for appealing to your current followers and attracting new followers at the same time. Using all of your site’s data on web presence, the website agives you a Klout score, which measures your social footprint. Talk about useful information! The best part is, as you work harder and harder on expanding your followers, you will see your score increasing. And what’s better than literally watching all of your hard work pay off?! You can’t get more satisfying then that!
Here are my top takeaways from the site (we will be doing a more in depth post about Klout, because a website this great deserves it’s own article…)
1. Suggested content to share. Depending on what the focus of your site is, Klout will suggest content to share with your audience. It even categorizes them: Hidden Gems, Hot off the Press, On the Rise – so you know what’s a must-share.
2. Scheduled content to share. It will tell you best times that day to share information on your sites, and will even allow you to schedule a post in advance at that time. No need to set that timer and run to your computer at 10:45am anymore!
3. Klout Score. A continually updated ranking to show how you are measuring up against other sites, and how present you are in the social media world.
Extra awesome tip: As your Klout score gets higher, it will become tougher and tougher to increase that number. You will see quick progression in the beginning, but as you start mastering the art of social media, it will be a long time to even increase by 1 point, so don’t get discouraged!
4. Follow Suggestions. Based on the categories associated with your site (ie: adventure travel, scenic travel, romantic travel etc), Klout will give you daily suggestions for who to follow. They also include their Klout scores, so you can aim to follow those who are conquering the social media world successfully.
Stay tuned for more tips as we experience new AHA! moments with every additional step we take. We promise to share all that we learn, so that you too can become a social media guru, increasing your site’s exposure effectively and taking the web by storm!
