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Tips for Sharing Your Work on Social Media
Ranking well on Google's search engine results pages is by far the most important way to get eyes on your work, but it's far from the only way. These days,
over half of the world's population uses social media, so why not actively share your best work with others rather than waiting for them to find it on their own?
Social media can be tricky, and every platform has its own quirks. Since Facebook is the
most widely used social media platform in existence, these tips are Facebook-specific but may be applicable to other platforms as well.
Best Practices for Sharing Your Articles on Facebook and Other Social Media
- Don't Just Post on Your Profile—Post in Niche Groups and Communities: If you like to write about particular subjects, join Facebook groups dedicated to those subjects. Don't post your work in these groups right away. Instead, engage with other users, learn what you can, ask questions, and become a valued member of the community. Facebook groups are not supposed to be advertising boards for users' content—they're supposed to online community forums where users with similar interests can come together to learn, ask questions, share experiences, and build relationships. Once you've gotten comfortable in a particular Facebook group and feel like you are part of the community, it is usually acceptable to begin posting your own content occasionally. Don't forget to be humble! Ask other members for feedback and engage with their work as well.
- Follow the 80/20 Rule: Promoting your work on social media is totally commonplace these days, but no one likes to get bombarded with self-promotional material all the time. In the marketing industry, most brands try to follow the 80/20 rule. That is, when engaging with their audience on social media, they only post self-promotional or marketing material 20% of the time. The other 80% of the time, they post other content that they think their audience might find entertaining, engaging, or helpful. If you post too much of your own work, especially in a niche group, you risk undercutting your legitimacy as an authority or enthusiast in a particular subject. Try to post useful, engaging, relevant content that is not your own work about 80% percent of the time and post your original content the remaining 20% of the time. Don't forget to interact with other user's posts and be a valuable member of the communities you post in!
- Post During Peak Engagement Hours: According to a study conducted by
Buffer, the best time to post on Facebook is between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM on weekdays and Saturdays. As far as weekdays go, Thursday and Friday usually have the highest engagement. Since Facebook's algorithms change frequently and are user-specific, there's no telling if this advice works for every type of content, but posting during these high-engagement windows certainly can't hurt.
So, are you ready to get out there and start engaging with like-minded users that share your interests while also getting more eyes on your articles? Keep these tips in mind, and above all, be humble, kind, professional, and approachable to others online. Don't forget to share your insights and discuss your social media experience with other authors in the
HubPages forums.
Image Credit: Nathan Dumlao via Unsplash; Canva
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