Friday, May 29, 2015

Linking Your Social Media Platforms

We’re told to be on as many platforms for social media as we can get our fist around. Not every social media is for every person and I would more encourage you to find two or three you really love and connects you with different people through each platform.

Are there ways to maximize your time?

Absolutely.

In this post I’m going to cover several of the larger social media platforms and how you can link each one to reach your audience in each market.

**Note: (and this is purely my personal opinion) if you have crossover audiences between your social medias that you’re sharing the same content on, I would advise against this. Seeing the same thing over and over, weakens your audience’s interest in what you’re offering. Just keep this in mind.**

**ALSO PLEASE NOTE: in offering these multiple ways to link your platforms, you stand the potential for limiting your reach, especially due to Facebook algorithms. This should never be a total substitute for going in and posting real time updates directly to your social medias, especially Facebook. Take this information with a grain of salt and don't assume that all your work will now be taken care of. :)**

Linking Facebook:

To send Facebook updates to Twitter see this link: https://www.facebook.com/twitter/ this will give you instructions for linking your profile page and each of your public fan pages you might have.

Linking Twitter:

Login and navigate to your settings (under edit profile which is found by clicking on your profile picture). Go to apps and it’s as simple as choosing an account and loading your password.

Linking Instagram:

You’ll have to do this from your phone’s app. Go to your profile and click the three dots in the upper right hand corner. Under settings choose Linked Accounts. Here you can connect Facebook and Twitter. If you have a picture you don’t want to post to one of these medias, just click off those options before it posts.

Linking Google+:

This topic is more complicated. But it can be done! I’m directing you to this resource that I found online for linking your Google+ updates into Facebook.

Linking Goodreads:

Go to the edit profile function. (Found under the drop down arrow next to your picture in the upper right hand corner). Click the “apps” tab and connect the social medias you want linked. Goodreads also has widgets you can add to your blog that are customized to your book lists.

Linking Pinterest:

Log into Pinterest. Visit your profile page—this is where you’ll see all your boards and pins. Click on the “wheel” in the upper right hand corner and choose account settings. Scroll until you see “Connect Your Social Networks”.

Linking Your Blog:

The easiest form of promotion. You write a blog post. It posts to Facebook. Get started here: http://www.networkedblogs.com/ But note: when you accidentally hit publish it does show up on Facebook, but you CAN remove it. :) If you have hooked your Facebook to Twitter, it will also automatically post there. However there is a pretty big BUT with using Network blogs and you can read that more fully here. You can do this, but be aware, that Network blogs does diminish your reach, especially if you're using the free version. If you pay a high enough price, Network Blogs won't route through their platform just to boost their own numbers (what they do on the free option plan). Facebook also limits your reach in using this platform to their social media as only Facebook can. There are positives: posting your blog automatically to Facebook and other social medias. But there are negatives, so weigh both carefully, before handing your blog link over.  

Host platforms for scheduling social media updates:

You can schedule updates across multiple platforms so you only have to load an update once and pick the publish time. A couple different options to research for which one best fits your needs are: Buffer, TweetDeck, Hootsuite, Edgar (though not free) to name a few.


So there you have it! A few tips to connect each of your social medias. Don’t be daunted by this, take it one at a time. And let me know of your success or failures. Of which I hope there is many of the first and none of the last!

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Casey Herringshaw is a homeschool graduate and has been writing since high school. She is a country girl now living in a metropolis of Denver, Colorado, employed as an administrative assistant at Wordserve Literary.

5 comments:

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

1st question (I count myself the one who is bold enough to ask the question others are thinking. I'm okay with you thinking...sheesh, Mare, you didn't know that? Um...nope I didn't)

You said in the beginning "This should never be a total substitute for going in and posting real time updates..." Does this include hoot suite and other forms of scheduled postings? Cause I do a weekend's worth of hoot suite posts and schedule them to sprinkle over the weekend.

I'll keep reading. May have more questions. I am a willing learner, and clearly don't have a 6th sense for this topic.

Mary Vee Storyteller said...

2nd question- I'm pretty sure I've seen people link their FB and blog without using networkedblogs. The little FB icon thingy shows on the blog and shows the last FB post. First, how do you do that? Second isn't there a way (without networkedblogs) to reverse the process and get the title of a current post to show on a FB page?
Eager to learn.

Casey said...

Hello Mary!

First off, NONE of this stuff is inherent like walking is for a baby. It's stuff you just have to learn, so you're good. :)

I would caution how much you use platforms like Hootsuite and Buffer. That's not to say NOT to use them, because they are great and work across so many platforms. But just pay attention to your reach. If you're only posting via something like Hootsuite or Buffer and notice your reach is dropping, then post something by hand and your reach jumps again, then just start varying things. Use the Facebook scheduler instead of a 3rd party platform for a time and see what happens. You have to play Facebook's game and just start seeing what works for you. It's ALL about engagement. All about.

I'm actually unsure how you link your blog directly to Facebook. I've seen that on Wordpress too. Something I'd have to research, but I'm sure it's some kind of plugin that they've either installed on their blog or Facebook has offered.

Amy Leigh Simpson said...

Good stuff, lil smarty! 😊

Cara Putman said...

These are great tips. Connecting platforms does help. I don't connect my Facebook page to anything. It forces me to use the schedule feature, but Facebook has made that so easy.