It’s disappointing to say that social media is still not being used to its maximum capacity. ‘Who?’ you might ask. Well, everyone. Bloggers are not implementing social media into their blogs/websites because they are not creating Facebook pages and Twitter profiles for their websites. Advertisers are not using social media in their PPC campaigns even though social can gain them huge amounts of targeted traffic, in theory, for free. Therefore, I think it is wise to make clear what social media has up for offer so that everyone out there on the internet, in particularly publishers and advertisers of PPC, can know that they should make the most out of social media.

Social Media Is Free

A huge benefit to social media is that it is completely free. There are some areas that will cost you (for example, Facebook Ad campaigns and sponsored tweets etc.). However, looking at the basics and core of social media, it is free at its heart. Anyone on the internet should know that if there is a service on the internet that is free, make the most of it. Most things in this world does not come free. Therefore, look at what you are spending money on. As a blogger, you may be spending money on SEO when you should be looking to implement social media first. As an advertiser, you may looking to increase the number of people that visit your landing page from PPC when in fact you should be adding social media buttons to your landing page. If you are making ‘things’ that cost priority over social media as an advertiser or publisher, stop. Make sure you have implemented social media to make sure you gain the maximum potential of social media.

Give Yourself The Opportunity To Go Viral

When it comes to gaining traffic from PPC as an advertiser, you will know that the only way you can go ‘viral’ (or gain lots of traffic quickly) is through increasing your CPC and your budget. However, with social media, by including social media into your landing page, you have given your campaign the possibility to go viral without spending a single cent more.

I first came across being ‘viral’ with a website of mine on Twitter Tips and Tricks called Tweetaway.net (there no point looking for it as I merged the website with my current site getting rid of the domain). I had an article comparing the Tweet buttons from Tweetmeme and Twitter. It was an okay post – kind of interesting. But, when a Twitter follower in the tech industry tweeted it, I found that I gained over a 500% increase in traffic because his hundreds of thousands of followers had been clicking on his tweet and retweeting. Viral is possible even if you think it isn’t.

When looking to make the most out of social media, I always try to stick to a number of rules:

1. Make sure you use the two biggest social media websites at least being Twitter and Facebook. It is then optional if you use others such as Google+ and Instagram etc.
2. Make sure you update your social media profiles once every few days at minimum. This will help maintain a fresh and up-to-date social media brand image.
3. Make sure your website/blog/landing page knows you use social media. You can do this through adding buttons etc.