Influencers create content that attracts followers and inspires action. But in order to gain that following, the content has to be visible. If your content isn’t optimized for discovery, you’re missing the opportunity to gain new followers and increase audience engagement. Content discovery is especially important when it comes to sponsored posts, as program success is defined by inspiring action through that engagement.
Over the course of dozens of successful Linqia programs, Linqia influencer Kirsten Casenove, owner of the parenting website Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, learned effective social media methods for drawing audience attention to her content. Check out her four tested social strategies for raising content visibility:
1. StumbleUpon
Allow StumbleUpon to index your content. StumbleUpon is a plugin that exists as a button on your browser’s toolbar. When users indicate their personal interests and click the “Stumble!” button, it navigates them to a randomly chosen web page aligned with their tastes. For instance, users whose interests include soccer, baseball, and hockey are sent to fun or informative pages related to those sports. StumbleUpon users can also suggest pages for the tool to display. For example, a baking influencer can add their recipe pages to StumbleUpon and expose their content to a wide audience of dessert-lovers.
Casenove uses StumbleUpon to add her own content within DIY, recipe, parenting, and other interest categories. “StumbleUpon is my new favorite tool to drive traffic to my posts,” said Casenove. “Some of my posts have become popular on StumbleUpon and brought me thousands of views in a few hours. It is insanely helpful!”
Additionally, StumbleUpon enables users connect to each other as “friends,” so influencers can invite their audience to follow their StumbleUpon profile for new content updates.
2. Themed Public Facebook Groups
Post your sponsored content in themed public Facebook groups. While posting sponsored content in private Facebook groups is not allowed in Linqia programs, influencers are encouraged to post in public groups with themes relevant to the program’s sponsoring brand.
“I’ve found it effective to organically promote parenting-themed content in parenting focused Facebook groups,” says Casenove. “It doesn’t feel forced because you’re reaching the target audience directly.”
Themed Facebook groups are receptive to content that is closely aligned with their tastes and values. Pay attention to a group’s rules, as some groups do not allow any sponsored content and will ban those who post it from the group.
3. Strategic Photo Selection
Select photos with visibility in mind. Use your web page and social media analytics to identify which photo subjects inspire the most audience engagement, then use similar subjects in your content photos. The more engagement your content receives, the more visible it will be to other people.
“Most of my followers are moms, so posting photos of my child brings in the most likes and comments,” says Casenove. “For a sponsored post, I include my toddler in one of the photos and use that for Instagram. I add a relatable caption and casually suggest visiting the blog post link in my Instagram bio to find out more.”
Photo formatting can also be optimized for sharing. “For Pinterest, consider big vertical images that use a large font in the overlay title,” says Casenove. “They’re the most eye-catching and get pinned more often.”
Twitter and Facebook both have ideal photo sizes for high visibility, so resize or crop images to the appropriate dimensions before sharing on these channels.
4. Headline Optimization
Write post headlines that demonstrate the content’s value. Audiences are drawn to content that educates or entertains them, so a headline that instantly conveys the content’s worth is more likely to be viewed and shared by followers.
“I brainstorm a title that stands out,” says Casenove. “I love using phrases like ‘how to’ and ‘5 steps to’ to draw people in.”
This style of headline is called a “gain” headline because it communicates that someone gains value by consuming the content. This type of headline is popular because people like sharing content that makes them appear knowledgeable. In fact 94% of content sharers carefully consider if their shares will be useful to other people. Content has a greater chance of being disseminated beyond your audience if it includes a gain headline.
You can learn more about optimizing headlines for audience engagement by checking out our blog post.
Social media visibility is crucial for increasing content engagement and expanding audiences. Add these social strategies to your promotion practices to widen your content’s reach and improve the performance of sponsored posts. You can read even more social channel tips in our blog post on social media promotion.
For more on Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, read Casenove’s Influencer Spotlight.
