I want to let you in on some of the magic that goes on behind the scene here at Actively Implementing Marketing Solutions (AIMS). We do a lot of things here at AIMS, AR and FF management, Social Media Management, blogging and consulting. But with all we offer I get the most questions from small business owners about Social Media and Blogging. Today I am going to share with you how I use social media and content marketing to increased website/blog traffic and create a positive social media environment made for selling.  

Create content that is useful to your target audience. You are not always selling in a blog but telling a story or giving good information to a group of potential buyers.  

Keep your content current. Blog on topics that are happening right now in your target markets industry. If you want to do business with a beauty professional blog on new hair dyes or other industry news. If you’re main customers are mom’s blog about issues that arise in the home and about responsible purchasing decisions.  

Stay true to yourself and write how you would talk to a friend or prospective client. Give good information and keep it simple. Try to blog on a regular schedule like once a week. Also remember to ad tags to your blog to help search engines know what the blog is all about.  

After you have made an amazing blog share it. Post it to your Facebook page, Twitter feed, Google + and email it to all of your customers or prospective clients. Now I know this can be hard. You think what if my writing stinks? Get over it and keep writing. Not everything you write is going to be a hit but eventually you will become a pro. 

Test your sharing skills. Try sending the email with your blog multiple different ways and see what gets the most people clicking the link to your site. Check to see what links get the most clicks when posting at different times of the day. Try different pictures with your shares and test to see which ones get more likes and comments. 

Just sharing your content does not mean people will see it. “Build it and they will come,” does not work with blogs. I found that promoting on Facebook which means paying for distributions to my target audience through social media is one way to grow your blog following. This takes a little practice but the idea is that you are giving people value right off the bat and if they like your blog and they found it through Facebook it is a good chance they will Like your page or subscribe to your RSS feed. 

Just like when you share you should test different ways of promoting yourself on social media until you find the sweet spot.   

A good way to get the attention of the people you are trying to sell to is to socialize with them. I know crazy. Besides you can’t just talk about yourself all the time on social media. Ok you could but who would want to listen? 

Share local events and news stories. Talk about charity’s your involved in or about money you donated to the local FFA. Comment on blogs your target audience is reading or have written. Answer questions posted on twitter. Retweet or comment on tweets your target audience have tweeted (I don’t think I have ever used the word tweet more often in one sentence). Like their page on Facebook. Give them helpful advice even when they don’t ask. 

Holding you hand out in the digital world can get a hand shake back just like in a crowded room. 

I will admit that even though I do this for a living there is no one way fits all. You have to create a social media environment and social media friends to attract the correct traffic to your website. Amazing results do not happen overnight either. It takes time to build a reputation online just like when you move to a new town.

I do want to share with you that this model has worked for me and my clients. When I started working with this particular client he had 20 Facebook likes and had never posted a blog before. I am happy to say that in 6 months he now has 85 Facebook likes and has tripled his traffic to his blog through promotional tools on social media. This in turn has raised his organic search on Google and increased traffic to his website/blog up to 80%. 

I am all ears for questions and comments on this one. How do you share your content on social media to get more website traffic?