{"id":759,"date":"2015-02-24T20:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T20:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.shareasimage.com\/?p=759"},"modified":"2019-10-29T15:22:06","modified_gmt":"2019-10-29T20:22:06","slug":"grow-social-media-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getstencil.com\/blog\/grow-social-media-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Powerful Ways to Grow Your Social Media Presence"},"content":{"rendered":"

So far today there’s been\u00a0416,000,000 posts on Twitter…and it’s only 1pm. In the last 60 seconds, there has also been 293,000 statuses updated and 136,000 photos uploaded to Facebook. (Source: The Social Skinny & Internet Live Stats)<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s a lot of activity. Don’t sweat it though, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The good news is that it’s crazy active out there, and you can get a lot of attention if you know how to improve your social media presence.\u00a0Easier said than done, I know, but there are some really useful approaches to get noticed and make an impact.<\/p>\n

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Here are 5 simple, but\u00a0powerful social media tips\u00a0you can use to stand out which can all be implemented right now. If you even do just 1 of these 5 things, you’ll make an impact. The real challenge is for you to live these every day while trying to build your brand online.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Be different and stand out.<\/h2>\n

Every day the web becomes more saturated with the same old stuff.\u00a0Don’t just copy existing content\u00a0and repurpose\u00a0parts of it. You’re unique, find what makes you special and share it.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tip:<\/strong> Create a consistent\u00a0style all of your own. Groove has done an excellent job of this by having a consistent style<\/a> for their post images. It’s always fun to see the images they come up with, but there’s a amazing cohesiveness about it that just seems to draw users in. Josh Pigford is doing something similar on the Baremetrics blog\u00a0<\/a>now too and it’s a great approach. It’s a way for readers to connect with a content in more visual way and establish your social media presence. Whenever I see these particular images now, I’m always immediately reminded of these brands. It really works.<\/p>\n

If you’re not a designer or don’t have one on board, \u00a0not to worry, you’ve got a some solid options:<\/p>\n

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  1. Find\u00a0illustrated stock photo sets that can be used for your posts. Creative Market<\/a> has an incredible selection.\u00a0Because these graphics are essentially static and pre-made, one way you could use them effectively would be to have a different illustrated character or animal as the graphic for each post. (for example, if your topic is about speed, use a Cheetah.) That’s just a silly idea, but the key is to be consistent with the style so that people will associate it with your brand whenever they see it.<\/li>\n
  2. Hire a graphic designer on Odesk<\/a> who you can pay by the graphic (or perhaps the hour). You’d be surprised how affordable it can be and how effective the results are. Spend some time choosing wisely and looking at their portfolio. I find it can be helpful to give them a small task before actually hiring them. Or, hire them for a very small job to see how you like working with them and the quality of their work before committing to anything long term. Most importantly, don’t ever pay in full for the work in advance.<\/li>\n
  3. If\u00a0you’re looking for something a little more premium, jump on Dribbble<\/a> and find a designer whose style could represent your brand and reach out.\u00a0Their profile page will often say if they’re looking for work.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Dribbble\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    2. Be visual with your posts for better social media presence.<\/h2>\n

    I know you’ve heard this one before, but it’s as important as ever. When your eye scans down a page, it tends to spot visuals first. It’s why we built Share As Image! According to Buffer<\/a>,\u00a0Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets!<\/p>\n

    As Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick say in their recent post<\/a>\u00a0on Time’s blog:<\/p>\n

    “In the valley of text, the post with graphics is king. This may add a few minutes of effort, but no single action can make your posts better than adding some eye candy to every post.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \"Add<\/a><\/p>\n

    Our stats show the same thing too!<\/p>\n

    \"\"Tip:<\/strong> There’s some super easy ways to do this and you won’t need a Photoshop license or to be a designer. Here are some amazing tools you can use (including ours, yay!) to create images super fast for social media, blog posts, emails and more.<\/p>\n

    <\/i> Time Required:<\/strong> Less then 2 minutes
    \n<\/i> Learning Curve:<\/em> Basically none<\/p>\n