It’s that time of the year when we share my 2017 Best Blog Posts from Socially Sorted.
These are voted by you, our audience, based on a mix of shares, comments and traffic, to give you the posts you loved the most.
From Podcasts, to Infographics to Video and Social Media Overwhelm and more – here’s your 2017 Best Blog Posts from Socially Sorted!
It’s been quite a year for Socially Sorted, beginning with being a winner of the Top 10 Social Media Blog Competition for the 3rd year running. I’ve had a lot of fun creating content for you all year again!
As always it was tough to narrow down my best visual social media and content strategy posts for the year, but luckily we get a helping hand from my audience. Here’s last year’s post in case you missed that too.
The process is not generally too techy – I use a simple (home-made) ranking system based on the number of shares, the number of comments and the traffic from the post.
I also take into account the reaction I got from my community (you) about each blog post including emails, comments on social media and general levels of excitedness.
Let’s dive in and check out your 2017 best blog posts on my blog:
The 2017 Best Blog Posts from Socially Sorted
#1. 21 Google Chrome Extensions for Social Media Marketers
There’s no denying it – the Socially Sorted community LOVES a good Google Chrome Extension. This post was hugely popular and it no doubt reflects one thing: You love to save time and work smarter.
And that’s just what Google Chrome Plug-ins help you to do. Your comments ranged from “great finds” to “I just added so many extensions that will make my life easier” to “you are my hero” – this post resonated.
Rest assured this is not EVERY great Google Chrome Plug-in and we may have to return with a 2.0 of this post as more extensions are released. But we’re sure this post is worth revisiting or checking out (if you haven’t seen it already).
Get all the Google Chrome Goodness here.
#2. The 11 Top Social Media Management Tools I Can’t Live Without
It seems that year in, year out, we are all searching for a great tool to manage our social media marketing. So, it’s no surprise this post was popular.
There have been a few changes, one tool removed and one added – I want to stay true to my promise to only list tools that I use and love right now.
Please bear in mind that I may use more than the average small business owner as I am asked to test a lot of tools, so I do tend to use a few more than the average user would need (so I can review them for you guys!).
However, I have noted in the post which tools will be more of a “cover-all” and do more than one function – and Agorapulse is still my clear winner for that.
#3. How to Get Started with Pinterest Marketing
This guest post by Mitt Ray was a winner. It seems that many of my readers are still at the stage of getting started with Pinterest.
What does this mean? Don’t panic if you don’t have a Pinterest Strategy yet… because many business owners don’t. And if you are ready to get started, this post is perfect for you.
I asked Mitt to become a contributor to Socially Sorted as I know he creates quality content about social media marketing and Pinterest in particular.
If want to get started with Pinterest (or UP your game) then…. Read this post!
#4. Shake up Your Visual Content – 3 Quick Short Video Ideas
This post tapped into your love (and curiosity) about creating short video.
I write about a lot of great short video tools on this blog including Animoto and Wave but this post is more about the unsung heroes of short video, and a couple of tools you may have missed.
So if you missed it, read it here!
#5. 6 Ways to Create Infographics that Get Results
Ahhh infographics. No matter when or how or which way I write about them, it always resonates with my audience.
I love this post because it gives you some solid evidence for how to create infographics that work, based on data from actual infographics.
Couple this post with #7 in this list and you’ll be off and racing to create some awesome infographics. Enjoy!
#6. 3 Ways to Reduce Social Media Overwhelm
This post was a very important reminder to me about how much my audience is STILL struggling with social media overwhelm.
Considering it is something that I battle with every day, it’s a great post for us all to revisit as we head into the marketing months ahead.
These 3 simple strategies will help to reduce your social media ovewhelm and get more results.
Read it here and start reducing your overwhelm!
#7. 4 Easy Infographic Template Tools
Although this post was published on New Year’s Eve 2016, I included it as it was written after I released my Top 10 list for 2016 and was popular.
It’s a great post to include in our 2017 Best Blog Posts because it goes well with #5 on this list – and it helps you to create infographics quickly and easily.
I LOVE the tools in this list, especially tool #no2 – which I am using more and more to create my infographics easily and quickly.
Read the post and start creating AWESOME Infographics!
#8. 7 Facebook Cover Videos to Inspire You
With Facebook releasing Facebook Cover videos, this post was a hit with those of you wanting to find out how to create them (and some cool tools to use!)
This post has 7 great examples of Awesome Facebook Cover Videos as well as the tools you can get started with.
Jump in and create your own Facebook Cover Video – and share a link to it in the comments on the post so I can see it).
Read the post here. Happy Video Creation!
#9. The 5 Top Social Media Podcasts Every Marketers Should Listen To
You all love Podcasts, there’s no doubt.
This post was super popular and the general consensus was that you either already loved some of these podcasts or you were excited to listen to those you hadn’t discovered yet.
In most cases at least one of these podcasts was a new discovery for you… which made me happy!
Happy listening!
Read the post and Listen to the Podcasts here.
#10. How to Create Animated GIFs that Stand Out
Rounding up the 2017 Best Blog Posts, this article proved one thing: You LOVE GIFs.
It’s packed with GIF creation tips and tools – and I’ve added a new surprise since I posted it, so be sure to check it out… another GIF tool that I LOVE!
Check it out and get GIFFY with it!
Honorary Mentions!
We had a few posts that were close to making the Top 10 list, so I am going to add them here, in case you want further reading!
#1. 10 Video Statistics that will Make You Rethink Video
I’m not one to get all excited over statistics, but this post has some insanely engaging facts and figures (and tips for how you can leverage them).
If you are interested in short video (and let’s face it, we all are, given that reach and engagement that it is drawing in) then read this post.
All of the stats and data has been made highly actionable for you – so you can create social video that works!
#2. 7 Easy Ways to Improve Instagram Engagement with Visuals
Instagram is hot. Instagram engagement is a hot topic.
It makes sense then, that this post was hot with my community too.
#3. Revive Your Facebook Page
Struggling with reach and engagement on Facebook? It’s definitely getting harder and we definitely are heading to a place where you need to include paid ads to get your content seen.
But… there are still some things that work for getting organic reach and engagement.
Here is a list of them in this post. It resonated with many of you so if you missed it, check it out here.
#4. How to Strike Gold with Visual Content Ideas – 3 Awesome Tools
This post is all about tools that not only help you schedule or post content … but come up with ideas in the first place.
Many of us get stuck for what to post on social media so it’s no surprise that this post resonated.
Thank You
Finally, a huge thank you to all my readers yet again for a great year of blog content. Thank you for helping me shape these 2017 best blog posts.
You may not realise it, but you drive the content that I write every year. You do it with your comments, shares and blog visits.
So, even if you are not an active commenter, you matter. You make the thousands of hours writing this blog all worth it. I’m grateful for you!
Over To You
That’s a Wrap for my 2017 Best Blog Posts from Socially Sorted. Tell me – what topics do you want to hear more about from me in 2018.
Or what do you want more of when it comes to visual content and content strategy). I’m listening…
Donna is a Visual Content Strategist and founder of Socially Sorted, listed by Forbes as a “Top 5 Social Media Blog You Need to Know About”. Donna helps brands leverage the power of visual storytelling and content strategy in their business. Her content has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Inc. & Entrepreneur and she is a speaker and trainer on visual content for the marketing and tourism industries internationally.
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