It’s that time of year when we share the Top 10 Socially Sorted Blog Posts of the year!
This year there have been some stand out favourites.
In this post, I round them all up for you and share our top visual social media and content strategy posts of the year!
It’s always hard to pick your favourites blog posts! Especially when each blog post is a labour of love.
I have a complicated technical process for choosing our Top 10 Socially Sorted Blog Posts (can you tell that I’m kidding?).
It’s not rocket science, but it’s based loosely on 3 factors:
1 The number of shares.
2 The number of comments.
3 The reaction I got from you, my community, in terms of comments on social media, emails to me about the content and general excitedness.
So, are you ready for the top posts? Let’s jump in:
The Crème de la Crème of Socially Sorted Blog Posts
#1 50 Shortcuts to Create Visual Content for Social Media
Time is something we all want more of. This post will help you to fast-track your visual content creation so you can free up more time.
I share 50 shortcuts to Create Visual Content for Social Media including tools, strategies and apps that work to save you HOURS of time every month.
This post is huge but trust me, it’s a resource you can “dip in to” for years to come.
The tools and strategies in this post are my “kit bag” of strategies, tools and tricks for creating visual content quickly and easily.
Bookmark it. Refer to it. Download the cheat sheet so you have easy access to all the tools I mention, and more.
Enjoy!
#2 7 Creative Ways to Get More Instagram Followers
If you are on Instagram and struggling to increase your followers, then this post is for you.
I asked Sue B Zimmerman (Instagram Expert) to share some creative ways to increase your followers on Instagram, and she delivered. Listen up!
#3 5 Ways to Get Started with Short Video… Even if it Freaks You Out
Video is huge. It’s engaging. It grabs attention. It attracts reach and drives traffic.
But for many of us the idea of video, and being on video, FREAKS US OUT. Where do you start?
In this post, I share 5 easy ways to “dance with the fear” and get started with short video… even if it freaks you out!
#4 6 Powerful Lessons from Tourism that will Boost Your Brand
I have spent a lot of time with the Tourism Industry in the past 3 years, both as a speaker and trainer and working with clients.
I’ve also been fortunate to work with some of the leading tourism brands and state tourism bodies in Australia.
In doing so I have learned that the Toursim Industry can teach us MANY Lessons about using Social Media – big operators and small operators alike are doing some innovative things that we can all learn from.
So this is, without-a-doubt, one of my favourite Socially Sorted Blog Posts, as I got to share 6 Powerful Social Media Lessons from Tourism that you can implement in your business to boost your brand!
And it’s also one of the favourites for my audience – you guys shared it and sent me lots of great feedback about it. So if you missed it, read it here!
#5 10 Super Easy Ways to Get More Traffic and Leads on Instagram
This post was all about getting more traffic and leads on Instagram. Many of my readers are using Instagram but unsure how to go about building their following, driving more leads and making actual money.
If this is you, then read this post.
I share 10 Instagram posts from the Pro users of Instagram – that show you how to get more traffic and leads on Instagram. Easy!
#6 6 Social Media Lessons from a Car Dealer
A while ago, a single tweet caught my attention.
It was from a car dealership in Portland, Oregon.
Find out what it was, and how I decided to find out more about what this car dealer was doing with social media in this post.
Because trust me, this car dealer is doing things RIGHT. And I wanted to share what they are doing with YOU!
I share the simple strategies that the card dealer and their staff are using to drive engagement and traffic on social media.
The best part? You can use these strategies too… no matter what your business is!
#7 7 Ways to Effortlessly Drive More Blog Readers with Visuals
One of the things that has helped my blog do so well is visuals. And it occurred to me that I had never wrapped up all the strategies I was using in the one blog post for you.
So this was it. Want to attract more eyeballs on your blog post? Read this post.
This article got a lot of great feedback including stories about how some of my community have used it to get an instant increase in traffic and readers to their blog.
If you want to get more eyeballs on your next blog post, try some of these strategies. There are 7 of them in all – 7 Ways to Effortlessly Drive More Blog Readers….with Visuals.
Hint: Some of these tips require others to do the hard work for you! How cool is that!
#8 How to Use SlideShare to Attract 650k Views of Your Content
What a ride this post has had! It was first published in January, 2016 and at the time was titled “How to use SlideShare to Attract 450k Views of Your Content”.
Then something happened….
While only posting 2 more slide decks, my content views went from 450k to 650k in just 10 months.
Without. Doing. Much. At. All.
Which is why I want you to read this post. Even if you don’t have a following, SlideShare can bring quality views of your content ….and it happens organically.
But of course there are a few tips and trickst to getting results out of SlideShare, and I have wrapped them up in this post.
Read the post and please, promise me you will consider adding SlideShare to your marketing mix!
#9 The Secret Sauce to Shareable Visual Content Your Audience will Devour
This post is one of my favourite Socially Sorted Blog Posts.
After writing about and speaking about visual content around the world over a number of years, I started to see patterns, as to what gets shared and what doesn’t – I came up with 5 Key Elements that contribute to shareable visuals.
I was even interviewed about the 5 Key elements for Entrepreneur.com.
In this post, I break down those 5 elements or “Secret Sauce” Ingredients even more, including some examples of businesses using each one.
Now YOU can go and create engaging, shareable visual content too.
Even if you use just one or two of these elements in your images or video, it will help your content to get shared.
#10 5 Super Easy Tips for Instagram Engagement to Get the Party Started
If you are struggling to get Instagram Engagement then this post is for you. It’s not about just getting eyeballs on your content but actually having people like and comment on your posts!
In this post, I shared 5 Super Easy Tips for Instagram Engagement… so what are you waiting for? Check it out and get the party started!
Bonus Post: 5 Social Media Tactics that Need to be Trashed
I chose one last blog post that really struck a chord with my community… it’s had a lot of comments, I’ve received loads of emails about it and a ton of social comments.
I know when a post is popular from shares, but I know when something is truly important to my community when it comes to quality comments.
This post fired you up as much as it fired me up.
And the message I received was that you have had enough about these 5 bad social media tactics… as much as I have.
I hope that as a community, we can start to demand change (or lead by example) in terms of what I have shared in this article. Here it is:
Over to You
Phew! Thanks for helping me choose our Top 10 this year with all of your amazing comments, shares and engagement.
I am truly grateful.
Now tell me… what was your favourite Socially Sorted Blog Post of 2016?
Leave a comment below. I’d love to know!
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.
