As you progress in 2012, with exciting new strategies to add to your social marketing campaigns – there’s one thing you don’t want to leave out. Social bookmarking! But what exactly is social bookmarking, and how does it make a difference in your social media campaign? Let’s take a closer look at this popular social tool.
Courtesy of nowsourcing.com
What Exactly IS Social Bookmarking?
From a user perspective, social bookmarking is an efficient way to find new content, store it, or share it with their bookmarking community. Sites like Delicious, StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit, are all considered social bookmarking communities. People sign up to use them, and then make use of their indexing tools as they surf the World Wide Web. When they come across a site they enjoy, they can review it, recommend it, share it, or save it.
These social bookmarking communities make up millions of users online. Many of these sites have top ranked pages, posts or websites – that are then highly visible to the community at large. In other words, if a few hundred people like your site, it might get onto the recommended page. Millions of users will see your site, and click through to it.
From a marketing perspective, the traffic benefits are paramount. If you take the time to bookmark and share your site with various social bookmarking communities, chances are, it may drive a ton more traffic to your pages. More traffic means more readers, signups, downloads and sales.
How Do I Use Social Bookmarking Sites?
Social bookmarking sites require time and effort on your part. To be considered a real member, you need to participate – in more than simply sharing your posts with the world. Spend some time each day sharing other great sites that you find online. The social rule of thumb is that – the more you share, the more traffic you’ll get!
All you have to do is narrow in on one or more site to add to your social campaign. Make sure your site displays these social buttons in your sharing section. Whenever you post a new blog or article, click on the sharing tool. It will take you to your account, where you can recommend your page to the community. Once it’s there, you stand to benefit from thousands of clicks, simply because it’s there to be shared.
If you don’t share your posts on social bookmarking sites, then this reduces your chances of getting seen. You’ll rely on fans to recommend your post for you. Instead, make sure that you share your own posts, just after you publish them. That way, you’re bound to get more shares. Make sure that you promote social bookmarking to your social community as well.
Encourage them to share on sites like Delicious and StumbleUpon. Don’t spread your resources too thin – it’s better to have two lively accounts, than six barely functioning ones. This is one mistake you don’t want to make! The sites we’ve mentioned here are the best. Pick one! You’ll soon find out which are the best to use for your niche.
Which social bookmarking site do you use the most and why? Let us in on your experience, and share with our community.
I haven’t had a lot of success using social bookmarking tools. Sometimes I wonder who actually takes the time to go thru all of that material and links and what they’re looking for.
@FromThisSeat – well its a great curation tool, and when you use the toolbar it becomes like second nature. The trick is to use it when you’re working online – it doesn’t have to be on all the time! Thanks for reading!