Keeping up with the latest developments in social media is hard work – and even for us, working in the industry full time, it’s difficult not to let it take over waay too much of the day job.
Having a handful of really great blogs on your RSS reader helps a lot with this; but really great blogs aren’t that easy to find. Some of the “old favourites” (mentioning no names here – no really, for once we’re actually not going to mention any names!) have got a little stale and repetitive, and others have got drawn into hyperbolic, clickbait headlines which they can’t really deliver on when you read the article.
That’s pretty much our pet hate, because ten minutes spent finding out that “Six Guaranteed Pro Tips for getting business from Google+!!” actually consists of amazing advice like “fill out your profile” and “connect with people you know!”, is ten minutes we can’t use for doing something useful.
So, if you’re looking for something a little more quality (of course you are, that’s why you’re here, right?!), below is our Top 5 list of current social media blog greatness. These are some of the folk we read here to get fresh opinions and interesting takes on what’s going down in the Social Media world. In no particular order:
1) Just Ask Kim
A great source for tips and tricks of all kinds related to social media and online marketing. No fluff, just valuable, well explained content. Slightly more on the technical side, and some great posts about parts of WordPress that make the less confident user start to tremble a little.
We recently heard Jon described as “where it’s at with Advanced Facebook marketing – kinda like where you go when you’ve outgrown Mari Smith”!. Possibly a alittle harsh, but Jon certainly focuses on the more advanced aspects of Facebook, particularly the trickier aspects of the Facebook Advertising Power Editor. We’ve not come across anyone else providing information at near this level of complexity, so Jon has to make the list.
3) Postplanner
We’re a little bit lairy of “social media product company” blogs on the whole, but this one has really won us over. It’s more suitable for beginner to intermediate social media marketers, but nonetheless has consistently valuable articles and is particularly strong on real-world, case study type examples of using social media well.
Our only criticism is the incredibly annoying popup which you can’t get rid of without signing up for the PostPlanner product – but add the Blog to your RSS reader and that’s no longer an issue.
Most people are aware of the LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter official business blogs, but not everyone has found the Instagram equivalent yet. It’s not the prettiest site (oh, the irony) but it’s solid at delivering nice case studies of brands using Instagram in innovative ways, as well as technical and product release updates.
Not new, and not really social media, but still always interesting! Glenn at Viperchill talks about what’s *really* working to get visibility online – as against what Google *says* should work. He was on to the clickbait ViralNova type sites and their business model way before we saw anyone else talking about it. The blog is mostly SEO focused, but also looks at broader ways that people are making money online (such as advertising on social media), too.
We’d love recommendations from our readers, too! If there’s a company or individual who you think is doing a quality job with their blog, and where you regularly find interesting or helpful stuff, please do post it up in the comments section.
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