Are social sharing groups Worth it? Well, if I give you my short answer, I would say yes. But there are many pros and cons to go along with them. So what are social share groups? Usually you can find these types of groups on facebook.
What are social share groups?
These groups have members who have their own blogs and in these groups, admins will post sharing threads. Many of these threads will state that you must reciprocate an XX amount of links or some might state you must reciprocate all of them. In these social threads members can drop links for social follows, likes, or other types of engagement on pages or posts. A lot of these groups create threads for most or all social media accounts like facebook, instagram, pinterest, twitter, etc. Some of them even include YouTube or Google Plus.
How to join them?
All you have to do is do a search on facebook for groups. Some groups have stipulations for joining. Find a group that you think would be good fit for you and then request to join. All groups have rules depending on what the admins set for their groups. Make sure to follow them. Their groups don’t work very well if no one follows the rules they have set for their groups.
Social share groups have been very helpful to me. I have been blogging for about 10 years now and I just happened to come across them or heard about them about a year or so ago. Not only has it been helpful to my blog and social media growth, I have met and talked with other bloggers sharing tips and what-not. It’s always nice to talk with others in the blogging community. If you are a fellow blogger, you know as well as I know that blogging isn’t always easy and can be stressful at times. Even though I have found these groups to be helpful, there are some cons to them too. Listed below are some pros and cons of social share groups.
Growing your social media accounts PRO
This can actually happen fairly quickly depending on how many social threads you drop links on. Or how many groups you joined. I mainly use facebook, twitter, pinterest, and instagram. I also use Google Plus and YouTube as well but I don’t focus on them as much as the first four I listed. I have had growth on all my social media accounts. And not just a growth of followers but engagement as well. I am now engaging more with followers on my social accounts – it’s not just me posting my blog links on them anymore.
And it’s real engagement. Most isn’t just because another member “had” to to fill the recip requirement. A lot of these members come back with more replies in response to mine. A lot of the engagement comes from my following and not from reciprocation from group members.
Growing your blog following and traffic PRO
Obviously the more people that are engaging with your blog and social accounts leads to more traffic. Of course there are many, many other things that play a huge factor into traffic. Not just engagement. But it does help a little.
Connecting with other bloggers PRO
This is a big one for me. I touched a little on this above. I have been able to talk with other bloggers sharing helpful tips. Or share our experiences about certain things with each other. Yes, the engagement and growth for my blog and social accounts have been awesome but I honestly think these fellow bloggers have been just as helpful. I have learned how to do certain things differently when it comes to my blog. Connecting with other bloggers has made an impact on me.
Simply put, it’s free and easy PRO
There are virtual assistants out there. There are people out there who will help you with your social accounts for a charge. But these groups don’t cost you anything. Getting your content out there is easy and with the help of other members of the group sharing or engaging with your posts, you can easily do it yourself. You can choose which threads to join or how many.
Might not be your target audience/niche CON
The groups that I am in (I am currently in three) are groups for all bloggers – any type. There are bloggers that have blogs that are completely different from mine. This can sometimes be a problem because sometimes people are wanting to share or engage with other social accounts that fit their own audience. For the most part, I haven’t had any problems in this area. There are some though that don’t play by the rules and will skip some member’s links. Of course in the groups that I am in, this is not allowed but sometimes people don’t play by the rules. I am currently trying to find a couple more groups that are a closer fit to my blog type.
It’s time consuming CON
It is very time consuming but it also depends on how many threads you choose to join and how many groups you participate in each day. You have to make sure you have enough time to complete the threads that the admins of the group set. It might be time consuming but in reality, you should spend more time promoting your posts than writing them anyway. When I first started blogging I thought it was better to write as many posts as I could. But that’s not the case. I figured out that even writing one or two posts a week is just fine. The real work is getting those posts out there for others to see and check out.
Not everyone plays by the rules CON
Lets face it. Not everyone always plays by the rules. For example, if you post a link in a Pinterest Repin thread, there might be someone who skips yours. Sometimes there are follow threads. These vary from group to group. Some groups require you only have to follow a certain number of accounts. Some groups have a follow all rule. For example, if there is a follow all Instagram thread, everyone who posts in that thread must follow everyone in it.
In these threads, there are a lot that don’t follow the rules. Most will but there are some that won’t follow or they will follow but then unfollow immediately afterward. The groups that I am in will kick members out for doing this. If this happens to you (and I am sure it will) don’t be discouraged. In the long run, you end up connecting with other cool blogs and social accounts.
Tips
Make sure you follow the rules set by the admins of whatever group you are in. If there is someone not playing by the rules, make sure you respond to that accordingly. Don’t get rude. Sometimes links might get skipped purely on accident. Admins in the groups that I am in are pretty good at keeping an eye on things and you won’t have to mention anything. Some ask for members’ help by tagging them with a gentle comment in the thread and/or tagging an admin. Again, not all are the same. Make sure you know the rules.
Another tip is a facebook tip. In groups (most admins of groups and members have noticed) facebook will sometimes delete links that are dropped in threads thinking they are spam. If you aren’t breaking any rules, admins are not removing your links. It’s a facebook thing. What I do to make sure my links stick is to leave a regular comment on the thread like, “(adding link in a sec), Thanks!”. Then a few minutes later I go back and edit that same comment adding my link. Nine time out of ten my links stay.
Other Tips
Another tip is to make sure you have enough time to complete all the threads you join. You want to be able to take your time but be able to still complete them in time. You will need to take time because as you are liking comments of the links you have done, facebook may ban you for liking too many in a short amount of time. If the thread/group allows it, I don’t normally like all the comments in the threads to avoid this. Instead I like comments in a thread every once in a while to mark my place in the thread.
If there are follow threads, a lot of the time the social media platform may block you from following any other account if you follow too many at one time. So you need to be able to finish in time but to be able to do it slowly.
Hopefully you find this helpful when it comes to social share groups! My three favorite ones are Blog Support Group, Growing Social Media for Bloggers, and Grow Your Blog. Search them up on facebook!
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