Having a great social media presence can do wonders for your blog, so figuring out the best way to maintain that is one of my top blogging priorities. It’s not incredibly hard to do; I mean, you just have to post! But one decision I’ve struggled with since the beginning of my blogging days is whether I should separate my blog and personal social media accounts.
Related: Establishing A Consistent Social Media Presence
Initially, I created a separate account on almost every platform. I figured that would allow me to create a more professional presence, and I thought gaining followers would be pretty easy. Ha, that was definitely not the case. It was especially hard knowing my personal accounts already had hundreds of followers that I could be promoting to, while my new accounts had single digit followings. Eventually some grew faster than others, which led me to deleting the ones that became hard to maintain. I think I’ve finally settled on which accounts to keep separate, and I wanted to share about why I made those decisions for those struggling with the same issue!
I created my first Twitter years before I started a blog, meaning my original Twitter account was full of high school friends; basically, people who could care less about my new post on the Genesis Framework. I knew I wouldn’t get far with this crowd, so I created a separate account for my blog and I’ve stuck with that decision. I use this account to share my posts, share posts from other bloggers, and post organically to keep things from getting to promonition-y. By having this separate account, I’ve been able to grow a following of bloggers and blog-readers who are interested in my content, and are more likely to share it with their own followers. Overall, I would definitely suggest creating a separate account if you already have a personal one!
Related: 6 Tips For Growing Your Blog With Twitter
I’ve gone back and forth on this one, and for a while, having only one account wasn’t much of an issue. I almost never posted about my blog on Instagram because I didn’t see a reason to. You can’t easily link to your blog posts, and creating a graphic that blends well with your feed can take a lot of time. Recently though, I’ve been participating in sponsored campaigns and promoting my blog more often, and it was becoming more important that I maintain a certain style throughout my feed.
Another issue was that my follower base mainly consisted of friends and family that don’t quite understand the concept of sponsored posts, or why I keep uploading pictures of tampons (I think I’ve gotten more than 20 questions about that one). So when I finally created a separate account, it felt SO relieving! I can use this account to figure out my Instagram style, post freely about my blog, and create a following entirely comprised of bloggers and users that are interested in my content.
I would absolutely suggest creating a separate account if you’re feeling awkward about certain posts, or held back from promoting your blog. It’s a little complicated to run two accounts (constantly logging in and out isn’t the most ideal situation), but I think it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Related: Finding Your Instagram Style
I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone who created a separate Facebook account for their blog, so this one is pretty simple. The main decision is whether or not to create a Facebook page for your blog, and all I can say is, it won’t hurt! I hardly ever post to my Facebook page, simply because I don’t personally use Facebook very often.
This is the one account I’ve never duplicated, and I think that decision helped me grow it to my most popular social media account today. The great thing about Pinterest is that you can separate your blog life from your personal interests through boards, and your followers can choose which boards they want to keep up with. For example, my college friends might not care much about my blogging tips board, while my blogging friends might not want to follow my college board.
Whether someone’s following one of your boards or all 30 (I know, I’ve narrowed down a bit) doesn’t really affect you or your numbers, so there’s really no need to have a separate account. One thing you can do to make this easier for your followers is make organized boards with concise names so they can decide which ones they’ll find interesting. Oh, and join group boards! They’re great places to get your posts out to new eyes, and gain more followers for your own similar boards.
Related: How To Use Group Pinterest Boards To Gain Blog Exposure
Tumblr
I’ve been using Tumblr for years, and hadn’t ever considered promoting my blog on it. I always thought of Tumblr as a place for reblogging funny text posts and cute puppy pictures, until I discovered a whole side of bloggers promoting their content successfully! I ended up creating an account, and eventually turned it into a studyblr since that relates so much to my college niche!
Related: How To Grow Your Blog With Tumblr and A Beginner’s Guide To Starting A Studyblr
Do you have separate accounts for your blog and personal life? Which way do you think is more ideal?