When it comes to staying connected with people, social media has been instrumental in providing that means for communication. There are countless platforms that group thousands, millions and even billions of people together. Facebook is the best example of a social site that has brought together almost half of the entire world in one place.
Significance of social media
The significance of this is that these social sites provide incredible resources for driving traffic, branding and generating revenue. Facebook has the most users, but sites like Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram YouTube, Tik Tok and dozens of others are providing the audience to create massive businesses. There is a lot of money to be made by networking, driving traffic and converting your audience to paying clients.
The growth of social media has reached incredible numbers of people on a variety of platforms. The reach businesses have has multiplied exponentially through social media marketing.
What sets social media apart from typical search engine traffic is the power of referral marketing. When people recommend a product, it is one of the most powerful forms of advertising.
For this very reason, we have witnessed the rise of influencers. With a large audience, an influencer has the power to drive traffic to a website, product or service with a single mention. The ability to generate revenue from social media has never been as good as it is today.
Learn from the best in the industry
There are many who have dedicated their professional lives to mastering the advertising and conversion process on social media. Similar to SEO, the art of social media marketing is constantly evolving. Staying on top of industry trends and best practices lead to making the most revenue for your business.
It’s not enough to learn a method once and think it will last a lifetime. Just as the search engines evolve, so do the marketing tactics using social media. Staying in tune with what works and what can be left on the wayside is a smart business decision that will save you from making mistakes that could be avoided.
Take advantage of the tips and advice from social media professionals by following the leading publications. There are many information treasure troves that lead to success when executed correctly.
The following is a list of the top 20 social media blogs to follow. Each of these sites on their own will offer great advice, however, it’s good to get a mix of perspectives by subscribing to a few. Put together strategies that are custom fit to your business by taking the best that each has to offer.
Founded in 2009, Michael Stelzner has made successful social media marketing easy to attain. His mission statement was to make social media marketing accessible for everyone and takes a “how-to” approach to teach different tactics.
The site publishes a lot of original case studies, surveys and research on the different aspects of creating a business with social media. You can download guides and ebooks to educate yourself on the most effective means of building a business.
The site launched an official podcast in 2012 hosted by Michael Stelzner. Social Media Examiner continues to be one of the most visited social media marketing sites to date.
The CEO and founder of Social Media Today Robin Fray Carey started the blog in April 2007. It’s an American site based out of New York that offers the latest news and trends in the social media world.
The site hosts it’s own regular writers and invites guest authors to contribute their knowledge and expert advice.
Based out of Bloomington, Indiana, Convince & Convert is a giant in social media and content marketing. They assist clients by providing site audits and strategic plans to build more awareness of social media and generate more revenue for companies.
Their blog is filled with expert advice for businesses of all sizes. The company is headed by Jay Baer who is a world-renowned author, CX expert, speaker and author. Tap into this blog’s knowledge base to gain deep insight into strategic content and social media marketing.
This company is located in Baltimore, Maryland and specializes in social media and digital marketing services. Founded in 2009, Social Media Explorer has made its way to the top of the social media marketing blogs.
The site has an extensive range of topics that include everything to do with digital marketing and social media. You can find an abundance of relevant information that applies to run a digital agency as well as practical advice for business owners.
Kansas City, Missouri is home to this company that specializes in marketing consulting, publishing and training. Duct Tape Marketing services are delivered worldwide with special attention to marketing for small businesses.
Owner and founder, John Jantsch has published four books to date and offers a regular podcast that is published on the blog. If you own a small business this site the perfect match for you to learn how to improve your website’s overall marketing strategy.
6. Hubspot
Hubspot first appeared on the scene in 2006 and quickly dominated the industry with its legendary approach to content marketing. The articles on Hubspot set the standard in many aspects for providing highly educational, organized and easy to follow articles.
The blog is a content producing powerhouse that has broken just about every niche in the digital marketing realm. You can find industry analysis, case studies, original research and a world of statistics from many of their findings.
Be sure to clear your schedule to read Hubspot’s articles. Hubspot is known for publishing articles that are in-depth and lengthy but are well worth the read.
7. Jon Loomer
This site is the perfect match for learning more about Facebook marketing. Jon Loomer teaches advanced Facebook marketing as a one on one service. Of course, he offers a plethora of information for everyone interested, free of cost on his blog.
For incredible insight on how to market through Facebook, Jon Loomer is a hands-down top choice for blogs to follow. Jon’s quick rise to the top of the social media-marketing circle is a testament to his knowledge and strategies that can be applied to any business.
At SocialMedia.biz you will find a range of topics that mainly focus on social media marketing, news as well as guides and updates. The blog has a staff of regular writers but also invites guest authors to post on the site.
Many of the posts are geared towards small business owners filled with helpful advice on how to improve social media presence. They’ve also opened their range of topics to include a broader audience. You may find content that isn’t solely focused on business-oriented topics, but more about everyday living.
Gary Vaynerchuk embodies the definition of an entrepreneur. His accomplishments are numerous and involve the growth of multimillion-dollar businesses. He is a highly sought after speaker and offers valuable insight on how to leverage the tools we have at our disposal.
Social media marketing is one vein of many different topics that Gary writes about. His content possesses a worldly view on how to apply smart marketing tactics to grow your business. With an eye for trending opportunities and a savvy knowledge of building businesses, his blog is not one to miss out on.
10. Mention
This company was started in 2012 and offers social listening software to monitor mentions of your brand. The Mention blog is geared towards the best practices in social media marketing.
Their articles are a collection of tips for monitoring and marketing on the biggest social media sites. They have both regular authors but also publish guest posts from social media and digital marketing professionals.
11. Twirp
Anita Kirkbride is the owner of Twirp, a small company in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is described as someone who helps small businesses and startups by removing the fear around social media.
Her blog is written for that market. She gears her content towards people who have side hustles and people who leave corporate life to become an entrepreneur, as opposed to the big companies with marketing departments.
Her blog is filled with actionable and useful advice for small businesses looking to take their company to the next level.
12. Peg Fitzpatrick
Peg Fitzpatrick is the author of “The Art Of Social Media” and an industry leader in social media marketing. Peg specializes in Pinterest, Instagram and DIY graphic design.
Her passion lies in the visual aspect of marketing on social media yet she offers deep dives into the broad perspective as well. If your business is retail or image-oriented her blog is a top choice for learning how to build a business.
13. Social Report
Social Report was founded in NYC, 2010 with the vision that managing your social media should be an easy task. The company offers an easy solution to manage all of your social media profiles from one interface.
Their content is absolutely stellar and goes in-depth on tips and tactics to make your social media marketing more effective. You won’t find any author’s names on their content as each piece is written as an official tutorial or guide.
14. Social Media Impact
Despite being a lesser-known site as compared to some of the powerhouses, Social Media Impact cranks out a lot of content on a regular basis. Their articles consist mainly of social media tactics but there are small sections of SEO and other digital marketing articles that a small business can sink its teeth into.
Branding has become a much easier task to accomplish when you have half of the population of the world in some form of social media. Altitude Branding offers expert advice and is a column that explores everything to do with branding a business.
The site publishes a wide range of articles that are in many cases industry-specific. You will find much of their content geared towards branding a business on a variety of social media sites. You might even find articles perfectly matched to your industry to provide you with some deep insights and expert advice.
16. Socialnomics
Erik Qualman, the owner and founder, named the site after his national best selling book, Socialnomics. The blog prioritizes its content around digital marketing for businesses, however, you will find useful tips and articles about the social media marketing aspect. Erik brings the intent for providing social stories, useful stats, case studies and the latest news in business.
17. Socially Sorted
Socially Sorted is owned and operated by Donna Moritz, an Australian visual content marketer. Her blog aims at helping people create quick and easy visuals to market on social media to drive more traffic and build engagement with their audience.
The blog was listed on Forbes in 2019 in an article about Top 5 Blogs You Should Know About. Socially Sorted was also mentioned in Inc. as one of the Top 15 Social Media Blogs You Should Be Following. Donna has won numerous awards on Social Media Examiner as well.
If you want to enhance your visual content marketing strategy, make sure you keep tabs on the content she’s publishing.
18. Coschedule
Coschedule was founded in 2013 and is home to an array of digital products to organize your marketing strategy. One of their flagship products organizes your posts for both social media and your company blog.
The content you find on this site will range throughout the digital marketing universe. You will find articles on creating content as well as articles that target marketing on specific social media sites.
The writing team consists of regular authors as well as guest authors-although they are quite picky about who they let publish content. All of the content produced on this site makes for a quality read.
19. Mari Smith
Mari Smith is often referred to as the queen of Facebook, which should give you an idea of her area of expertise. Mari works with businesses and brands on increasing their online exposure.
She emphasizes the concept of building a relationship with your audience and attributes this to be the core characteristic of a successful business.
Founded by Mike Alton in 2011, The Social Media Hat blog focuses on social media tactics and strategies. You will find articles that review the best tools to use as well as content on SEO, internet marketing, mobile apps and technology.
Mike prides himself on telling you what to do, and how to do it.
Follow the sites that best suit your business
No matter what industry you’re in, each of the above-mentioned blogs has a wealth of knowledge to impart. Give each one a try at some point and gain perspective from industry thought leaders.
Follow the best blogs that are suited to your business. Reading the latest developments in your niche is a valuable practice to incorporate in your daily ritual. Execute the strategies and tactics that the experts recommend and take your business to the next level.