Caroline Webster is a popular blogger at Caro & Co as well as the author of new book Caro & Co: Helping Kids Find Wonder in the Everyday.
Caroline chatted to Women Love Tech and filled us in on the reasons why technology and social media has helped build her audience.
How has social media played a role in the Caro & Co journey?
Social media has played a vital role in helping build an audience/readership for Caro & Co. It is the easiest way I know to extend the reach of your blog and, of course, it’s not limited to the country in which you live. I’m lucky enough to now have readers from around the world. I love that global connection.
Which platform has been the best for you?
Initially it was Twitter. I used it as a way of reaching out to like-minded bloggers with a view to disseminating and garnering information and ideas. In fact, such was the success of this, a group of about 10 of us formed our own hashtag, #playoutdoors to stay in touch. I consider them good friends and I still have a soft spot for Twitter. Now though, I tend to use instagram as a way of visually sharing the tenet of my blog. It’s so quick and easy and I find the ability to share Instagram posts across both Twitter and Facebook really helpful and a great time-saver.
What would you recommend for businesses/authors/bloggers starting out?
Just start! Set up your own website/blog (get help if needed) and start writing. You’ll be talking to yourself initially, but by using social media as a communication tool, you’ll eventually build an audience. Do your homework though. Know who you want to ‘talk’ to, what you want to say and stick with that. Everything you write should have a core message at its base. Save photos of sweet puppies and the dinner you’ve just cooked for your private social pages.
Seek out other bloggers and form a relationship with them, organically build an audience – don’t buy readers – people can see that fakery a mile off.
Be kind and inclusive! Share other bloggers’ posts, be supportive of your readers and engage as much as you can. A core goal for me is ensuring that my website is a way of ensuring two-way communication as much as possible.
And don’t forget images to accompany your writing. Humans are visual creatures so good visual content is vital.
What advice you can give to others to help them keep their audience engaged on social media?
Do your homework first. Know who your readers are, why they are reading your blog and on which day and at what time they are most likely to be reading. Then work up some good content (always have about 12 posts ready to go) and schedule that out to social when you know your audience is most likely to be there. It’s generally accepted that you should be scheduling something out at least two to three times a week to keep your readers engaged.
