

Maybe general banter’s just not your thing. Use this to generate a storyline or visual progression that you can easily cross-post to Twitter and Facebook as well. It also lets you add text, apply filters, and change the frame dimensions. Third-party apps such as Diptic ($0.99 iOS and Android, ) let you combine multiple photos into an Instagram-sized collage, which you can then post directly to Instagram. You’ll get a lot more engagement after that, even if your next question is more serious.” “It’s like turning on the lights when you walk into a room.

Want to get people to engage on social media? Break the ice! “Ask a question that everyone has an opinion on, such as “Who’s tougher, pirates or ninjas?” Martin says. IFTTT is a service that lets you pick a trigger (for example, “if I post about zombies on Twitter”) and a subsequent action (“then cross-post to Facebook”), so you only cross-post relevant items. (Facebook is more for friends and family, while Twitter is a stranger free-for-all.) But Amanda Blain, Google+ superstar and CEO of Girlfriend Social, uses If This Then That ( ) to create special cross-posting recipes.

These apps offer more complex photo editing abilities such as contrast and brightness adjustments, as well as some funky filters of their own.Ĭross-posting with abandon is usually frowned upon, because different social networks cater to different types of audiences. Brian DiFeo, co-founder of Instagram marketing agency The Mobile Media Lab, keeps things interesting with subtler image effects from apps such as Snapseed (free iOS and Android, ) and Camera+ ($0.99 iOS, ). Instagram is a great app, but eventually people will get sick of seeing ‘Earlybird’ applied to every other photo. You don’t have to cancel any major life events, but it doesn’t hurt to put your Twitter handle on a business card (maybe one that’s different from your real business cards). I threatened to cancel my 22nd birthday party unless I got a certain number of followers,” Schofield says. “When I started out, I papered my neighborhood with flyers that had my Myspace URL on them. Trying to cultivate a following? Market to them the old-fashioned way: offline.

“Then I start a conversation with those people, so they see me as someone worth following.” Schofield uses Echofon (free iOS and Android, ) to search and #hashtags. “I like to search for the big players, such as celebrities, and see who’s responding to them-who’s retweeting them, who’s them,” Schofield says. When social media strategist Kinsey Schofield wants to become an influencer on a certain topic, she finds out who’s talking about it, and she talks to them. (Want more cool smartphone tips? We found the coolest ways to make the most of that supercomputer in your pocket and make you a Smartphone Ninja.) Other things you can text to 40404 include “off ” to stop following that account and “get ” to get that account’s latest tweet. Amy Jo Martin, founder of social media company Digital Royalty-and the brains behind Shaq’s 6.2 million Twitter followers-uses Twitter’s SMS alerts if she’s following an account or subject closely. Just text “follow ” to 40404, and you’ll get a text message every time that account tweets. You can follow anyone on Twitter-even if you’re not on Twitter yourself. Whether you have 10 followers or 10,000, these tips will help you level-up in the social-media marketplace.ġ) Make your phone a well-oiled Twitter machine So we rounded up five experts who’ve mastered social media to show how you can corral your online life so you can maintain a real life. With all the tweets, check-ins, and over-filtered Instagram shots flying everywhere, it’s easy for your own goals to become lost in the craziness. Struggling to keep up with all your social media outlets can be exhausting.
