Integration with social media allows your blog to open up to entirely new avenues of engagement and interaction. There are two major variations of social media integration: Push marketing and pull marketing
Push marketing intends for the user to “push” out your user-generated content out onto social media. By doing so, you create a social footprint which others see what you do and interact with the content you make. Push marketing’s full intention relies on you producing high-quality content for others, leaving the social media building blocks to automated processes. While Push Marketing can be a viable tactic if people appreciate what you put out, if it ends up being excessive or not the type of content people care for then you run the risk of losing potential user engagement.
Pull marketing does the reverse, where you use your social media to “pull” the users toward your website and engage with your content directly. You act as the customer relation expert, personally crafting experiences which builds a connection with others. By this bridge, you develop a smaller, more dedicated viewer base that will regularly engage with your content more often. On the flip side, people come to expect a consistent level of quality. Dipping down in quality may cause people to lose interest, while carrying upwards will cause people to expect a similar level of quality down the line.
I would personally opt for push marketing, as my full intention would be to develop a blog that is For Me first specifically. If I send this out into the world, then I expect others would likely come across my blog and potentially enjoy what I have to offer, and eventually become repeat viewers in the future. The possibility that others like what I have to show evidently will come down to playing with social media algorithms, and I find that rather difficult at times to engage with.
Data gathered from social media metrics give you a wealth of information about what posts perform stronger than others due to being a hot topic or something that generates active discussion. This also means you can check to see what topics aren’t doing so hot, and what may be potentially controversial leading to something you should avoid instead. By using social media metrics to judge my posts, I can see with the blog specifically what fantasy subgenres are expected, what people may expect from me, and what future topics I could potentially tackle. Some people may see a particular category as engaging, so maybe I try to use that format more often. There’s a lot I can pull from utilizing engagement metrics which means taking active investment to curve my blog in that direction may drive engagement at the cost of exploring unknown or unfamiliar techniques for my own personal challenge or enjoyment.