August 27, 2023
Marketing is an important component of becoming a successful freelance writer and finding new clients. Part of marketing as a freelancer is using social media for writers strategies to promote your freelance work and build your personal brand as a freelancer.
It’s also a good way to find freelance writing jobs.
Whether you’re just getting started freelance writing, or, are someone who’s been freelancing for years as a side hustle while working full-time, it’s easy to skip this step—especially when work and life get busy. I’ve been there and my social media accounts have gone dormant for a bit.
As a freelancer, you’ll have success if you become your own freelance social media manager and operate your freelance brand like the professional business it is. Here’s how to do it. (Don’t forget to check out this freelancer FAQ to get your burning questions answered.)
In order to grow social media for freelancers, you need to be marketing yourself and your business. Luckily you can use social media to find freelance clients without spending all day online. To me, “marketing” means emailing editors, networking at events, handing out business cards, possibly running a freelance writing blog—and being very active on social media.
I learned the importance of this when I was on staff as the social media manager for Prevention magazine for a few years. I managed the Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts for the magazine brand and I was an assigning editor for the website.
I interacted with freelancers on a daily basis who were pitching me and noticed when freelancers shared the content they created on their social media channels. I’d often Like it or Retweet it as the Prevention brand, and I made note that this freelancer was active on social, doing her or his part to help with our traffic goals.
That’s why social media for writers is important–you can grow your network and get editors to notice you on platforms like Twitter/X, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and my favorite, LinkedIn.
(Here’s how to use LinkedIn to find freelance writing jobs.)
One way to grow your social media freelance presence? Share more content, especially the content you wrote. “Social media is far more important than I anticipated when beginning my freelance career,” says Freelance writer friend Jenn Sinrich.
“One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from Ed2010 founder Chandra Turner, who said that you should Tweet every single story you write. You might not think it will gain any traction by sharing, but you’d be surprised by how many eyes are on your work.”
Use social media search tips to look for freelance work and freelance writing jobs on social media platforms.
One of the top social media for writers tips for someone who is looking to find journalism jobs or freelance writing assignments on social platforms is to use hashtags to search.
On Twitter: #writerswanted is a popular one and you might see editors post using #journorequest (although oftentimes that’s writers looking for experts).
It’s important to share the freelance articles you wrote on your feeds, and to send the link out to your experts and sources interviewed in the article with the brands’ social media handles and your social handles.
This helps the brand get exposure to a larger audience, helps them get more traffic, and if, the piece does well, the editor will be more likely to reach out again for another assignment. (Of course, you still need to know how to write an article pitch.)
Share the social media freelance platforms you use with experts in an email
I’ve used Twitter, Facebook and Instagram many times to try to contact a celebrity or hard-to-reach source and message them, or found their agent’s name and contact. Have a presence and more than three followers before reaching out to people via social media. I got in touch with personal finance expert, Farnoosh Torabi, via Instagram after listening to her ‘So Money’ podcast and hearing her say she checks her Instagram messages. We worked on this real estate article for Apartment Therapy together.
You might be wondering which social media platform is best for writers these days?
It depends on which one you feel most comfortable with and how you want to use it. My social media for writers suggestion is to have a professional profile on LinkedIn because clients will want to look you up there and if you don’t exist on a professional social media platform like LinkedIn, they might wonder why that is.
As a former social media editor for Prevention and Muscle & Fitness Hers magazines, I can tell you that social media often influences brainstorming meetings and assignments.
If a health magazine posts an article titled “The 7 Best Foods to Eat for Lunch” on Facebook, and it gets hundreds of likes, shares, and comments, you’d be a wise writer to mention that article’s social success when you pitch the editor “The 7 Worst Foods to Eat at Breakfast.”
It might sound unoriginal, but sometimes an editor needs some evergreen (not timely) content that’s a solid traffic generator. Monitor the editorial brand’s articles that get lots of Pins, retweets, reposts, Instagram likes, or comments and mention those in your freelance article pitch. This social media for freelancers advice can help you stand out from the competition. The editor will know you’re a fan and follower of their brand!
There’s a good chance the online editor will be impressed that you spent extra time noticing what resonated with their readers and pitched accordingly. The same goes with pitching a brand.
If you want to create content for or work with a brand in some way, it’s smart to follow them (of course), like some of their posts, retweeting, share, and promote their content on your own channels if you feel inclined. (Try this simple exercise to find more content marketing clients.)
Know your freelance niche’s popular hashtags and use them when you post. Also look for hashtags that are trending on Twitter that day to see if you can capitalize on one and share a relevant article you worked on or share a link to a client’s website with that hashtag to support them and help drive traffic.
This social media for freelancers tip is an easy way to reach new audiences and get followers.
When you’re a freelancer who is juggling multiple clients, it’s easy to forget about posting on social media. I try to schedule social media posts on Hootsuite or Facebook for the week ahead. Once or twice a day, find an article to retweet or like from one of the freelance clients you’re working with or a freelance you admire. It’s an easy social media for writers tips to help you grow your audience, show engagement and gain impressions on your social feeds.
Scheduling social media should be part of your freelance marketing plan.
It can be all too easy to go down a social media rabbit hole that sucks up your work time while catching up on clients’ and friends’ trending posts and streams. Set up parameters so you can see the people’s feeds you want without getting stuck on the home page of Twitter or Instagram and finding yourself missing a few hours of precious work time. This can help you practice good social media for writers etiquette without spending too much time on social and not enough time on client work.
I have a few lists of people I am following and set up streams on Hootsuite with hashtags and brands I want to skim through daily. I also like to look at lists on Twitter/X that other people have created with influencers and social media freelancers to follow. It’s a social media for writers tip that saves me time and helps me stay focused.
This social media for writers tip is an easy lift that can have big results. I often include my website link, Twitter handle, and LinkedIn profile in my signature on every Google email I send. (It’s under SETTINGS > Signature.)
You can follow me here and we can be social buddies! Let me know if you found me through this blog.
I also include my freelancer social media handles in my email newsletter so readers can follow me there. Subscribe now!
How do you use social media for writers to get ahead with freelancing and find freelance writing jobs?
Tags: article ideas, content marketing, content strategy, freelance, freelance rates, freelance writing, freelance writing course, freelance writing tips, freelancer, freelancing, online course, six figure freelancing, six figure income, social media
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