How to Get the Most Out of a Boost Group

Boost groups are a great way to connect with other like-minded influencers, make connections and friends, and get a little “engagement juice” on your blog post or social shares. If you don’t currently participate in any boost groups, the BlogPaws® News and Boost Group might be the perfect place to dip your toes into the world of boost groups.

There are lots of great benefits from participating in boost groups but how do you get the most out your boost group experience? Today, I’m sharing some pro tips for both beginners and long-time participants.

Let’s keep this positive and start with the Do’s, the things you should definitely incorporate to get the most out of your boost group participation:

The Do’s of Boost Groups

1. Do Follow the Rules: Each boost group has its own unique purpose, focus and rules. Make sure you are familiar with these and then follow them. Nothing will turn off group members and administrators faster than not following the rules. Repeated violations of the rules may even lead to being removed from the group. If you have a question about any of the rules, ask the administrators- they will get you the answers you need!
2. Do Complete All Required Engagements: If a particular day’s boost says “DO ALL,” then make sure you engage with all links as instructed. If it is a “DO TEN,” then make sure you engage on at least 10 links. Also, make sure you complete all engagements on time! Consistently not completing all required engagement or completing it late WILL be noticed by both boost group members and administrators.NINJA TIP #1: If time allows, try to engage on every link in a day’s boost, even if you are only required to do less. If you can’t do every link, then do as many as you can. Your fellow members will notice, will appreciate your extra effort and may even return the favor!
3. Do Engage in a Meaningful Way: If the boost calls for a comment, take the time to leave a quality, thoughtful comment related to the content being shared. This means you will need to actually read Facebook shares and entire blog posts.Trust me, the content creator will know if you just skimmed the social share or blog post post and are leaving an obligatory comment. Do not leave short, two or three word comments that could apply to any share anywhere. Avoid things such as “Great post!” or “Wow! I love this.” Rather, write why you love this post, what makes it so special or important or why it resonated with you.
4. Do Follow Other Boost Group Members: This is a basic boost group best practice you really should take to heart. When you follow other influencers, you are providing additional support and they are more likely to follow up back. And who doesn’t want more followers?
5. Do Approach a Boost Group as a Way to Make More Friends: By sharing your content and reading other people’s content- along with any side discussions that take place as a result- the perfect environment for meeting and making new friends is created! By sharing and reading other influencers work, you really get to know other influencers and their mission! Take this is an opportunity to forge relationships and make new friendsAfter all, friends support (and engage!) with other friends!
6. Do Pay Attention to the Boost Group Schedule: Most boost groups have a schedule. For example, in the BlogPaws News and Boost Group, every Monday is a Facebook Engagement Thread, every Tuesday is a Twitter Retweet boost, every Wednesday is a Blog Post Comment thread, and so one. If you participate in that day’s boost, make sure you share links for the appropriate social media platform.
7. Do Keep the Boost Group’s Schedule in Mind and be Strategic with Your Social Shares: If Monday is a Facebook Engagement thread, try to make sure you have a fresh Facebook share you want eyes and engagement on. Perhaps you want to promote a blog post. Create a compelling Facebook share and you may find your fellow boost group members clicking over to your blog to read the entire blog post. And who doesn’t want more traffic to their blog?
8. Do Go the Extra Mile When You Can: Just because the boost is to re-pin on Pinterest, doesn’t mean you can’t click over and read the blog post (and even leave a comment!) This is an easy way to give some extra love to a social share and blog post that your fellow boost group members will definitely notice! And you know what? They might just do the same for you!

Okay, now that we’ve covered the Do’s of boost group participation, there is one all-important Don’t that we need to cover:

The Don’t of Boost Groups

1. Don’t Rely Only on Boost Groups as Your Sole Source of Engagement: Though boost groups, when utilized properly, can give you some “engagement juice,” you cannot rely on boost groups for all of your engagement. If you do, your audience inadvertently becomes pet influencers only. You need to write blog post content and create compelling social shares targeted towards your true audience. Your participation in boost groups should be secondary and utilized to get a little gas going. After all, how much of an influencer are you if you aren’t talking to or getting engagement from your target audience?NINJA TIP #2: Brands DO notice if your comments, likes and shares are only coming from the same group of fellow influencers. View boost groups as a tool to amplify your megaphone!

Boost groups offer a lot of benefits when utilized properly. Sure, some guaranteed engagement is one of them, but if you have a clear boost group strategy that focuses on giving as much love to other members content as possible, creating relationships and friends with like-minded influencers and planning your social media shares with the boost group schedule in mind, you will get so much more out of a boost group.

In addition to his role as the BlogPaws Campaign Manager, Bernard Lima-Chavez is a street art lover, deaf dog pet parent, blogger and freelance writer. He shares his life with with deaf dogs, two hearing dogs and a whole bunch of cats. You can find him at The Graffiti Dog and on Instagram at @thegraffitdog.

Image: ArthurStock/Shutterstock.com