Social media marketing is harder than ever. There’s so much competition and organic reach died a long time ago. Or did it? There are things you can do.

A solid social media sharing schedule can double your traffic, and it doesn’t require any real effort from you. You could even automate your posts so you can gain traffic by doing almost nothing.

It’s true that getting free traffic through social media is only going to keep getting harder. But this guide is going to show you how to do social media marketing right.

Posting on Reddit

One of the best places to get free social media traffic is Reddit. A Reddit SubReddit will yield you the chance to speak directly to people in a way that other social media platforms simply don’t offer any longer.

Communicate with people in the SubReddits most relevant to your site. Don’t be promotional. Just speak to people and give your insight into specific subjects.

This is about becoming an authority in your industry and getting your name out there. Reddit is one of the best ways to do this.

Hashtags – Instagram & Twitter

Hashtags are just as important as ever because you need to make sure that your content is getting seen by the right people.

Instagram and Twitter are the two platforms where the hashtag can actually increase your reach. Research the best hashtags for your business niche and begin inserting yourself into them. This will get the right people seeing your statuses.

It goes a long way to addressing the decline of organic reach.

Join Groups – Facebook & Twitter

Both of these social media hubs have public and private groups that you can join. Join the ones relevant to your business and, like Reddit, work on becoming the voice of your industry.

Help people out with their problems and point them towards your products and services, when it’s appropriate to do so.

You could even start your own groups to further expand your visibility.

Leaving Relevant Comments

You can also succeed by leaving comments on forums and social media posts everywhere. Posting answers that get you a lot of attention will increase the visibility of your business.

Naturally, people are going to want to find out more about the person who posted a popular comment, which leads them to your social media profile and your website.

Underutilized Platforms – Pinterest, Google+, and Quora

Don’t just focus on the big names. Niche audiences don’t always congregate there. Furthermore, you have less competition for those eyeballs, so it’s well worth investing some time and effort into these underutilized platforms.

Take Quora questions & answers as an example. This is where you can establish yourself as an expert, thus improving the credibility and online reputation of your business.

Pinterest is perfect for posting images. And Google+ is ideal if you want to start a community group.

Now that you know about some of the ways to generate traffic on social media, it’s your turn. Do you have any other tips for increasing your exposure on social media?