Article marketing to increase your social media following?

Hi Warriors!

This may have already been covered elsewhere on the forum already, so my apologies if it has.

I was trying to think of ways to increase social media following other than the usual "interact with other social media users in your niche", when it popped in to my head that I might be able to use article marketing.

So, instead of using the resource box to direct a reader to say a blog or a HubPage, encourage them to go to your Facebook Page or your Twitter Profile and click the "Like" or "Follow" button for more of the same type of content.

Of course you can always direct them to a blog or a squeeze page from your social media pages, but a social media site is essentially a list anyway. I guess the main difference being is that it's probably a little easier to promote an offer to an actual list without getting an unsubscribe than it is to your social media following.

It's usually better to have them on your list though, but you can eventually do that through your social media. People spend more time on Facebook or Twitter than they do in their inbox in general. Plus people get instant social media updates straight to their smart phones.

How many people do you get following or liking you or your page from a blog visit versus going from your social media pages to your blog? Is it significant enough to aim your article marketing efforts towards increasing your social media following rather than blog visits?

I also hear that you can put an opt in form on to a Facebook page now anyway, but maybe that would lead EZA and other article directories to rejecting such resource box links.

I guess it's kinda half question, half suggestion here. And for the record I just contacted EZA help desk about it, so I'll post an update if it's a feasible method.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

Jamie D.