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How to Spread the Word About Your Latest Blog Post

May 18, 2020

Maybe you’ve been hard at work writing your own blog posts. Maybe you outsourced to a free content writing service. Either way, now you have a great archive of great content, but no one seems to be reading it! What could possibly have gone wrong? You have a great site, and you even optimized for the right keywords. So why isn’t anyone reading it? The answer’s pretty simple: because they can’t find it. You have a lot of competition in the blogosphere, so whether you’re running a business blog or something a little more casual, here’s how to get your audience’s attention.

Build an Email List

When it’s done right, email marketing is one of your biggest allies. If you aren’t collecting emails for a mailing list yet, it’s time to make that a high priority on your to-do list. First, provide a way for them to give you their email. There are lots of people who are interested — you just have to give them the chance. Timed pop-up ads are one of the most popular ways to collect emails. You can set it to pop up after 15 seconds, after your reader has scrolled a certain distance down the page, or even when they try to leave the site.

One of the best ways to build your email list is to incentivize people into giving them their contact info. Tempt them by dangling something they want in front of them — a coupon, ebook, exclusive content, or even an entry into a giveaway! For best results, create a personalized call to action for each landing page. HubSpot found that personalized calls to action have a 42% higher view-to-submission rate than those that show up the same for all visitors.

Here are some of the best mailing list providers to get you started:

  • Constant Contact
  • SendInBlue
  • GetResponse
  • ConvertKit
  • MailChimp
  • Drip
  • AWeber
  • Keap
  • MailerLite
  • ActiveCampaign

Note: Once you start a mailing list, you will need to put a privacy policy statement on your site since you’re collecting people’s info.

Join Social Media

There are a lot of social media platforms out there, and they can be a great way to attract attention to your latest content. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn tend to be the top performers in this area, but what works for some blogs might not work for yours, so it’s more important to pay attention to where your target audience likes to hang out. For example, if you’re targeting stay-at-home moms, Pinterest is likely going to be your best bet. But if you’re targeting people in the business sector, you’ll have better luck on LinkedIn. 

If you have a busy schedule, set your blog to automatically post to social media with each update. This feature can be especially useful if you subscribe to a free content writing service.

As with your blog content, beware of aggressively promoting your blog posts, products, and services on your social media page. Social media isn’t just about you — that’s why it’s called “social” media. Instead of screaming into the void, interact with your audience. Follow others in your same niche. Comment on their posts. Share their stuff. Write informative posts and answer questions. When you interact with others on social media, they’ll be more likely to interact with your brand. In some cases you may even want to create your own group for this purpose!

Use Social Media Ads

Social media posts are great, but do you know what’s better? Sponsored social media posts and ads. You might be feeling doubtful about their effectiveness — after all, when you’re scrolling through your own social media, you probably find them pretty annoying. But according to Global Web Index, ads placed on social media rank as the fourth most popular source of brand discovery, and 28% of internet users say that ads help them find out about new products. Furthermore, social networks are the second most prominent research channel after search engines.

In other words: today’s internet users are more likely to discover you via social media ads rather than ads placed elsewhere, such as on other websites. The most effective platforms for social media ads are Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and like creating your social media presence, you’ll want to identify the social media platform where your target audience hangs out most, then promote there.

Get Involved in Your Community

Networking outside of social media can also be a helpful tool for getting your blog posts more exposure. Find other blogs in your niche and read and comment on their posts. Comments are relatively rare, so the blogger is more likely to pay attention to you when you leave a sincere, thoughtful comment on their work. This in turn will make them more likely to start following you!

The word “influencer” is thrown around as a bit of a joke, but the clout that they have with your target audience is no joking matter. These are the people who will create content for you, build brand awareness, and build trust in your brand — all of which will help expand your reach and eventually help you generate more sales. This is basically word-of-mouth marketing at its most powerful.

It can also be helpful to attend industry conferences and exchange business cards with people you’d like to develop a relationship with. You never know which interaction will result in a lasting, rewarding relationship. Even joining your local chamber of commerce can be useful, if you have a physical location.

Create Shareable Content

It can be tough to get people to share your content. We all want to create that one blog post that goes viral and gets thousands or even millions of shares, but how do you get there? Unfortunately, there’s no magic formula for creating shareable content, but there are a few indicators that make a blog post more likely to get shared:

  • Entertaining
  • Scannable
  • Easy to understand
  • Visually appealing
  • Practical and useful
  • Affirms causes and beliefs
  • Interesting
  • Controversial

If you want to get people to start sharing your content, share others’ content first. This “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” approach can be a great way to get people’s attention and build a mutual sharing relationship. You can also directly ask your existing readership to promote your articles on their own social media, as well as on social bookmarking sites like DIGG, Stumbleupon, and Reddit.

 

Getting your blog posts seen and shared doesn’t have to be an enigma. These five tips can help you crack the code and start really drawing traffic to your site. For best results, though, don’t be afraid to experiment a little. What works really well for someone else might not be the magic recipe for your particular blog. Here’s one rule to always remember, though: whatever strategy you use, enjoy it! People are always attracted to people who love what they do.

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