You have just published a new blog post and now you have to promote it. The internet is an extremely crowded place, which can be seen as a negative and a positive.
On one hand, promoting your content can be difficult because there are already so many other pieces of content out there. On the other hand, promoting your content is easier than ever before because there are so many different platforms that you can use to get your content in front of people. Not to mention, the various targeting options you can choose from.
So, where should you start? The answer may vary depending on what type of content you have created and who your target audience is, but here are some general tips for promoting your content online, that will support your ongoing SEO efforts.
Promote it on social media with organic and paid options
One of the best ways to promote your content is through social media. This is because you can reach a large number of people with just a few clicks. And, if you have a strong social media following, you can really amplify your reach.
There are a few different ways you can do this – organic (free) or paid:
Organic
- Share your content on your personal social media accounts. Once you have posted the content on your business profile, you may like to share this on your personal accounts to reach your followers/friends.
- Create shareable images or videos that feature your content. Visual elements capture people’s attention more so than a wall of text. So, make sure your content is eye-catching.
- Join relevant online communities/groups and share your content with them. Don’t just join a group and post a link straight away, as this will look like spam and you may be removed from the group. Spend some time answering questions and interacting with the group before you share a link to your blog.
Paid
- Run ads on social media platforms. Naturally, the chances are you will reach more people when you pay to run ads. Why? Because you can target a wider audience that doesn’t necessarily follow you. Targeting options are quite broad and differ between social media platforms, but the main options include targeting based on demographics, interests, job title, etc.
Pro tip: To get the most out of promoting your content on social media, you need to create compelling visuals that will grab attention and make people want to click through to read or watch your content. Canva is a great tool for creating professional-looking visuals without having to hire a designer.
Want to run social ads but not sure where to start?
Type of content to share on each social media platform
When promoting on social media, it’s important to be strategic. You want to make sure that you’re promoting your content on the right platform and to the right audience. For example, if you’re promoting a blog post about fashion, promoting it on Instagram or Pinterest would probably be more effective than promoting it on Twitter.
Here’s a guide on the type of content you should promote on some of the most popular social media platforms:
- Twitter is best for promoting content that is newsy or timely. This is because the platform is fast-paced and people are always looking for the latest information.
- LinkedIn is a great platform for promoting content that is professional or industry-related. This is because LinkedIn is a network of professionals and businesses.
- Facebook is a good platform for promoting content that is visual. This is because people are more likely to scroll through and stop on images and videos than they are on text.
- Instagram, on the other hand, is best for promoting content that is visual in nature, that is creative, or inspiring. This could be anything from a blog post with beautiful photos to an infographic.
- Pinterest is a good platform for promoting visual content, like infographics or blog posts with images. It’s also great for a short snippet of content that is helpful or informative.
Pro tip: When promoting your content on social media, make sure to use relevant hashtags and @mention any relevant accounts. This will help you reach a wider audience and get your content seen by more people.
Save time with a scheduling tool
Manually posting on every social media account can be time-consuming. There are a number of scheduling tools that can help you promote your content more efficiently. Tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, SocialPilot, and CoSchedule allow you to connect all of your social media accounts in one place and schedule posts ahead of time.
This is especially useful if you have a blog post that you want to promote on multiple platforms over a period of days or weeks. You can write the post once and then schedule it to be posted several times on different platforms.
Email marketing
Another great way to promote your content is through email marketing, or what we call EDM’s (Electronic Direct Mail). This allows you to reach people who are already interested in what you have to say.
An email marketing list is something that you need to add to overtime. You can do this by promoting your sign-up form on your website or blog, or by running ads that target people who would be interested in subscribing to your emails.
If you don’t have a large email list, don’t worry. You can still promote your content to a smaller group of people and see great results.
Just make sure that the people you are emailing are actually interested in what you have to say. The last thing you want to do is spam someone’s inbox with content they don’t care about.
Want to start sending EDM’s?
Guest blogs on other websites
You can also promote your content by guest blogging on other websites. This is a great way to reach a new audience and get your name out there.
When you guest blog, make sure to include a link back to your website or blog so people can find you. This is also great for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), because the link back to your website will increase your link juice through a strategy called link building. You just need to make sure it is a ‘do follow’ link, not a ‘no follow’ link.
To guest blog, reach out to website owners or editors and pitch them an article idea. Once they accept your pitch, you can write the article and include a link back to your site. Guest blogging is a great way to build relationships with other bloggers and websites in your industry.
Pro tip: You need to ensure your idea is relevant and adds value to the website and its users. For example, If it’s a website on home improvement and you are a business that sells and install blinds, you may pitch the article idea ‘8 ways new blinds can instantly modernise your home’.
Work with influencers
Reach out to popular bloggers, social media personalities, or YouTube stars in your industry and see if they’re interested in promoting your content.
This can be done by:
- Offering them a free product sample;
- Sponsoring their next video; or
- Simply asking them to share your content with their followers.
If you have a budget, you can also work with micro-influencers. Micro-influencers are social media users with a smaller but engaged following. They’re often more affordable and can be more effective than working with bigger influencers because their followers trust their recommendations.
Pro tip: To find micro-influencers in your industry, search for relevant tags on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and TikTok and take a look at who has the most likes and comments on their posts.
There are a lot of different ways to promote your content. And, the best way to find out what works is to experiment. Try promoting your content on different platforms and see what gets you the most engagement. With a little trial and error, you’ll be able to figure out what works best for you and your business.
Work with us
Promoting content online is a big part of what we do day in day out for our clients. Whether you want to promote your content through organic or paid options, our Search Marketing Managers can help. If you’re interested or want to discuss your options, let’s chat!
Frequently asked question about promoting content
Social media is a great way to promote content because it allows you to reach a large audience quickly and easily. And, if you use social media effectively, you can build up a loyal following of people who are interested in what you have to say.
Another reason why social media is good for promoting content is that it gives you the opportunity to interact with your audience. When you promote content on social media, you can start a conversation with your readers and get their feedback. This can help you improve your content and make it more engaging for future readers.
Promoting content on social media can help you drive traffic to your website or blog. If people see an interesting piece of content on social media, they may click through to your website to read it. This can help you increase your web traffic and get more people reading your content.
There are many ways to promote your content for free:
- Social media
- Post it in forums or online communities related to your topic
- Guest blog on other websites or write articles for free online magazines
- Submit your content to directories
- Email marketing
These are just a few methods that can help you reach a wider audience and promote your content for free.
Our Search Marketing Managers help our clients promote their content in a number of different ways and through various platforms.
Each client's goals also vary, so we work with the client, their product/content they would like to promote, and put together a tailored strategy. We then confirm this strategy with the client and implement it accordingly, measuring results and providing detailed reports.
Want to know more about how we can help? Let’s chat.