Content gets people talking about you, but where can they find you?
Content remains king, so do the platforms and methods it is being promoted. Promotion is indeed a critical part of a successful content strategy.
As for the actual promotional activities, take a look at the recommendations below and pick out the ones that would go well with your needs and goals.
Start with a Strategy
It all begins with a content marketing plan that governs your actions for a given timeframe. Set this plan in motion with an audit of your existing content to spot pages that are doing well and those for modification, repurpose, etc.
Set the goals and their respective KPIs underlying your content marketing, along with the topics, the content formats, the distribution channels, etc., to achieve those goals.
Of key importance is defining your audiences or buyer personas to create useful and relevant marketing content directed to them and for them.
Invest in Quality and Consistency
If you want people to engage with your articles, social media posts, and videos, you’ve got to make each piece top-notch and keep it that way.
Not only will users find them engaging, they’ll be happy to share something useful with people they know. They might just bookmark your blog or subscribe to your social media business pages.
Informative materials can boost your reputation as an entity that is trustworthy. Because content marketing tends to lean on education, hard selling is not that necessary. It’s however important to provide a consistent call-to-action to signal readers about your intention.
Boost Facebook Posts
Facebook has a sizable number of monthly active users worldwide, retaining its spot as a key platform for content promotion and distribution. The easiest way is to post about your new blog or vlog and promote it post aside from the users usually following or interacting with your page.
For your boosted post, you can set the audience based on specific traits such that it’ll reach more people belonging to your target audience. Boosted posts are ads in a way, although Facebook ads are set up differently.
Work with Videos
Videos are popular because they are consumable and complement your text-based resources. You can come up minute-long videos and post them on social media with a relevant description (avoid clickbait) and hashtags.
For videos that have a longer running time, try uploading clips on TikTok. Then pin the comment containing the full link to the YouTube video. This is more cost-effective than shooting different videos for different platforms.
Every video needs subtitles and warnings, like loud sounds and flashing lights. Having said that, ensure all your content is safe and accessible.
Make It Visual
Pictures are powerful, attractive, and versatile. An image right below the title is within the F-shaped reading pattern of some readers. Images found in the body of the content breaks the wall of text and enhances the reading experience. In the case of infographics, they are useful in conveying or summarizing the key points of an article or report.
Visual content can be downloaded, uploaded to another post, pinned, or even screenshotted. This “saveable” quality can make your overall content more user-friendly and shareable.
So together with the text, invest in the substance and form of every graphic or thumbnail that goes with your every post.
Engage
It’s best practice to interact with commenters on your posts and on others’ too.
User-generated content tends to be more credible because they are not from the company or its representatives. The rationale being there’s no direct incentive for a normal folk to talk about a product unless it’s done the job of solving a pain point.
Some customers also post detailed reviews or hacks on how to use a product, which adds value to it. Many products or trends have gone viral this way.
It’s free publicity, and you can thank the original posters and try to answer questions from other users in the comment section. Before interacting though, check that your brand looks legitimate, especially if you haven’t gotten the verified mark.
Handle Negative Comments
Then there’s bad publicity or when your brand becomes controversial over your video or tweet. This situation can breed fake news and miscommunication, if left unmitigated.
To douse the fire, react quickly—it truly helps to have personnel and tools that check on your brand mentions and perception online. Just as you are friendly with positive posts, be receptive to constructive criticisms. Clarify, apologize, or refer people to helpful resources.
The intent here is to show that you are aware of the situation and taking action. Being a class act can turn a supposedly negative event into an opportunity to build trust.
Filter the Filler
Once it was widely reported that repetitive and boring content made people unfollow brands on social media. This won’t be much of a worry if you have a clear handle of what people want and when and where to post it.
Monitoring post engagements will help you stay focused on the kind of content, along with the posting frequency, that won’t annoy your followers. (Just because you have published a new infographic, doesn’t mean you have to remind them about it multiple times a day.)
Evergreen articles, which stay relevant for a long time, act as the perfect “filler” material on your socials. Other things that you can share out of schedule are contests and giveaways, third-party articles, and anything that remains useful and relevant to your audience.
Do Your Newsletters Right
Unsubscribe is a click away, so make sure that your newsletter is valuable and deserves its spot in a subscriber’s inbox.
Look at your email stats; you may have to change a few things to increase your open rate and keep your newsletter as a viable platform for content promotion. For inspiration, look at competitors’ or the lauded successful newsletters, and see what they have done.
Whether it’s a more minimalist design with fewer images, a quirky subject line, or a singular focus to your weekly newsletter, test it out and review the results.
Reach Out to Bloggers
You have this really insightful resource that you want to gain a wider audience, so you bring this to the attention of bloggers or networks in your niche. Prepare a compelling pitch for this, and don’t forget to personalize.
A similar strategy is guest posting, where you contribute a good piece as an author. It’s an indirect and long-term way to promote your business through relevant content. You can then promote this guest post on your social media accounts.
Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate
Guest blogging can be a promising start to a meaningful collaboration with other content creators and influencers. Co-hosting a podcast and doing a takeover on Instagram are examples.
The goal is for the arrangement to be mutually beneficial to you both. The benefits that you can possibly gain from entering into a collab include access to a bigger audience that is similar to yours, exposure and promotion, and building authority.
Promote on Google
Google is prime real estate for promoting your blog, ebook, or report without breaking the bank.
You can set up Google search ads to drive traffic to the page and increase the number of people who can see and hopefully engage with the content. Similarly, you can use Google Ads to promote YouTube videos.
The power of PPC can be more than that in the grand scheme of things. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Google Ads specialists to get the results you want from your campaigns. With their focus on Google Ads and results, these experts can help you with your goals for growth.
Promote What You and Your Audience Will Love
Trust in the process, that is the creation, promotion, and distribution of content.
Remember that everything starts with good content, so always put quality first. If your budget is limited, prioritize the pieces up for creation and promote them in places where they’ll get the most traction.
Spread the word.
