What is the internet? It is a ridiculously vast pool of content— the content of the people, for the people and by the people. Yes, the definition of democracy does justice to what content on the internet is like. But if there is so much content available already, who will care about the newest fashion trends or the latest viral video? But people do, which means that content is continually evolving and being consumed. Marketers today need to leverage advanced content promotion strategies.
Yes, to some extent, luck has a role to play, but what if I told you that your content could become the next big thing, using these some promotion strategies? Your content will no longer be lost in the land that no one visit— the second page of Google Search results.
Here are some ways to keep your content from getting lost and reach a wider audience:
Use your email list- send them new content
When starting a blog or a brand, one of the biggest favors you will be doing to yourself would be to formulate an email list. It can be a great medium to reach your audience. People have willingly clicked on the “subscribe” (Read: yes, you may send me your stuff) button. If anybody is likely to engage in your content, it is this group.
If you send in a 1000 emails, and even if 10% click on it, and 5% click on the link inside— you are reaching an audience of 50 people which is a great start!
You can grow your email list by:
- An email pop-up for your blog
- Slide up CTA at the 60% mark, preferably on the right side
- HelloBar which can be pinned to the top
- On your main domain, you can have a ‘sign up’ box. Do not have it on every article of sub-page; it will only drive people away
Unleash influencer marketing
When your favorite Instagrammer promotes some product or content, are not more likely to check it out than when you see the same product at random? You are not alone. The premise of influencer marketing is driven solely on the idea of harnessing the power of people who have relevant influence over your target audience. When done smartly, influencer marketing can be a spectacular content promotion tactic, highly effective for both B2B and B2C brands.
It is estimated that by 2022, $15 billion would be spent on the influencer market. You can always do a paid promotion with them, but there is another (cheap) way. You can mention the influencer, or their work and cite it in one of the blogs that you think will match their audience. Next, you go ahead and drop them an email, letting them know that they have been featured. More often than not they will get back at you, and might even get a tweet, or a story (and a whole lot of traffic) in your favor!
Content Transformation
This technique has worked wonders for almost everybody in the past— so you have the comfort of knowing that this could be a good chance to get traffic on your page. Content transformation is basically taking an old piece of content that you had generated, and then bedazzling it! Okay, no, please keep your glue-guns aside.
Here’s what I mean illustrated using an example—a year ago, you published a spectacular article about this great topic, but you did not get much traffic on it. Then you rework and tweak that content a bit and transform it into a video, and it’s a hit! You transformed your old content to fit into this new bracket of content for the people. It’s a win-win because you got to showcase your content whilst taking minimal effort.
Showcase your work to the community
We all consume content of all types from reading articles to binge-watching videos. It is more likely that the main focus would be our interests— you are curious about something? You watch a tutorial on youtube.
From this arises the question— do you think you have an audience? Where does this audience “hang out,” as the cool kids call it? Wherever that maybe, you should try to put up your work there. It will not only drive and audience your way but also help you analyze the kind of content that receives more attention (for future purposes of course). This is one of the most advanced content promotion strategies and needs to be understood clearly.
Here are a few that are specific to our niche:
Focus on more than just self-promotion. Do the shameless self-promotions not get you on edge after a certain point? Yeah, put yourself in your audience’s shoes and accordingly devise a plan on the kind of image you wish to build in the community. Share articles by other people, comment and vote on stories. Keep it real (it’s the new trend), and you will soon gain a following.
Of course, do not get lost in the mix. Remember your purpose of being on the platform—Share your best stuff, not ever another article you write. The best way to go about it is to spend time with the targeted community. Engage with them and yield positive results!
Make it easy for readers to share your content.
Do you know who the best source of content promotion is? It is your current readers, or audience! Who would have thought?
They like your content, they indulge in it, and more often than not they would really want to share it as well. But here is the tweet button? It is too much of a task to copy the link, open Twitter, then hyperlink the link it in a tweet, and tweet it. They like you, but not enough to do this.
Make it easy for readers to share your stuff, simply by adding social media buttons in strategic places. Use pin it buttons. It is much more likely to get shares using this method.
It is a tough world out there, very easy for your content to get lost. If you do not use advanced content promotion strategies right, chances are it will never see the light of day, and all your hard work and effort will be over nothing. Derek Halpern, the social media marketing wiz, has even gone off to the extent of saying that you should spend 20% of your time creating, and 80% of your time promoting what you created. It is all about hit and trial. You will need to find a strategy that works best for you, and that can only be done once you start promoting!
