by Kristen Dahlberg YOUR article is polished and ready to go. You hit “Publish,” and eagerly wait for reactions. Whether it’s likes,...
by Kristen Dahlberg
YOUR article is polished and ready to go. You hit “Publish,” and eagerly wait for reactions. Whether it’s likes, shares or comments, any response is welcome.
As an author, feedback fills you with a sense of accomplishment and confirms that what you’re doing is meaningful. Engagement validates that your overall message is resonating with your followers and allows you to make a difference.
Still, one of the biggest obstacles bloggers face is how to effectively promote their articles. You’ve invested so much time into creating content that matters, naturally you’d want to find the best way to promote your content in order to get as many followers as possible!
So, here are ten ways you can promote your latest blog article:
1. Share It on Social Media
The most popular form of promotion is sharing your article on social media. However, it’s not enough to simply just share the link or use the autopost. Instead, use these methods to enrich your status update:
- Add images for visual interest (more on that here)
- Add relevant hashtags
- Include engaging intro text
- Tag relevant people or accounts
- Use a tracking link to keep an eye on engagement (hint, hint – try Click Perfect)
2. Ask Influencers to Share Your Content
Influencers are respectable people in your industry, and as such they have the power to boost the success of your article tremendously.
Try to reach these individuals through social media channels, or via email, and ask them to share your article.
Keep in mind that the article has to be both relevant to the industry and of high quality in order to intrigue and inspire them to share.
3. Send an Email to Those Mentioned in the Article
Whether you’re referencing articles, eBooks or 3rd party material as resources within your own post, make sure you contact the authors as a part of the promotion.
A best practice is to ask for an opinion, however you can also politely ask them to share on social media or link from their own blog while you’re at it! In most cases, they will respond positively, as it beneficial for both parties!
Important: Don’t forget to list resources in your article and always provide links back to the original content.
4. Contact People Who Have Shared Similar Content in the Past
Those who have already shared similar content might be interested in reading (and sharing) more about this topic, which is why this method is great for finding people who are genuinely interested in the niche you write about.
A great way to locate these individuals is through mentions and hashtags on social media.
You can also find blogs and websites that have shared similar content using a tool, such as Open Site Explorer. Simply copy the link of the related content, look up the web addresses that link to that content and get in touch to recommend your own article for inclusion.
5. Repurpose the Content to Target Users on Different Platforms
Repurposing content helps you expand the reach of your content, by leveraging the power of different platforms. For example, if you have a blog article, try creating a presentation featuring the same content, and then share it on relevant platforms, such as SlideShare. This way you reach SlideShare viewers, thus increasing the number of online users you reach.
6. Feature the Article on Your Website
There are two ways you can promote the article on your own website.
Firstly, make sure you feature it on the front page. Add a feature section specifically for your blog, that way anyone who visits your site will see the content.
The second way to boost its performance is to share it as, “Latest news” in the sidebar. This way you promote the article to the users who reach your website through other content. A sidebar is a great way to catch their eye and keep their attention once they’ve finished up looking at what they initially clicked through to see!
7. Leverage the Power of Subscribers
Once you publish the article, create an engaging email send it to your subscribers. After all, they provided their email address because they wanted to be informed about new content that you publish!
Feel free to ask your subscribers to share the article as well. If they liked the content, why wouldn’t their like-minded friends or followers benefit from the information too?
8. Take Advantage of Bookmarking Websites
Bookmarking websites, such as Reddit, StumbleUpon, or Triberr as a way to gain exposure to users who are part of these online communities. All you need to do is join a bookmarking website and create a profile, and then you’re ready to promote the articles through the platform.
Since social interaction is integrated into these types of websites, you should try to be active and interact with other users if you want to increase the number of people that see your posts through the platform.
9. Add the Article to an Online Magazine
User-curated online magazines is also a great way to promote content, as it allows you to create your own online magazine focused on a particular topic, or allows for the possibility to be featured by another curator.
Platforms such as Flipboard, Paper.li and ScoopIt, already have large online communities with users eager to explore and discover new interesting content.
10. Use Paid Advertising to Boost the Article
Paid advertising is always an available option for article promotion, regardless of the platform you want to focus on. Whether you are seeking promotion via, Facebook or Twitter Ads, promoted content on LinkedIn, etc. paid advertising boosts traffic and increases the reach of your article much faster than using any alternative, free methods.
Each promotional strategy has positive and negative aspects, each with a specific way to achieve desired results. As an author, you need to explore all available options, and find those that are most beneficial to you in terms of traffic and lead generation. Give your content the best possible chance to reach as many readers as possible! After all, this is what blogging is all about – inspiring others, sharing knowledge and making a difference.
Don’t worry if, for example, you haven’t seen valuable results from repurposing content. Even though this technique may work for some publishers, find the technique that works best for you!
Perhaps you find that social media activity works for you or maybe contacting influencers has shown great results in the past. Focus your energy on the options that bring you the best results. Time is valuable and it’s important to find the most effective option that works best for you!
Final Thoughts
In the end, it’s quality that matters most!
Search engines and social media filter out ineffective content, therefore it’s of the utmost importance to publish high-caliber blogs.
Make sure that the article you’re promoting is worthy, as this has a significant impact on the outcome of the promotional activity. Also, make sure you optimize your blog in order to keep visitors interested in your content and maximize your lead generation.
We all know that article promotion is very important part of blogging, so we’d love to hear from you about your results.
Which promotional method would you add to this list? Talk to us and share your ideas!
While you’re at it, please share on social media to help get the word out!
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