16 Ways To Promote Your Blog Post - Chuck Isaac Aikens

• Read original article here

Let's Talk
16 Ways To Promote Your Blog Post
You’ve decided to create a blog for your business and have worked hard to narrow your focus and create valuable and engaging blog content for your readers. But, you may be asking yourself, how do you increase engagement and traffic so your blog succeeds? 
That’s where I come in to help. 
If you’ve finished research and writing and are ready to click “post,” you’ll want to use as many promotion tactics as possible to help get as much traffic to your new post as possible. So let’s look at some critical methods for effective blog promotion to ensure your hard work goes far. 
Before We Get Started
Plan Ahead
It’s easy to relax once all the planning and research are done and go easy on your execution. As your blog goes live, having the right plan and tools to organize your tasks can help you stay on track.
I’ve put together this comprehensive blog publishing checklist to keep you streamlined. This checklist is a must-do before you hit the post button on any new blog. 
Get Help
Don’t try to do this all by yourself. Finding freelance help is easier now than ever. In the USA alone, there are over 70 million freelancers . That’s a lot of talent! 
You can utilize this vast talent pool depending on your plan and goals for your blog and how much new content promotion you plan to do. Freelance hires are affordable and can evolve into a reliable team. 
Make Visuals
People retain 65% more information when presented visually , which explains why over 40% of marketers publish some visuals at least twice a week. Various visual media, such as headers, graphs, and original infographics, can help your target audience retain more information.
You’ll want to ensure your visuals correspond with your blog content and complement the information. 
PROMOTIONAL TACTICS
1. Share on Socials
Sharing your blog post on social media platforms is an easy way to promote your new content. However, your posts won’t have much effect if you’re not sharing regularly. Having a social media strategy where you post relevant and quality content between posts will make your audience more likely to engage with your promotion. 
It’s never a bad idea to boost your followers on social media channels, as a larger audience means more potential viewers and social shares. To do this, posting consistent content is critical. Using a calendar management app for social media sites, like Hootsuite , can help you plan out posts for many months so you’re not scrambling for content at the last minute.
2. Social Forums and Community Pages
There are many online forums where niche communities foster their interests. Utilizing these communities and becoming an active member establishes your authority and gives your posts more credibility. 
You will need to be a part of these communities through original posts, comments, and other engagements before you can start dropping links. Joining groups that are active and moderated daily will yield the best results. A few platforms that may work for you:
Facebook Groups
LinkedIn Groups
Pinterest Groups
You can also create a group on one of these sites, but remember, owning and moderating a group takes a lot of time and effort.
3. Facebook Boosted Posts
Organic posts can work well with the right strategy, but overall their reach is down 5.2% . Because of this, many email marketers opt for Facebook-boosted posts. 
Boosted posts are the number one way to promote your content on Facebook. First, you must decide on a budget. Then, choose the audience and click “Boost Post.” The right time to boost a post is about an hour after posting.
Other social media sites use paid advertising, which we will explore later. 
4. Email List
An email is a powerful tool when it comes to good content marketing. When you send out an email campaign, you’re engaging with readers who actively choose to subscribe to your email list and want to know more about your business. 
Clever call-to-action buttons and strategic placement within campaigns and email newsletters can drive traffic to your new blog post and webpage. 
You can learn more about growing your email list with these five essential email marketing tips . 
5. Email Signature
Another way to integrate blog promotion in emails without being part of a specific campaign is to include the link to the latest blog post in your email signature. Including the link in this simple way can spark curiosity. If the reader finds the article helpful, they may share it with relevant colleagues who could help grow a larger audience. 
WiseStamp is an effective program that automatically generates signatures based on your specifications – including a link to your latest blog post.
6. Social Bookmarking Sites
Social bookmarking sites are a popular way to organize their favorite content on a web-browser-based platform. Utilizing these sites can work to your advantage and is a great way to boost blog traffic on your latest posts. 
Here are some of the best social bookmarking sites to consider sharing your links on:
Reddit – Reddit has become the unexpected star of social bookmarking sites after its debut in 2005. The site is centered around niche groups called subreddits that are interest-based. Subreddits allow you to narrow and target your audience. Some subreddits don’t allow link sharing, so you may have to write some original content. Check out redditlist for an easy tool to discover popular subreddits. 
Flipboard – Flipboard functions as a news aggregator, collects posts across social sharing sites, and creates a magazine-style flipbook. Flipboard is a unique way to manage your content in an interactive way that allows you to republish for your followers. 
Viral Content Bee – Viral Content Bee is a promotion tool based on social credits. The more you share other people’s content, the quicker you can begin to post your own. It is also effective for getting your content in front of a niche audience and influencers likely to share.
Quuu Promote – Quuu Promote is a native advertising alternative that uses over 500 categories to help you reach your target audience. Quuu Promote guarantees actual social shares by real people. 
7. Website
If people are already on your website, what’s the point of directing them to your blog? As I’ve discussed, establishing your place as an industry expert can solidify your sales. Someone casually browsing your webpage could move down the marketing funnel by going from a casual viewer considering your product to someone who now prefers your service because of the valuable information you’ve provided in your blog. 
One way to direct readers to your blog is by adding creative CTA’s across your site. Pop-ups that promote subscriptions work two-fold in blog promotion and gathering more email addresses for your list. 
8. Blog Republishing
Blog republishing is a great tool to revitalize and update old blog posts and drive more traffic to your site. Blog republishing is also an excellent tool if you have an extensive library of older blog content that still gets traffic.
Blog republishing also works for newer posts. Once you’ve published your blog, you need to wait at least a few days to let Google finish indexing the post. After that, you can republish on sites other than your own, like LinkedIn and Medium . You also don’t need to republish the whole post. Instead, including a snippet can drive people to your site to learn more. 
9. Content Repurposing
One of the best ways to make your new content go further and get the most out of your blog post is through content repurposing. Content repurposing doesn’t just promote your blog. It can also help you have more posts ready-to-post content to complete your social media strategy. 
Repurposing content doesn’t just help with new content, either. You can also repurpose older content to fill the feeds across your social networks. 
Here are a few examples of ways you can repurpose your content across platforms: 
YouTube Videos – Video is one of the most popular forms of content consumption. If your topic lends itself to a video format, take advantage of YouTube and the opportunity to grow your audience. Explainers, how-to’s, and other informational videos can help drive traffic to your site, especially if you don’t cover everything in the video and link back to your blog in the description. 
Infographics – When working with many case studies and statistics or even instructional information, breaking down your blog post into an infographic can be helpful. Infographics can be used on your blog post and across social media platforms to help promote your post. 
eBook Content – eBooks are a way to expand your blog post and bolster credibility. eBooks can expound on a topic related to your business and help generate email addresses for your email list. 
Slideshare Presentation – Creating a presentation from your post allows you to share information with readers visually compellingly. Slideshare is a website that makes it easy to create and share your content in presentation format. 
Podcast Episodes – In 2019, reports indicated that 51% of Americans listen to podcasts . Podcasts continue to grow as an on-the-go method for many people to get information and can repurpose your content into 
10. Ask Your Partners to Share Content
If you work with companies related to your industry, you can ask them to share your blog posts to help reach a larger audience. Your partners will be more inclined to share if you create consistent, awesome content. 
You can also offer to share their posts in exchange. This can help foster the relationship and build trust.
If you’ve built out a team to help support your marketing campaign, you can also ask them to share your posts. All of these shares add up and can help your blog promotion strategy.
11. Guest Blogging on Successful Websites
Guest blogging for a successful website is easier said than done, but establishing valuable connections with other bloggers can be an effective blog promotion strategy. When you post for a blog with similar content, you can backlink to your blog and drive traffic to your website. 
Guest blogging will require you to network and establish a rapport with other blogs. One of the best ways to do this is to consistently publish great content that shows you as a reliable thought leader—for instance, blogs like OpenView curate content from other reputable professionals in their industry. 
These are a few tips for finding the right blogs for guest posting:
Reach Out to Connections – More than likely, your colleagues in related industries are also looking to increase their blog traffic, and guest blogging can mutually benefit both parties.
Keyword Search Results – By now, in the process, you’ve done a lot of keyword research. Use your keyword results to find other related blogs that might be interested in having you as a guest blogger. 
Become a Name in the Blog Community – Other bloggers will be more likely to let you post if you show you are an engaged and active member of the blogging community. Leave comments and share other blog posts to show you’re actively participating.
12. Influencer Marketing
Now more than ever, companies are folding influencers into their marketing process. As a result, 72.5% of marketers in the U.S. will utilize influencers in their marketing strategy this year. 
Establishing positive relationships with influencers in your industry is an excellent way to get your new posts in front of the right people. In addition, influencers are a great way to increase blog traffic through people already addressing your target audience. 
Here are a few quick tips for bringing influencers into your blog promotion strategy:
Shoutout Influencers in Your Posts – Mentioning influencers in your post is an excellent way to show them you appreciate their work. For best results, reach out to the influencer with a link to your blog and let them know you mentioned them, but you don’t ask them to share it on their social media sites. 
Interview Influential Experts – Gathering a few topic experts within your industry for an “expert roundup” can help increase the chance of shares on your post. 
Ask Influencers to Guest Post – An influential guest poster on your WordPress blog increases your merit within your industry and encourages the author to share with their followers. 
13. Blog Directories
Blog directories organize blogs based on category and can help get your new content in front of the right people. However, blog directories do come at a fee. These fees are a yearly fee or permanent listing fee. 
For instance, one of the most reputable blog directories, EatonWeb Blog Directory , charges $59.99 for a submission. 
14. Native Advertising
Native advertising, also known as content discovery platforms, is ads that look like they are related content from the same publisher. For example, they’ll appear at the end of an article with a concise headline under “Recommended For You” or “Promoted Stories.” 
Outbrain and Taboola offer native advertising sales and can help get your blog post onto a wide range of related sites using data-driven connections. 
15. Search Advertising
Search advertising is PPC (pay-per-click) ads that use keywords to reach your target audience through search results. Instead of paying monthly or daily fees for your ad, you only pay when someone clicks the link. 
You can also utilize paid promotions via social media platforms. Paid promotion helps when organic (non-paid) posts plateau or begin to decline. 
All of the social media sites have different advertising styles and demographics they reach. For instance, there are:
Videos on Facebook Ads
Sponsored Content on LinkedIn
 
Depending on your audience, you’ll want to focus on one or a few of these sites. For instance, if your primary demographic is female, you’ll want to include an ad strategy for Pinterest, as 71% of their audience is female .  
16. Engage with Related Content
Developing and sustaining a relationship with your peers and your audience is invaluable. It builds credibility and visibility for you and your business. Take time to read related blogs and comment. Engage with influencers in your industry and share their content. These connections improve your chances of getting common shares from your industry peers. 
Measurement
The best way to focus on the most effective promotion tools is to use Google Analytics. Under “acquisition” and “channels,” you can see where your site traffic originated. Incorporating Urchin Tracking Module codes (UTM codes) also helps pinpoint exact clicks from your campaign. 
Google Analytics is beneficial when measuring traditional digital marketing clicks like search engines or email campaigns. First, however, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the social media channel monitoring tools to track how your posts are doing. 
Using all the measurement and tracking tools at your disposal will help you determine which tactics work best and what might need a little more fine-tuning. 
Final Thoughts
I’ve gone over many promotion tips, but note that not all of these will be right for you and your business. It takes time to experiment and find the best promotion solutions for your niche. 
The best way to start is to try a few things, see what works, and use the available measurement tools to determine your most effective strategy. It takes time to perfect the art of great content promotion. 
If you’re looking for more blog posting resources, check out how to write long-form blog content for your business. 
Share on twitter