Content Marketing: It only starts with the Blog

This week, we are talking about content marketing. We started with defining it and exploring the numbers that demonstrate its success. Then we moved on to talk about blogging. Now, we proceed with the story.

Every day I write my blog. It takes a few a hours to come up with the topic, gather supporting data, write it, edit it and then publish it. But I spend twice that time promoting the blog across several social platforms. That’s what we are going to talk about today.

Promoting your Content

Choose Your Blogging Platform – I don’t think this is a topic often discussed. If your blog is part of a business website, please skip this section, but if not, pay attention. I think there is great value in choosing the right blogging platform. I chose Tumblr for my social media blog. I think the biggest reason why I did that was because it is a social network in addition to just a blogging platform. You can publish a blog anywhere, but when that platform helps your blog grow through its own users and followers, there is value. I have a collection of followers on Tumblr – not many but a few. I never did anything to attract those followers but I am very glad I have them. They engage with me often. This would not have been possible with another platform that is less social than Tumblr. I plan to work more towards building a greater Tumblr following, but for now I am think that my choice to use a social network for my social media blog was important.

Google+ Your Posts – Google+ is one of the best platforms for having your blog found and read. Everyday, after I post my blog, I write a teaser and post it to Google+. As we all know (if you follow my blog), Google loves people who use Google+. By publishing these teasers, I have seen a great rise in my Google presence. It is some of the best advice I can offer clients with a content marketing strategy. Google+ also recognizes hashtags, so use them.

Facebook Your Posts – We all know that Facebook is the mother of all social networks. I take that same teaser and post it to my Facebook page. When you post the teaser, be sure to include a photo and link. That will optimize that post’s EdgeRank so it has the best chance of being seen at the top of your fan’s news feed. It will also provide a backlink to your blog which will increase your blog’s SEO. Finally, Facebook uses hashtags. Be sure to use them in your teaser.

Tweet Your Posts with Hashtags – Twitter is a great place to expand your following. The secret with Twitter is that you have to use hashtags. So here is a quick Twitter lesson. When you tweet, you reach your followers which is great when you have a whole bunch of them. But when you want to reach new people you have to use hashtags. That will open your conversation to people who follow or search for different topics. The effective use of hashtags is how I have built my following. Don’t be afraid to tweet often. I tweet something about my blog every half hour with different hashtags. I pull one fact out and then link to the rest of the article. It has proven to be a great tool for audience building and provides backlinks.

Get Involved in other Conversations – Finally, read other blogs. Comment and link back to your blog. When you contribute to others, their audience will take notice to you and, if you say the right things, come back and follow to you.

The lesson here is that you can’t just publish and then expect people to find you. You really have to be active in promoting your blog and each individual entry. This is where you build an audience and how people start to recognize you online.