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#ContentWritingChat May 17 2016 Recap: Key Ways to Promote Your Content After You Hit Publish

by | May 20, 2016 | ContentWritingChat

#ContentWritingChat May 17 2016 Recap: Key Ways to Promote Your Content After You Hit Publish

If you missed #ContentWritingChat this week, grab a snack and catch up with the recap of our latest chat. We talked all about how to promote your content online for more exposure: there’s a lot to learn!

#ContentWritingChat May 17 2016 Recap: Key Ways to Promote Your Content After You Hit Publish

This week, our guest host was Sid Bharath. Sid is a writer, contributor to Content Marketing Institute, and the VP of Growth at Thinkific. To check out his insights on content promotion, keep reading for loads of great tips from the chat!

Q1: How can you encourage your audience to share your newly published posts?

So, you’ve written a brand new blog post and you’re pretty proud of it. Now the question remains: how do you get your audience to share it?

Our guest host, Sid, knows the formula for shareworthy content! Create good, quality content and make it easy for your audience to share.

David is spot-on with his answer! If you want people to share your content, you need to write shareworthy content in the first place. Don’t forget to promote your own work through various channels including social media, emails, and forums.

Our CEO, Julia, was on the same page as David. She also mentioned sharing your content yourself. After all, how can you expect someone to find your work if you aren’t sharing it?

Tara knows the importance of engagement! It makes a huge difference when you take the time to just talk to your audience. Once you’ve developed a relationship with them, asking them to share becomes so much easier.

First and foremost, you need to focus on providing value to your audience through your content. As Sarah from Think SEM said, if you’re publishing great content, your audience will want to share it.

To ensure you’re providing your audience with great content, you need to get the know them. Who are you writing for? What are they interested in? How can you help them and solve their problems with your content? When you give your audience the content they want, they’ll certainly want to spread the word.

Brittany knows that asking your audience to share your content never hurts. Saying “please” helps too, right?

Don’t forget! If you want your audience to share your newest blog post, you need to make it easy for them to share. It should never be a hassle for someone to share your post to Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. Include social sharing buttons on your blog posts and even the Click to Tweet plugin. You’re sure to see an increase in shares!

Q2: What are key ways to engage with people who are sharing your posts on social media?

Do you take the time to respond to the people sharing your content on social media? You should! Here’s what you should do:

If someone shares your content, say thanks! Sid also recommends following-up to ask what that person thought of your content. It’s a great way to spark a conversation and get their thoughts.

A simple “thank you” goes a long way to show someone you appreciate the share. Even better? Share their content too if it’s great and fits with your audience’s interests.

Sarah and Erika agree in sending over a quick thanks to anyone who shares your content. To encourage a conversation, ask the person who shared your content what he/she liked the most about it. It’s a great way to get direct feedback from your audience.

As Brittany said, that quick “thank you” is a good way to start building a relationship with your audience. Let them know you’re grateful for the share.

Great answer from Tim! This is the perfect time to show the human side of your brand.

This is one process you don’t want to automate! Take the time to check in on social media to favorite any posts sharing your content and to say thanks.

Remember: always be appreciative of those who share your content.

Exactly right, Dagmar!

Q3: Should you ask influencers to share your content? If so, how do you approach them?

Should you ever reach out to influencers to share your content? And how in the world do you ask them for a share? Here are some tips you need to know before you start contacting people:

Consider what you can do for an influencer first. If you’ve done something for them, they just might be more inclined to help you out.

Tara also agrees you should do something for the influencer first. Then, reach out via social media.

As Sarah said, ditch the “cold call” style when it comes to reaching out to influencers. You need to work on building a relationship with them before you ask for a favor.

David agrees about the importance of building a relationship first. You can’t ask someone you don’t even know to share your work!

Kristen recommends only reaching out if your content is relevant to their audience. If your content isn’t something their audience would be interested in, they might be less likely to share it.

Did you quote an influencer in your post? Let them know! Send over the link and don’t be afraid to ask for a share on social media.

As Andrew said, an influencer needs a reason to share your content. This is something you need to work on before you can ask for any kind of favor.

Q4: What media forms can you include in written pieces to encourage people to engage?

What kinds of media can you include to encourage engagement? Check out these tips:

Sid suggested quizzes, surveys, polls, contests, giveaways, and also shareable quotes.

Consider what resonates with your audience. Give them what they enjoy! If you don’t know what they prefer, test out a few options and see how they respond. Or you could always ask!

Sarah recommends using images/infographics, Click to Tweet, quotes, asking questions, and other calls to action (CTA).

Tara recommends including quizzes with your content. It’s a great, interactive way to get your audience involved.

Varun said to include images, infographics, GIFs, and short videos with your content.

Ellie is also a fan of infographics!

Why not try a poll or add embedded tweets?

Visuals are always a great way to grab the attention of your audience!

There’s always something to be learned from Neil Patel! Add images, GIFs, or an infographic. Content upgrades are fantastic as well!

Make sure any media you use adds value for your audience. There’s no reason to create for the sake of creation. It should serve a purpose!

Q5: How can you continue driving traffic to older content?

Don’t let those posts in your archives go to waste! Make sure they’re getting traffic!

Repurposing your content is so important! Sid recommends converting blog posts into YouTube videos, SlideShares, inforgraphics, etc.

As Sarah and Varun said, make sure you’re keeping your old content updated. Check in on old posts that are getting a lot of traffic and update with recent material if needed. Interlink blog posts as well to send traffic to posts within your archives.

Kristen recommends repurposing your older content into an email series for new subscribers. Great idea!

Don’t forget to share those old posts! If they’re relevant to a current trending topic, it’s the perfect time to share it on social media.

Evergreen content is where it’s at! Topics that are evergreen are going to be more likely to consistently bring in traffic.

Regularly share your older posts on social media. Don’t forget to update them for content and SEO.

Anita likes to use a plugin that automatically shares posts from her archives for her. Very helpful!

Another great tip? Build your presence on Pinterest. Make sure you’re sharing your blog posts there because it’s an amazing way to send traffic back to your site.

Q6: Should you track shares after you’ve published a blog post? Why?

Just how important are social media shares? Should you be tracking them for each of your blog posts? Our chat participants weighed in…

Sid had a different answer from most of the people in Tuesday’s chat and it was great to hear his perspective. After all, what good are those social media shares if people aren’t actually clicking the links and visiting your website?

Track your content to see if your audience is engaging. It’ll let you know what you’re doing right and what you’re possibly doing wrong.

If you enjoy tracking your social media shares, then keep doing it!

On the other end of the spectrum, Fiona only tracks her social media shares once a month. She said it helps her to see what her audience enjoys. She also brings up a great point about not getting too fixated on numbers. They can drive you crazy if they’re not where you want them to be.

Varun said that ultimately conversions are what matter the most. Good point!

Tara said to track social media shares, but she thinks engagement is more important. She focuses on the comments readers leave.

Q7: What should you track after you hit publish?

Whether you’re tracking social media shares or not, there are a few other metrics you should be keeping an eye on after you publish new content.

Sid recommends tracking visitors, conversions, and the average amount of time spent on a post.

Kristen said to look at how long people are staying on a page. Are they actually reading your content?

David said to keep an eye on traffic, time on page, conversions on your CTA, traffic sources, and social media shares.

Your bounce rate and time on site are good indicators of whether or not your content is what your audience is looking for.

It’s all about those conversions!

Blog comments are also great to track because you want to encourage your audience to share their thoughts. It’s the best way to start a conversation with your readers.

It sounds like Gina keeps a pretty detailed (and helpful) monthly report for her website. She tracks time on site, user journey, exit pages, CTAs, leads generated, and more.

A great tip from Zachary: track the metrics that will bring you closer to achieving your goals. Are you trying to increase pageviews? Keep an eye on traffic. Are you trying to increase the amount of comments you receive? Find ways to encourage people to leave their thoughts. It all depends on your needs.

Q8: What are a few key features of worthwhile, shareworthy content?

To wrap up the chat, we asked what makes content worthwhile and shareworthy. Here’s what some of you said:

Sid knows adding value is key! The content you create should always provide value for your audience.

Useful, great content and visuals are key! That’s what makes shareable content.

Always create content with your audience in mind. When you provide your audience with the content they want, they’ll enjoy it and will be happy to share.

You need to know what resonates with your audience, have great writing skills, and some amazing visuals.

A catchy title is sure to grab the attention of your audience!

Tim says shareworthy content is useful, attractive, readable, informative, emotionally engaging, and easy to share. Yes!

Amalia recommends writing in a way that’s natural. Quit writing for the search engines. Write for humans.

Erika said the best content teaches her something new or shares a new perspective. Keep that in mind when you’re creating content for your audience!

We look forward to seeing you at the next #ContentWritingChat! Mark your calendars weekly for Tuesday at 10 AM CDT for great chats centered around content writing and marketing.

Tags: content