Jan 26, 2016 Written by Guest
Last week I wrote a blog about blogging; I know that sounds slightly ironic. After speaking with a few people who read the blog , the one question I kept receiving was, "How do I use this blog to help me generate leads?" After you have spent your valuable time working on a blog, that you feel will be helpful to your audience, you need post that article in a place that will get read by your intended audience.
If you read last week's blog, you know that your blogs should be more informational and not a sales pitch. Go with the 80/20 rule on informational vs. sales blog. Add some personality, keep the word count at a reasonable level, make the blog readable and blog consistently. You can find more about blogging here.
For this article, I'm going to assume you load your blog to your website. It's not only a great component of your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy, it's the place you want to drive traffic (assuming you have a good website). It's the website that will do your sales pitch, not the blog.
The blog is written and posted, now let's get the word out...
If you read last week's blog, you know that your blogs should be more informational and not a sales pitch. Go with the 80/20 rule on informational vs. sales blog. Add some personality, keep the word count at a reasonable level, make the blog readable and blog consistently. You can find more about blogging here.
For this article, I'm going to assume you load your blog to your website. It's not only a great component of your SEO (search engine optimization) strategy, it's the place you want to drive traffic (assuming you have a good website). It's the website that will do your sales pitch, not the blog.
The blog is written and posted, now let's get the word out...
On LinkedIn
I typically share my blog posts directly from my website to LinkedIn and add a short comment. If I share with groups I usually try to engage my audience by asking a question. If sending directly to an individual I let them know why I think the article would be of interest.
LinkedIn also allows you to use their publishing tool to add a post. You can load a photo and three keywords at the bottom. If you choose, you can write an intro to or a variation of the original blog on LinkedIn Publisher. Be sure to reference and link to your original blog post.
LinkedIn also offers some analytics letting you know who liked, commented and shared your post.
On Twitter
You don't have to use the blog title as your tweet. Choose multiple quotes, lines and statistics to as your tweet to share the blog multiple times. Make sure to include a link to the post, appropriate hashtags and @mentions as needed. As with all forms of social media, graphics speak volumes. If you are going to create multiple posts for a single blog, change them up. Even consider adding the title in a text overlay.
Add a short video or GIF to call attention to your video feed. The maximum length of a Twitter video is 30 seconds. Don't forget to add the link to the article at the end of your video.
On Facebook
When you post about a blog, don't just rely on your blog title to tell what the article is about; add a statistic or a quote to grab your audience's attention. Speaking of grabbing attention, posts with graphics will always do better, than without. Finally, don't forget the link to your blog post.
Did you know Facebook Notes recently got a makeover and now it looks similar to blog posts? You don't need to completely repost the blog, just upload an image and write and intro to the article to grab your audiences attention.
Video is another way to grab attention on Facebook. Upload or create a short Facebook Video and post as native Facebook video and include an update and the article title as well as the Watch More call to action.
On Instagram
Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram only allows you one link, therefore if you don't want to change your profile link every time you share a blog, have the link simply go to your blog home page.
To announce a new blog, post an image with the title of the new blog. You can also include the actual blog link in your post and suggest people copy and paste the link. Don't forget to add your hashtags to better reach your audience.
On Pintrest
Graphics are key on Pintrest, since it is a visual medium. This site is best for B2C companies or any company trying to reach a female and family market.
Pin one or more images to a Pintrest board. Add a link to your article or other related pins. Using text over graphics to describe the contents of your blog is also important.
Tall and skinny pins show up best and are less likely to cut off part of your photo.
If you blog often with topics of interest to the Pintrest demographic, you may want to create a board specific to your blog posts.
Electronic Direct Mail
My clients often tell me that they aren't on social media because their customers don't do social media. While that statement is up for debate (and flat-out wrong, in my opinion), it isn't bad to reach your clients from a different angle. I send out a monthly electronic newsletter through a subscription service. Much of the information contained is repackaged blogs. I even add a quick description and a link to several blogs I think my audience may find interesting.
Blogging is a great way to demonstrate yourself as a thought leader and provide your audience with helpful information. However, the articles must reach your intended audience or they are for not. Don't expect your customers to be on just one form of media, so choose multiple sites to ensure your message gets out.
Thank you socialmediaexaminer.com who provided me some extra data for this post.
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