You’ve spent a great deal of your time researching, analyzing, and finally creating effective content to help you reach your content marketing objectives. But, as authors know, you need to spend as much, if not more, time promoting your content as writing it. So, where better to promote your pieces of content than where we spend more than 25 percent of our online time? We’re talking of course about social media. According to research, 80 percent of marketers are already promoting their content in social media–but are they doing it effectively? Here’s how to effectively promote content on social media.
1. Use images
We now know that Twitter tweets with images get more engagement than the rest. We’ve known for a while that photos on Facebook get comparatively more engagement. Even images on LinkedIn get more engagement. Three of the newer social networks—Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat, all are based entirely on images. So why aren’t you leveraging the visual when promoting your content? Don’t just create a singular branded “featured image” to share with your post. Create separate images for each of the main points in your content. Use these when you repeatedly post to social media. An effective way to promote content on social media is always going to be the road where images are used.
2. Come up with a good headline
You might be writing great content, but are you writing a title worthy of grabbing someone’s attention on social media? Here’s where the line between content writing and copywriting blurs out. You need a smart, yet accurate headline. Don’t just settle for one title. You can be posting your content multiple times. For which you can create multiple titles, and test to see which headlines most effectively promote content on social media. Use a tool like BuzzSumo to help you research effective titles for the same type of content per social network.
3. Customize for the platform
When you’re going to promote content on social media, utilize the customizable posting features on every social media platform. This includes the headline, image, and a description of the content you’re sharing. Every marketer and social media user is competing to catch the user’s eye. The more optimized your post is for a particular platform, the more effective your social media promotion will be. For example, if you share a link to Facebook, you have the opportunity to create a post that truly stands out. All you need is an attention-grabbing headline, a clean, relevant image that piques interest (that is sized perfectly for Facebook posts), and an interesting description.
4. Share at the right time
For maximum engagement, the content you’re sharing needs to reach as many people as possible. So you have to go where the crowd is, and when they are online and active. Then you can compile a content posting schedule to ensure you post during a certain time of the day. Keep in mind that different social media platforms may not have the same peak times. While there are many infographics telling you the best time to post in social media, some of it simply comes down to understanding how users engage on each social network and experimenting. Some social media platforms have features designed to aid you in this process, such as Facebook Insights. In addition, third-party tools such as FollowerWonk help estimate the best times for some platforms
5. Share multiple times
Research suggests you will be more successful by promoting the same content multiple times on social media. Use different images and different headlines for your content. This way you engage with your followers without them even knowing you’re reposting the same content. Social media users don’t see most of your posts on any given day anyway. So posting multiple times ensures your audience has a chance to see your content.
6. Share on the right platform
As different sites serve different purposes and audiences, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the major social media platforms your target audience uses. Avoid redundancy and simply throwing content across all channels. Concentrate on the platforms where you have the highest chance to engage with your audience. Use content promotion tools to see which platform best fits your needs. Once your social media promotion is successful on these platforms, use that information to start embarking on a new platform.
7. Ask questions
Don’t just drop links. Drive social media users to engage with you, and increase the chances they engage with your content, by asking for questions and feedback. Social media was made for people; not for businesses. So you should always be striving to create a human connection with social media users.
Conclusion
When it comes to promoting content, social media is easily one of the most powerful tools available. However, a lot of content marketers fail to truly maximize its potential. Utilize one or all of these 7 ways to promote content on social media, and you’ll generate significantly more traffic for your precious content. Happy writing.