Originally Published on HeartiFb.com on July 5, 27 By Charlotte McCleary
You might have tapped into the skills of a very good writer, worked on the most persuasive and engaging topic, added a lot of original insights, and even put in visually stunning images, but if your blog post is not properly promoted, it will not be read. This means no matter how engaging your blog post is, it would not have made any dent in terms of reach, impact, and sales on your business.
Twitter is a great tool to promote blog posts. It is also relatively inexpensive, since you can promote your blog content even if you do not have ad funding to use. Twitter’s quick, information-sharing culture makes it a very good social media platform not only for bloggers but also marketers as well as brand managers to ensure their content gets promoted to their right audience. Here are some tips how you can promote you blog content on Twitter!
Tweet blog posts as often as possible.
The second a blog post gets published, tweet it. Afterwards, you can tweet again after a few hours (between six and 24 hours.) Tweet about the same blog post again after a few days. As much as possible, use different headlines, quotes, phrases and images every time you tweet about your blog post.
Do not also forget to strategically tweet links to your blog posts or excerpts based on the most popular time of day. Research your audience so you would know the most likely times they are online. Thus, you can optimize the posting times to make sure your customers are online to see your blog posts.
It is ideal to schedule your tweets in advance. This will help you plan your content. It will also help you avoid duplicating the same content or message to both Twitter and Facebook at the same time, since you might run the risk of appearing spammy, especially to those social media users who follow your company’s accounts on both platforms. If you decide to promote a certain post on both platforms, you should tweak the message to match the platform.
Engaging headlines and CTAs.
Do you want readers to actually click through your links and check out your blog posts? Simply ask them! When writing your tweets, make sure you include creative calls to action or headlines that can compel people to click for more content. There are certain best practices for Twitter that you should follow to the letter.
A particularly effective move is to put the word NEW in your tweet. Twitter is primarily an information sharing and gathering platform. People go there to find out the latest news or brand products.
Include an image, gif or short video.
Some brands and marketers forget that images do perform exceedingly well across the board. It is not just Twitter users who like images. Make sure blog posts have at least one image included with them. Add this image or another related image each time you tweet a post. The recommended image size for Twitter is 440 x 220. Stick to that size so that your image is not cropped in the timeline.
Your tweet will be more eye-catching and appear larger in people’s timelines. This translates to a much higher possibility that your audience will click on your post and discover or engage with your brand.
Get the help of influencers.
No matter your niche, there are influencers tweeting about it with a voice and followers. Tweet them about your blog post, engage them with questions and comments that spark conversation. Also, tag them! If they find the post interesting, chances are, they will share or retweet it, getting your post even more eyeballs. Even if they don’t retweet or share your post, if they respond to you, it will get their followers curious about your content.
Get comfortable with hashtags
Everyone uses industry-related hashtags to promote their blog posts. However, you can go further and piggyback on a trending hashtag you wouldn’t ordinarily use, the saucier the better. This will expose you to audiences new to your content. Be cautious about the hashtags you choose. Though interesting or catchy, they shouldn’t harm your brand image.
Thank your followers for sharing.
Show appreciation for any kind of interaction and shares you get from your Twitter followers. Thanking them means they are more likely to continue sharing your tweets, and thus increasing the reach and exposure of your blog posts. It also opens up chances for more engagement on your tweets.
Break blog posts.
How about turning your blog into tweetable chunks? If you do have longer posts, such as lists and roundups, your brand can maximize content sharing if you develop a set of tweets derived from the post. These will be like an entree enticing your followers to read more and used for a long period of time. You can even serialise them by replying to your previous tweet so that the thread creates a story that is more shareable and engaging.
Ads!
How about an ad campaign to further boost the exposure of your best-performing blog posts. If your business has a social media budget, use it to make sure your blog posts are boosted further with what you could organically reach. For a relatively meager price tag, your product or service can pay to have your post seen by thousands of targeted and new audience members. The best thing about twitter ads, like facebook ads, is the geo-targeting and budget control. You only pay what you intended to pay.
Do not forget the basics.
Sometimes, marketers and brands forget to maximize their social media profiles. Do not forget to include your blog or site link on all the social media profiles and bios you have. That way, you make your site or blog immediately available on the profiles, a quick boost insofar as promoting it on social media.
Evaluating the success of your blog content, boosting blog posts and analyzing how your target audience consume your posts: these are part of good tips in making an effective content strategy. But aside from the actual content of your blog, the most crucial aspect of creating blog posts is the manner of promoting them and how to ensure the right audience reads them.
Thus, it is important that you understand the participant behavior of your target audience on Twitter. How many of them read Tweets using a tablet or a smartphone. What times do they actually go online? You have to also remember that your social media followers may be living in various time zones.
What is your Twitter strategy when it comes to promoting your blog content? Any tips you like to share?
About The Author
Charlotte McCleary
Charlotte is a message-centered brand strategist who works with the marketing teams of digital start-ups and young companies to streamline their market positioning and message. She revitalises marketing and brand strategies with a fresh approach that puts the client at the centre. This coupled with her love for all things social media and digital marketing, Charlotte is a brand strategy power house to reckon with. When not crafting blueprints for marketers she is a key note speaker and personal branding coach.