Writing blog is not the most difficult part in blogging but getting viewers is the important part. After writing hundreds of blog posts but attracting no viewers is mere waste of time. The viewership of blogs determines the popularity of the same. Social media platforms have made the job easier to get connected to people having similar thoughts. Here are certain tips that will help you to gain new readers:
Post your blog content or the URL of the blog post in your Facebook status or can be embedded on your wall. Or go ahead and create a fan page for your blog and continue to update the same. If you believe that your friend is interested to read your blog posts but often forget to come back to your blog, you can directly post the URL in their wall. When you write about any other brands, you should tag them without fail. You should also create a “Like” button for your blog post. Remember to tell readers to hit the button if they find the content impressive. Further, go ahead and post the URL on their wall, discussion boards, communities etc.
One can tweet the title and link of your blog post along with some relevant hash tags. Hash tag will bring your during the searches made by other tweeters. When you have completed tweets, it is good to do a quick search on the keyword to find out others who speak on the same theme. Look for questions on the same subject and try to be the first person to answer and divert the traffic to your blog. Finding out people who are interested in conversation might help you to grow the traffic.
Google+
The traditional way to start is to place the URL of your blog posts. It supports the same functionality as Twitter to add # tags to your posts. Look for other authors who are discussing on the same topic and mention them in the tag. You can call their posts to be an inspirational material and quote them in the tags. This information might attract the readers and they might actually end up in your blog to go through the information.
Update the URL of the blog post in your LinkedIn account and add them in the publication tab. Prospective readers, employers and employees will go through the link if they are interested. Make sure to install BlogLink application tool in your account.
Online Communities
Search for online communities who are interested in your topic. Make sure that your posts aren’t blatantly promotional and engage with the rest of the community or you may be labeled as a spammer.
At this time, email is still a popular way to send information. Try to create an e-news letter or add a self updating RSS feed (like wise stamp) to your email signature. Alternatively, you can offer subscriptions via email on your blog.
Triberr
Triberr was created specifically for bloggers to promote each other. Bloggers use it by creating ‘tribes” of fellow bloggers who are writing for a similar niche audience. The tribe members all provide Triberr with access to their Twitter account and an RSS feed URL for their blog. The site creates a stream of formatted tweets promoting all tribe members blog posts that, upon approval by each member, are scheduled for posting to their Twitter account. The posts are staggered no less than one hour apart.
Pinterest is a social sharing site that allows you to collect & share images & links in a bulletin board format. You can collect links on visually pleasing boards that you can categorize as you like. Pinterest only works as an image-based link sharing tool and hence use images that are posted with your blog.
The most important part of your social media marketing campaign is strategy and keep in mind that all social media users are hyper-sensitive to sales & marketing. Try to be authentic, engage them in a one to one manner, and strive to bring value regardless of whether doing so seems to directly benefit you. Tricks and active sales will be counter productive and if you can generate trust they they welcome you into their communities.
Compiled by Amit Giri, Sr. Research Analyst, Social Media/DART Consulting. He can be reached at amit@dartconsultng.co.in
