Content Marketing Blueprint For Your Blog Posts

You’ve written your post, formatted it, and published it.

You are proud of your little post, but how do you show it off to the world?

You’ve got to start content marketing immediately.

If it isn’t posted to your social media pages, there are huge amounts of consumers who will never be able to find it, even if they really want to read it.

There is still strong opposition among some blog managers against using your social media to promote your blog, often because it feels like bragging or like pestering your followers with information that they do not care about and did not ask for.

They would not be your followers, however, if they did not care about the information you had to offer. In the internet age, self-promotion is no different than, for example, if you were the author of a book and used bookstores to market your novel. It is both accepted and expected.

In order to get your blog in front of readers who will truly appreciate it, it is important to set up a content marketing plan, which you will follow after every post your publish.

1. Decide which social networks your blog post is best tailored towards.

Twitter lends itself best to headlines and links, while Facebook and Tumblr are more accepting of images and links.

If your post is devoid of images, it might be difficult to get users on these more visually-driven networks to engage with the content.

Likewise, an infographic is difficult to share over a more content-based medium like Twitter, but is perfect for something like Pinterest.

2. Share the post on the networks most accepting of the content.

Start with Facebook and Twitter. This is usually where most people have the largest followings.

Then, start sharing on other networks, including Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and even StumbleUpon.

On each of these networks, make sure that you are a member of relevant groups and circles, so that you are free to share your relevant content on that page.

Google+ and LinkedIn are especially good, as you can join professional groups that will allow you to share information with other members of the group.

You’re more likely to encounter people who want to read what you’ve written in that situation.

3. Reach out to influencers.

Just because you do not run the most important and influential blog on the internet, you aren’t somehow “unworthy” of contacting those who do have massive followings.

Keep in mind, of course, that these influencers are likely to get hundreds of private messages a day, mostly from people who want to take advantage of the person’s prowess to boost their own influence.

If you think that someone would genuinely be interested in what you’ve posted, that is the right person to contact about reading it and maybe reblogging, retweeting, or reposting it.

4. Reach out to individuals or companies you have mentioned.

If you talk about a specific shoe company in your post about the most environmentally friendly shoe companies (as an example), consider contacting those companies, through their social media pages, to see if they might be interested in reading (and promoting) the post.

A simple private message, through the messaging feature that every social network has, with a link to the post and a very short blurb about its topic and why they were mentioned, is usually enough, especially if you spoke about them favorably.

5. Moderate your posts.

Go over your archives and see if there are any topics that could be linked to your current post, or any past posts that could benefit from a link to your newest post.

This is a great way to build links within your blog and will enable those who find one or the other of your posts to quickly click through to even more useful content.

This one simple step alone can drive major traffic, especially from one of your popular posts to one that perhaps did not do as well.

6. Have some guest posting gigs lined up.

If you have gone through all of the necessary steps of guest posting (including reading the blog to make sure your voice, style, and expertise would benefit the blog’s readership, contacted the blog writer or manager with a topic suggestion, and written the post), you can always include a link to your own blog and your new post specifically, in your guest post.

This will draw major readership when you guest post on popular blogs.

7. Answer questions and post your link in comments.

If you find a forum or Q&A website, where a question relevant to your latest blog post is being asked, answering that question and including a link to your post can be a great way to draw traffic to your blog.

All you have to do find people that are talking about what you’ve written about, write a short comment, and throw in your link, if you find it to be appropriate.

8. Do it again.

After you’ve already posted to your social networks, contacted influencers, and spread the word through guest posts and internal linking, you have started the first steps toward proper content marketing and effective SEO.

Now, it’s time to look over the effects of your work and see where an additional push might be necessary.

If there is a weakness in your scheme—for example, if none of the influencers heed your call—come up with another strategy and try again.

Give your followers a few days, and then tweet and post your link again, acknowledging that it is a repeat, but giving them another chance to check out your post, just in case they missed it the first time around.