It’s a jungle out there. Social networks are littered with people and pages clambering for attention. For your page to draw a crowd and a response, you need a more advanced strategy.
As a content producer, I can relate to the challenge this task presents. You’re competing with so many other status updates. Getting your content seen by the right audience isn’t just hard — it can feel downright impossible at times.
Facebook isn’t making it any easier. With the new algorithm prioritizing content from friends instead of pages, the struggle for businesses is real.
Beyond The Basics Of Promotion
One of the problems is businesses failing to promote themselves. Seventy-five percent of marketers post their content only once, according to Kapost research.
Take a look at CoSchedule’s social media plan, and you’ll see why that’s not enough. This company gets 31.5 times more traffic using a stronger social media plan than if they just shared their content once and forgot about it.
What can you do to get those kinds of results? More importantly, how can you rise above the noise in social media to get seen by the right audience? The answers lie in advanced social sharing strategies.
Believe it or not, there are methods to push past the stringent algorithms and get in front of a crowd of fans. Here are a few ways you can be heard on social media, even when organic reach is on the decline.
Optimize Your Content
1. Think like Google your audience when writing your articles.
Google’s smarter now, and to stand out on social, you need to be, too. Google knows what its searchers want, and it works hard to deliver that. Sometimes, it knows your audience’s needs better than you do.
By producing higher-quality content and putting more time and effort into the articles you write, you’re more likely to be rewarded with a share or a link from an audience that appreciates your efforts.
2. Drop the clickbait headlines.
A spike in readers doesn’t equal a rise in social shares, according to a Chartbeat study of tens of thousands of articles. Clickbait headlines might drive people to your website, but they rarely lead to an increase in social chatter.
3. Pay attention to your analytics.
As the above study shows, if you “can hold a visitor’s attention for just three minutes, they are twice as likely to return than if you only hold them for one minute.” Watch what type of content gets the most buzz and then create more of it. Drop the content topics that don’t work.
Summarize your metrics for each piece of content into one score to understand the overall performance.
4. Craft “How To” content.
People love learning how to do something new. Offer this type of training material and you’ll have evergreen content that people will love to read and share. But make sure the content is high quality and fulfills a needs.
Google has been cracking down on low-value “How-To” mill-type sites.
5. Allow syndication.
As long as another website notes that the content was first published on your website with a link, and ideally a rel canonical tag, there’s no harm in allowing syndication.
Plan Your Social Media Posts Strategically
6. Own your work by telling fans it’s yours.
Every time I share an article of my own, I specify that it’s a post “by me.” The goal is to signal to my fans and followers that I’m not just curating something interesting; I’ve added a unique article they probably haven’t seen yet.
7. Share mentions of your own content.
If the publisher shared your article (most do), retweet its post.
8. Be gracious.
When you favorite a tweet, reply to a Facebook comment, or upvote a submitted comment, your audience feels good about their interaction with your brand. You’ll get more traffic and engagement just for saying “thank you” once in awhile.
9. Give a shout out to influencers.
Did you reference an influencer in an article? Let her know by giving her a shout out on Twitter or Facebook.
Timing Matters (Beyond Knowing The Best Hours To Post)
10. Post your messages right before or just after the hour.
Schedule your updates right before or right after the hour. This enables you to reach people when they check in during lulls in their day. For example, scheduling updates right before the hour will help your posts get seen by people waiting to go into a meeting.
11. Repost every eight hours.
That’s marketing executive Guy Kawasaki’s rule, and it’s worked well for him. Re-promote content every eight hours in the days after it’s published. You’ll grab some new people who didn’t see it or have a chance to read the article the first time around.
12. Reshare content based on social trends.
Add to the conversation by sharing content relevant to what’s trending online — regardless of how old it is. As long as the information adds value, chime in!
Encourage Future Shares
13. Encourage social shares in your business emails.
Nudge your email recipient to share your content by including it in your email signature. Apps, such as WiseStamp, make it easy to include your latest blog posts in every email. It’s a non-intrusive way of getting people to spread the word about what you write.
14. Get your employees on board with sharing.
The more people sharing your content, the more likely it is to get readers. Tell your team about your content strategy and encourage social sharing.
15. Include content links in your welcome emails.
When you’re already emailing your audience, give them a little bit extra by sharing a blog post related to their transaction. Include a link to a post in your welcome email with one of your best introductory posts.
16. Include a “how-to” article in your email receipts.
Show your customer how to use something she just bought from you by linking to a post on your website. Chances are, she’ll share that instead of her purchase.
17. Link to other posts.
Get your readers to take a look at your other posts by linking to related topics in your content, or at the end of your content.
18. Ask for the shares in presentations.
Encourage your audience to keep their cell phones out and handy, and tweet or share your content during your presentation. Then, offer triggers for what you want shared. Use an already captive audience to share your best work on social media.
The Bottom Line
Just hitting “publish” on an article won’t make you, or your brand, a rockstar. You need to incorporate thoughtful promotion and advanced social sharing tactics to get read, seen and heard.
What’s your favorite social sharing tip or trick? Is there anything that’s worked exceptionally well for you on a social network? Share it in the comments.
Comments