Lucky 13: Easy, Engaging Ways to Promote Every Blog Post

You worked hard on your blog post. Now it's time to make that blog post work for you! Here's 13 ways to improve your blog promotion.

If you feel like you have a love/hate relationship with your blog posts, you’re not alone. Certain ideas can bump around in your brain for days, weeks - even years. By the time you finally get your thoughts down on paper, source some photos, and drag yourself through the tedious process of editing with the promise of a caffeinated reward at the end, you’d be forgiven for never wanting to revisit that particular post ever again.

But you’ve worked hard for your post and it’s time that your post starts to work for you. Promoting your writing can feel a bit awkward, even unnatural. All you wanted to do was write an innocent blog post and now it feels like you’re on a forced book tour! Here’s how to help your blog posts reach a wider audience, drive more traffic to your website, and make the promotion process painless and profitable.

• Share your writing process on social media and let your audience know what you’re working on. This helps promote your blog, provides engaging social media content, and gives you a public method of accountability.
• Hire an editor. Your posts will be wonderfully readable (so long, grammar gremlins!) and the content will be optimized for search engines.  Good results with search engines like Google make it easy for casual readers to find you. 
• Link to other blog posts within your post. Whether you're referencing parts of a series or providing a list of helpful resources at the end, make it easy for short term readers to become long term readers. (Case in point: Check out one of our favourite posts on digital marketing and avoiding online mistakes!)
• Share, share, share on social media once the post is complete. It’s okay to let people know how excited you are to be finished writing!
• Share yet some more on Twitter. Twitter has the shortest life span of all social media networks. This is one place where oversharing is the best strategy. You want all readers, in all time zones and with all schedules to see your work.
• Speaking of sharing on social networks… Don’t forget about LinkedIn. Share your new post as status update AND list it in the publication section as well. This creates a wonderful online portfolio of your work, especially if you blog for multiple sites.
• While it’s fresh in your mind, schedule the post to be re-shared on social media again in the future. An interview with an Irish architect will gain great traction on St Patrick’s Day. A profile of a gardening center in Regina would resonate with audiences on the first day of spring. This is one of the reason we love creating editorial calendars for our clients - it’s great to see so many forgotten blog posts come back to life!
• … And while you’re sharing said blog post, don’t forget to tag relevant parties.  A review of a locally made product can be brought to the attention of the manufacturer AND the local small business council. Include the finished post in thank you emails you send to your sources.
• Include a teaser paragraph and a link to your post in your next monthly newsletter. Not only will you be delivering your blog post and other valuable pieces of content to your most loyal clients, including recent blog posts makes the process of crafting the newsletter all the easier - that’s one less thing you have to create!
• Mention it in your podcasts, YouTube videos, conference presentations, and other avenues. Talking about your latest blog post is a great way to enrich other work. 
• It's not just about virtual sharing - tell 'real' people about your blog too! A recent blog post is the perfect discussion topic to fill empty air space at networking events and it makes you stand out among a busy crowd.
• Get those real people to help you out. Swap promotional efforts with a friend or colleague in a complementary field.  You'll gain great new material to share on social media - material that's already well suited for your audience - and in return your colleagues will help you reach new readers.
• Share your work on your personal social media networks, if you feel comfortable mixing your work and home life. A personal touch is what brings you the majority of your clients and partners - this is just one extra step in the right direction.

While it's always a huge relief to finally hit the "publish" button, know that writing is only one part of the equation for successful blogging. Pushing yourself to promote that new blog post might take you outside your comfort zone but the effort is well worth the reward. Now get writing! 

PS: Do you really, really dislike writing - and no amount of coaxing can convince you otherwise? We can help! From editorial calendars to inspire and organize to full schedule blog writing and promotion, we can make you love writing again.